Automate your e-commerce processes with Make and Zapier: practical guide
An e-merchant spends an average of 10 to 15 hours per week on repetitive tasks: inventory updates, sending follow-up emails, copying and pasting between tools, invoice creation, reporting... Automation can reduce this time to a few minutes while eliminating human errors. Make (formerly Integromat) and Zapier are the two leading platforms for connecting your tools without coding. This guide shows you concretely how to use them to gain efficiency and reliability.
Why automated email is so effective
Automated emails significantly outperform classic newsletters in terms of performance.
The cost of non-automation
If you spend 10 hours a week on automatable tasks and your time is worth €50/hour, that represents €26,000 per year in lost time. Not to mention data entry errors (wrong stock, email not sent, forgotten order) which cost customer satisfaction and revenue. Automating these tasks costs between €50 and €300/month depending on complexity.
Concrete benefits
Time savings: 10 to 20 hours per week recovered. Reliability: no more copy-paste errors or omissions. Responsiveness: actions are triggered in real time (welcome email, order notification). Scalability: your processes handle the load even during peak activity. Quality of life: you focus on high-value tasks.
Make vs Zapier: which tool to choose?
Both platforms allow automation without coding, but they have different philosophies.
Zapier: simplicity
Over 6,000 integrations available. Simple and intuitive interface. Linear logic (if A then B). Ideal for simple to moderate automations. Price: from €29/month for 750 tasks. Strengths: quick setup, huge integration catalog, very short learning curve.
Make: power
Visual interface with diagram scenarios. Complex logic possible (loops, multiple conditions, routers). Advanced data manipulation. Better task count/price ratio. Price: from €10/month for 10,000 operations. Strengths: more powerful for complex scenarios, more economical in volume, better error handling.
Our recommendation
For simple automations (less than 5 steps), Zapier is faster to set up. For complex scenarios or high volume, Make is more powerful and more economical. We use both depending on our clients' needs. If you have to choose only one, Make offers a better value for money for most e-commerce use cases.
10 essential automations for your e-commerce
Here are the most impactful automations, ranked by implementation priority.
1-3: Customer communication
1. Automatic welcome email to each new customer with brand presentation and welcome code. 2. Cart abandonment sequence (1h, 24h, 72h) with product reminder and incentive to complete. 3. Automatic post-purchase email with delivery tracking, review request, and complementary recommendations.
4-6: Operational management
4. Real-time stock synchronization between your store, marketplaces, and ERP. 5. Automatic invoice creation and sending to the customer after each order. 6. Automatic alerts when a product falls below the minimum stock threshold.
7-10: Reporting and CRM
7. Automatic daily reporting sent by email or Slack (revenue, orders, average order value, conversion rate). 8. Automatic update of your CRM with each new order or customer interaction. 9. Automatic publication of your new products on your social networks. 10. Collection and centralization of customer reviews from all your platforms.
Implementation methodology
To succeed in your automation project, follow a structured approach.
Step 1: Map your processes
List all the tasks you do each week. For each, note: time spent, frequency, tools used, complexity level. Prioritize the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks.
Step 2: Start simple
Don't try to automate everything at once. Start with one or two high-impact, low-complexity automations. Validate that they work perfectly before adding others. Abandoned cart email and automatic reporting are good first choices.
Step 3: Test and monitor
Test each automation in real conditions before deploying it. Configure alerts in case of errors. Regularly check that everything is working correctly, especially after an update of your tools.
Step 4: Document
Document each automation: what it does, connected tools, trigger conditions, responsible person. This documentation is essential for maintenance and to facilitate future evolutions.
Common mistakes to avoid
Automation is powerful but can create problems if poorly implemented. Automating an inefficient process does not make it efficient, it makes it inefficient faster. Too much automation kills human relationships: maintain personal contact for complex cases. Do not test in real conditions before deployment. Ignore errors and edge cases. Depend on a single tool without a backup plan.
Key takeaways
- Automation saves 10 to 20 hours per week
- Make is more powerful and economical, Zapier is simpler
- Start with abandoned cart and automatic reporting
- Map your processes before automating
- Test in real conditions and document everything
- Do not neglect human contact despite automation
Checklist
- Map all repetitive tasks
- Choose between Make and Zapier (or both)
- Implement abandoned cart email
- Automate daily reporting
- Synchronize multi-channel stocks
- Configure low stock alerts
- Automate post-purchase emails
- Document each automation
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know how to code to use Make or Zapier?
How much does implementation cost?
Can I automate between Shopify and other tools?
What happens if an automation fails?
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