Are manual processes holding your business back?
With a new year upon us, now is the perfect time to streamline your operations and set yourself up for success in 2025.
Automation is one of the smartest ways to reduce errors and keep your team focused on what matters most – growing your business.
It’s also the best way to save time – the average Brightpearl customer saves over 350 hours a year by automating key workflows.
Want to do the same?
Here are five automation hacks to help you streamline operations and reclaim your time in the next 12 months.
Hack #1: Automate order fulfilment
Order fulfillment is one of the most time-consuming parts of any retail operation. Automating it is a major time-saver – but there are other benefits, too.
Automating order fulfilment reduces manual errors and ensures faster, more accurate deliveries, boosting customer satisfaction and maintaining efficiency during busy periods.
Brightpearl’s Automation Engine makes it easy to set up rules to notify your warehouse when items need to be shipped.
The process is simple. First you define conditions to specify which orders the rule applies to, then you add actions that automate the next steps, such as notifying the warehouse or splitting fulfillment across multiple locations.
If you operate a drop-shipping model or fulfill from alternative warehouses when stock is low, automation is still an option thanks to the advanced settings available in the Automation Engine.
Hack #2: Automatically add free gifts.
Offering free gifts is a smart way to incentivize larger orders, rewards your VIP customers and build brand loyalty. However, manually working out which orders qualify can be a headache.
With Brightpearl, you can automate this entire process – no coding necessary.
Within the Automation Engine, simply set rules to add free gifts to orders over a certain amount, orders from certain customers or orders containing certain SKUs.
You can ensure the gift appears on the picking list for your warehouse staff. This is especially helpful if you use 3PL providers for fulfillment.
Hack #3: Automate your invoicing
Manually processing your invoices isn’t just a drain on resources. It risks payment delays, errors and becomes increasingly unsustainable as your business grows.
Automating invoicing speeds up cash flow, minimizes human error and ensures payments happen on time.
With Brightpearl, you can set rules to automatically generate and email invoices when orders are ready – such as when all items have been shipped.
This quick setup can save you tens of hours every week, leaving your team free to focus on more important tasks.
Hack #4: Automate future fulfilment
Offering future fulfillment is often essential for retailers in the gift and subscriptions sector, as well as those dealing with time-sensitive B2B orders.
Automating this process ensures accurate, timely fulfillment without manual oversight, reducing errors and freeing up staff.
Brightpearl allows you to let customers select future delivery dates and use automation conditions to reference those dates and trigger fulfillment actions.
This is ideal for ensuring timely deliveries all year round, but especially during peak seasons.
Hack #5: Automatically tag customers for marketing
Customer tagging is a powerful way to personalize your marketing efforts. It’s a proven way to target key segments and reward loyalty, driving repeat purchases and stronger customer relationships.
With Brightpearl, you can use our Automation Engine to tag customers based on order attributes like channel, product type or order value.
For example, you can reward loyal customers after they place multiple high-value orders. Simply create a rule to tag a customer after their first purchase, build additional rules to track their second and third purchases and then automate rewards, such as a free gift, after their third order.
See our Automation Engine in action
🎥 Watch our free 15-minute on-demand demo now.
