How to use Robo Claw for business operations and select introduction candidates in retail and e-commerce startups
For target operations, it is recommended to evaluate from the perspectives of workload, frequency, impact on customers or business, whether AI makes the final judgment, handling of personal or purchase information, presence of price or inventory updates, and whether information is externally sent to customers, and prioritize routine operations that can be continuously operated even with a small number of people, focusing on read-centric or draft-centric tasks.
When retail or e-commerce startups select tasks for Robo Claw implementation, prioritize tasks that meet the following criteria: ① occur frequently, ② have standardized procedures, ③ have minimal impact on customers or the business or can be conducted with human verification, ④ do not involve AI making final decisions on pricing, inventory, refunds, etc., ⑤ have organized handling of personal, purchasing, and order information, ⑥ have no external transmission to customers or can be set to require approval, and ⑦ can be continuously operated even with a small team. Tasks that meet these criteria are easier to test for effectiveness in the Pilot phase.
Who This Is For
Who This Is For
This is intended for business managers, e-commerce operations managers, customer service managers, and others who are considering which tasks to start Robo Claw implementation with.
What You'll Decide
What You'll Decide in This Step
In this Discover STEP, we will identify candidate tasks for Robo Claw, prioritize them, and decide on the first task to undertake. Detailed design of requirements, permissions, and approvals will be handled in the next Refine STEP.
Fit Check
Suitable/Not Suitable Tasks
Suitable Tasks
- Tasks that occur frequently and have standardized procedures, such as organizing product information or initial classification of inquiries
- Tasks where humans can easily review and correct initial suggestions, such as proposing FAQ response candidates or analyzing review trends
- Tasks that involve checking information across multiple SaaS platforms (e-commerce platforms, OMS, CRM, etc.)
- Tasks that involve updating pricing, inventory, or product information but can include an approval step before the update
- Tasks limited to information organization and draft creation, without financial impact on customers
Unsuitable tasks
- Tasks that occur very infrequently and for which automation benefits are difficult to anticipate
- Tasks that require immediate execution of price changes, refunds, or inventory updates in production without approval
- Tasks that attempt to delegate final judgments to AI, such as final approval of fraudulent orders or customer account suspension
- Tasks that handle input data containing a large amount of highly confidential personal information and purchase history, and are unorganized
Industry Challenges
Challenges unique to retail and e-commerce startups
At the stage of selecting target tasks, many retail and e-commerce startups face the following challenges:
Too many candidate tasks to narrow down
Candidates range widely, such as product information organization, inquiry classification, inventory aggregation, review analysis, and it is difficult to determine where to start
Unable to formulate hypotheses of effectiveness
The actual workload and labor hours of members with multiple responsibilities are not visualized, making it difficult to estimate the introduction effect in advance
Uncertainty about EC platform and SaaS connectivity
Without a dedicated person, it is impossible to determine whether the EC platform or OMS being used supports API integration
Unsure how to handle tasks that have a significant impact on customers
There is no criterion to determine whether it is acceptable to target operations related to pricing, inventory, and refunds.
Method
Implementation Steps
1. Identify candidate operations
Take inventory of operations related to product planning, e-commerce operations, and customer service, such as organizing product information, initial classification of inquiries, inventory consolidation, and review analysis.
2. Check workload and frequency
Confirm the occurrence frequency of each operation (constant, daily, weekly, etc.) and the labor required to handle it.
3. Confirm impact on customers and business
Check whether the target operations involve judgment that affects customers or the business, such as price changes, inventory updates, and refunds.
4. Confirm handling of personal and purchase information
Confirm whether the target operations handle customers' personal information, purchase history, or order information.
5. Confirm connectivity with e-commerce platforms and SaaS
Check the location of the data required by the target operations and whether it can be integrated with e-commerce platforms or OMS.
6. Confirm whether there is external sending to customers
Check whether the target operations involve customer notifications or email sending, and if they do, whether it can be based on prior approval.
7. Confirm whether it is possible to continue operation with a small team
Confirm whether a system exists in which members handling multiple roles can continue approval and review.
8. Determine priorities
We will compile the evaluation results and decide on the first task to start.
Evaluation Table
Candidate Task Evaluation Sheet
The following is an example of an evaluation table. Please replace it with your company's candidate tasks. The tasks closer to ◎ have a higher priority for Discover.
| Candidate tasks | Frequency | Formality | Impact on customers and business | System connection | Post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Information Organization / Drafting Description | As needed | Expensive | None | PIM and CMS | None |
| Primary classification of customer inquiries | Daily | Expensive | Low (assuming human verification) | Help Desk | None |
| Aggregation of inventory information | Daily | Expensive | Low | OMS / Inventory Management | None |
| Price & Campaign Update | As needed | Moderate | High (Approval Required) | EC platform | Available (after approval) |
Data & Systems
Data and Systems Used
In the Discover STEP, the status of the following data and systems is checked to evaluate candidate tasks.
Human-in-the-loop
Where Human Approval Is Required
At the Discover STEP stage, implementation is not performed, but during the evaluation of candidate tasks, the following judgments are organized based on the assumption that they will always be made by humans.
- Final decision on whether the target task can be selected as an automation candidate
- Decision on whether to include tasks involving price, stock, or product release updates as candidates
- Decision on whether to include tasks that handle personal information or purchase history as candidates
Measurement
KPI Candidates
In the Discover STEP, the following are recorded as hypotheses for each candidate task and used as verification material in subsequent steps.
Current work effort
Estimation of the human workload currently required for the candidate task
Effect hypothesis
Hypothesis of the workload and time savings expected if automated
Implementation priority score
Priority calculated based on frequency, standardization, impact on customers, etc.
Pitfalls
Common Pitfalls
Select only tasks where the effects are easily visible
If you select only the prominent tasks without considering their frequency or the burden of handling exceptions, it becomes difficult to verify the effectiveness of the pilot.
Postpone checking SaaS connections.
If you decide on candidate tasks first and then check connectivity, rework may occur in later steps.
Underestimate impact on customers and the business.
If you choose tasks without evaluating the magnitude of their impact, you may need to redesign the approval flow in later processes.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tasks are appropriate to start with first?
In most cases, it is recommended to start with one task. Handling multiple tasks simultaneously complicates permission design and pilot evaluation.
Should tasks involving customers be excluded from the candidates?
It is not always necessary to exclude them. By automating information organization and draft creation, while leaving the final decision to the business or CS manager, they can be treated as candidates.
What should I do if I don't know whether connection to the EC platform is possible?
Please check the availability of APIs and data integration for the EC platform or OMS you are using. If there is no dedicated personnel, individual consultation is also possible.
Who should evaluate the candidate tasks?
It is recommended that the business manager, EC operations manager, and CS manager conduct this jointly. An evaluation that takes into account both the actual operations and system constraints is necessary.
Continue
Next Step
Once the target operations are decided, the next step is to concretize the requirements, authorities, and approval design for those operations.
Shall we organize the selection of target operations together?
Based on the current workload, frequency, and SaaS configuration, you can consult with us using the official LP regarding Robo Claw's application candidates and their priority.