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Client area FR

E-commerce

Automation fore-commerce brands and online stores

Fewer tickets, returns and listings handled by hand: more time to sell.

Estimate my hours
  • Customer messages & requests
  • Documents & admin
  • Scheduling & operations
  • Custom business tools
Indicative estimate · example: 3 people, about 150 orders / week

In short

Iselia Projects automates the repetitive work of online stores: answering order-tracking and support questions, processing returns, catching problem orders, drafting product listings, restock alerts and weekly reporting. Connected to your store (Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop), your helpdesk and your carriers, these automations give a small team around ten hours back every week to spend on the catalogue and on growth.

Who it’s for
Online stores, DTC brands and multichannel sellers (own site plus marketplaces), from solo founders to SMEs
  • 7tasks quantified
  • 11industry tools supported
  • 5steps in the end-to-end example

Day to day

Where your team loses time.

Useful but repetitive tasks that pile up around the real work. They are usually the first ones that can be automated.

  • “Where is my order?” twenty times a day

    A large share of support messages are about tracking: open the order, find the parcel number, check the carrier, reply… then do it all again.

  • Returns that eat into margin

    Checking the return window, generating a label, inspecting the item, refunding or exchanging within the legal deadline: every return means hopping between tools.

  • Stuck orders nobody notices

    Incomplete addresses, pending payments, out-of-stock items, parcels returned to sender: exceptions pile up and surface only when the customer complains.

  • Product listings that never get finished

    Descriptions, attributes, translations, product-safety information: new products sit in draft because nobody has time to write them up.

  • Stock managed by gut feeling

    Best-sellers go out of stock while slow lines pile up: restocking is decided from a spreadsheet export whenever someone finds the time.

  • Numbers scattered everywhere

    Site and marketplace sales, returns, ad spend, margin: getting a clear view of the week takes half a day of copy and paste.

Task by task

Where your hours are hiding.

Each row applies the same formula: weekly volume × manual time × automatable share. Volumes match the example “3 people, about 150 orders / week”.

Indicative estimate for the example “3 people, about 150 orders / week”, based on conservative assumptions you can edit in the calculator. Not a client result. Hours/week = Σ (volume × minutes × automatable share) ÷ 60 · hours/year = hours/week × 47 · Methodology
Task Volume / wk Time per unit Automatable Saved / wk
Customer messages & requests Answer tracking and support questions Automatic replies to tracking requests (status, carrier link, delivery estimate), product and shipping questions; disputes and sensitive cases go to the team. 60 messages / week 4 min 70 % 2.8 h
Scheduling & operations Process returns and exchanges Eligibility checked (window, condition, policy), return label issued, parcel tracked, refund or exchange prepared; a person confirms on receipt. 12 returns / week 12 min 60 % 1.4 h
Scheduling & operations Catch and resolve problem orders Stuck orders monitored (address, payment, stock-out, parcel held), the customer contacted to fix it and the team alerted. 15 exceptions / week 6 min 50 % 0.8 h
Documents & admin Write and enrich product listings Draft descriptions, attributes, SEO tags and translations from supplier data and your tone-of-voice guidelines; reviewed before publishing. 8 listings / week 25 min 60 % 2.0 h
Scheduling & operations Prepare restocking Low-stock alerts based on sales velocity, suggested quantities and a draft supplier purchase order to approve. 3 restocks / week 40 min 50 % 1.0 h
Customer messages & requests Reply to reviews and marketplace messages Draft replies to customer reviews and to Amazon or other marketplace messages within the platform’s response times; negative reviews are escalated to the team. 30 reviews & messages / week 3 min 60 % 0.9 h
Custom business tools Produce the weekly report Sales by channel, average order value, margin, return rate and stock-outs consolidated every Monday in a dashboard, with the points that need attention highlighted. 1 report / week 120 min 80 % 1.6 h
Estimated total · ≈ 493 h a year 10.5 h

By type of automation

The estimated hours are spread across these automations, each explained on its own page.

End-to-end example

Example: from return request to refund

A typical scenario to show how it fits together: each step triggers on its own, your team approves what needs approving and can take over at any time.

Typical scenario

Human in the loop: approvals, escalations and a log of every action.

  1. Request received

    The customer writes in or fills in the returns form: the order is found, and the legal return window and your returns policy are checked.

  2. Label and instructions

    If the return is eligible, the customer gets the label and packing instructions; if not, a clear reply is drafted for approval.

  3. Parcel tracked

    The return parcel is tracked and the customer kept informed at each step, so the team no longer answers “did you get my parcel?”.

  4. Inspection and refund

    On receipt, the team confirms the item’s condition in one click; the refund or exchange is prepared in the store and stock is updated.

  5. Insight

    Return reasons feed the weekly report, surfacing a misleading listing, a sizing issue or a supplier defect.

Calculator

What about your business?

The example’s tasks and volumes are pre-filled. Replace them with your own and the result updates instantly.

Compare with other industries
Your tasks

Untick what doesn’t apply and replace the volumes with your own. Example volumes: 3 people, about 150 orders / week

  • 2.8 h / week

    Automatic replies to tracking requests (status, carrier link, delivery estimate), product and shipping questions; disputes and sensitive cases go to the team.

  • 1.4 h / week

    Eligibility checked (window, condition, policy), return label issued, parcel tracked, refund or exchange prepared; a person confirms on receipt.

  • 0.8 h / week

    Stuck orders monitored (address, payment, stock-out, parcel held), the customer contacted to fix it and the team alerted.

  • 2 h / week

    Draft descriptions, attributes, SEO tags and translations from supplier data and your tone-of-voice guidelines; reviewed before publishing.

  • 1 h / week

    Low-stock alerts based on sales velocity, suggested quantities and a draft supplier purchase order to approve.

  • 0.9 h / week

    Draft replies to customer reviews and to Amazon or other marketplace messages within the platform’s response times; negative reviews are escalated to the team.

  • 1.6 h / week

    Sales by channel, average order value, margin, return rate and stock-outs consolidated every Monday in a dashboard, with the points that need attention highlighted.

Average fully loaded cost of one hour of work for the team involved (€35/h by default).

Your estimate

E-commerce

Hours back per week

10.5 h / week

Hours back per year
493 h / year
Equivalent staff cost per year
€17,256 / year
tasks included
7 / 7

Split by type of automation

  • Customer messages & requests 3.7 h
  • Documents & admin 2.0 h
  • Scheduling & operations 3.2 h
  • Custom business tools 1.6 h

Indicative estimate, based on the assumptions above. No guaranteed results.

Typical scenario Illustrative example, not a real client

Example: a 3-person online store shipping about 150 orders a week

Illustrative scenario, not a real client: a 3-person online brand shipping about 150 orders a week from its own site and one marketplace. With the cautious assumptions above — 60 support messages, 12 returns, 15 order exceptions, 8 product listings, 3 restocks, 30 reviews and marketplace messages and 1 report per week — the indicative estimate is about 10.5 hours saved per week, or about 490 hours a year (47 working weeks). Real figures depend on your catalogue, your channels and your returns policy.

Example size
3 people, about 150 orders / week
per week
10.5 h
per year (47 weeks)
493 h
of staff time at €35/h
€17,256

Integrations

Plugged into your tools.

We connect automations to the software you already use, through APIs, webhooks or exports. No forced migration.

Common tools in this industry that we can connect to: these are not client references. Don’t see yours? We check compatibility during the assessment.

  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce
  • PrestaShop
  • Gorgias
  • Zendesk
  • Sendcloud
  • ShipStation
  • Amazon Seller Central
  • Klaviyo
  • Stripe
  • Google Sheets

Why automate an online store now

In e-commerce, team time is the scarcest resource: every hour spent hunting for a tracking number or pasting an export into a spreadsheet is an hour not spent on the catalogue, the photography or acquisition. Yet much of the daily work is repetitive and relies on data that already exists in your tools: order status, carrier tracking, stock levels, customer history. That is exactly what automation can put to work.

Rules your replies and listings must respect

  • Right of withdrawal: for distance sales to consumers in the EU, customers generally have 14 days from delivery to withdraw, and must be refunded within 14 days of telling you (you may wait until the item is back or proof of return is provided). Automated replies follow these rules and your own returns policy.
  • Legal guarantee of conformity: at least two years in the EU for new goods, and distinct from any commercial warranty you offer; messages must stay accurate on this point.
  • Product listings: since 13 December 2024, the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requires online listings to show the manufacturer’s identity, product identification and safety warnings. Price-reduction claims must refer to the lowest price applied in the previous 30 days.
  • Accessibility: the European Accessibility Act has applied to e-commerce services since 28 June 2025, with an exemption for micro-enterprises providing services.

What automates well… and what stays with the team

Automates well: factual support replies, returns logistics, catching stuck orders, draft listings and translations, stock alerts, templated review replies and consolidated reporting.

Stays with the team: goodwill gestures, disputes and unhappy customers, approving listings before they go live, buying and pricing decisions. The automation prepares, suggests and alerts; it does not decide for you.

Our principles

  • Answers grounded in real data from the order and the carrier, never made up.
  • Systematic human escalation as soon as a message is ambiguous, sensitive or out of scope.
  • Everything is logged: every reply, every prepared refund, every listing change.
  • You own the automations, connected to your current store and tools, with no commission on your sales.

Where to start

Usually with “where is my order?” requests: there are lots of them, they are simple to automate and easy to measure. The calculator below uses the assumptions on this page; adjust the volumes to your store for your own indicative estimate, then book a free assessment so we can check it together.

Keep exploring

Automations and related industries.

Automations involved

Related industries

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From the blog

What happens after go-live? Support plans

FAQ

Your questions, answered.

What professionals in this industry ask us most often before getting started.

How much does it cost to automate an online store?
The 30-minute assessment is free. Each automation is then priced as a fixed project based on its complexity and weighed against the hours it gives back; we usually start with order tracking, which drives the most messages. You own what we build, with no commission on your sales.
Does it work with Shopify, WooCommerce or PrestaShop?
Yes. We use the APIs of your store, your helpdesk (Gorgias, Zendesk or plain email) and your carriers or shipping platform. If you also sell on marketplaces, their messages and orders can join the same flow.
Won’t a chatbot annoy my customers?
We don’t replace your support with a bot that goes round in circles. The automation answers factual questions (where is my parcel, how long, how do I return) using the order’s real data, and hands over to a person as soon as there is a dispute, an unhappy customer or any uncertainty.
Are refunds issued automatically?
Only if you decide so, and within limits you set (amount, reason, customer). By default the refund is prepared and the team approves it in one click after checking the returned item.
Can AI write my product listings without mistakes?
It writes drafts from your supplier data and guidelines, which removes the blank page. Technical specs, claims and product-safety information must be reviewed before publishing: you stay the publisher.
What about my customers' personal data?
Automations only access the data they need, every action is logged, European hosting is available and processing is covered by a GDPR-compliant agreement. Customer data stays in your tools.

Free assessment · 30 minutes

Your 10.5 estimated hours, checked in 30 minutes.

We review your tasks, your real volumes and your tools, then quantify what you can actually get back. You leave with a clear roadmap, whether or not you work with us.

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