The Top 8 Must-Have Tools for Your E-commerce Store
E-commerce stores are a lot like brick-and-mortar ones. You need to keep track of inventory, manage orders, and keep tabs on customer activity.
However, the good news is that e-commerce platforms are built to be user-friendly and convenient.
If you're thinking about starting an online store or looking for ways to improve your existing one, read on for my list of the top eight tools every e-commerce business needs.
Sticky Cart + Fly Cart
Sticky Cart + Fly Cart is a tool that lets you add a product to the top of your page, regardless of how many products you have.
This is great for when you want to showcase one particular item or if you're having a sale on your most popular products. You can also choose from different styles and colors for the sticky bar.
MailChimp
MailChimp is a great email marketing tool. It's easy to use and has great templates to create beautiful emails for your customers in no time.
MailChimp also comes with other features that make it perfect for marketing campaigns and newsletters:
Stats - You can see how many people open each email, where they're located (this is useful if you want to target specific regions), which links were clicked on, and more.
Segmenting - This feature allows you to send different messages based on the recipients' behavior or location (e.g., send those who live in New York City an offer).
Automation - Create automated sequences of emails so when someone makes one purchase from your store, they'll receive another message at a later point in time asking them if they'd like some extra goodies added to their order (this way, you can mitigate the risk of losing customers because they forgot something).
MailChimp also offers free trials, so you can try its service before committing any money.
Optimizely
Optimizely is an A/B testing tool that helps you increase conversion rates by testing your designs and content against each other.
Optimizely allows you to create a variety of tests and measure their impact on your website traffic.
You can, for example, test different versions of headlines or images to find out which ones work best for driving conversions on your site.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you understand your customers. It provides detailed information about your store's traffic and conversion rates, allowing you to improve your store's performance.
Google Analytics is easy to use and set up, so even if you're not a technical person or don't have much time available, it will take a little while before you can see how many people visit or buy from your e-commerce platform daily.
Zapier
Zapier is a tool that connects apps. It helps automate tasks by connecting the tools you already use, so you can save time and focus on what's important: running your business.
Here's how it works: You connect one app with another through Zapier, creating an "action" or "zap."
When this action happens in one app (like when someone signs up for your email list), it triggers another activity (like emailing them).
Shopify integration tools
Shopify is an e-commerce platform with many integrations, apps, and extensions. It has a large community of developers continuously developing new tools for Shopify users.
Because it's such an established platform with so many resources available online--and because it's so easy to set up--it's likely that you'll want to integrate your store with other services beyond Shopify itself.
TaxJar for e-commerce tax automation
TaxJar is a cloud-based tax automation platform that helps e-commerce businesses comply with sales tax regulations in the United States and Canada.
It automates sales tax calculations and filing for all 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Mexico.
TaxJar's software is easy to use: You enter your customer's address, and TaxJar will automatically calculate their total order amount based on what they bought and where they live--and then file it with any relevant state or local government agencies on your behalf (or send you a report).
ShipBob for inventory management and order processing
ShipBob is an inventory platform for e-commerce global fulfillment. It's simple, easy to use, and has everything you need to set up an online store quickly.
Inventory Management System: Keep track of your inventory in real-time with ShipBob's built-in inventory management system. The system automatically updates stock levels based on sales and allows you to add new products with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Order Processing System: Order processing has never been easier than with ShipBob's built-in order processing system. Orders can be created from checkout pages or manually through the admin area, where they will appear pending until the customer receives or declines payment (if applicable). Once paid, orders are processed immediately so that fulfillment can begin as soon as possible.
If there are any discrepancies between what was ordered and what was shipped out, those changes will appear here, too.
To summarize
I hope this Substack has helped you find the right tools for your e-commerce store. Invariably, many options are available to help you run a successful business.
Still, these are some of the most essential ones every WiFi money entrepreneur should consider using this year.
Stay tuned for my next Substack covering EDI in e-commerce!
Until next time, your friend Parrotfish. 🤝