Being faced with so many options can be confusing and bewildering. Many articles discuss which tools should be used for Shopify, email marketing and other aspects of ecommerce; however, few cover essential tools.
This article will assist in selecting the appropriate tools for your ecommerce arsenal. Our guide will narrow your choices down to those most essential, efficient, and useful for running an effective and profitable ecommerce operation.
These online retail products fall into four main categories.
- Optimize Your Process
- Site With Ecommerce Store Platform Optimization Tools.
- Tools for Analytics & Reporting
Here are six of our favorite ecommerce tools to help you build and host an ecommerce site.
1. Shopify
Shopify is the top pick for most retailers. Offering an abundance of features and functionality right off the bat, Shopify serves as an ecommerce platform which lets users build websites themselves while accessing shopping cart software as well as various features that add depth to any online shop.
This comprehensive solution for everything ecommerce offers you everything from an online store builder to seamless integrations with advanced marketing tools - everything you could ever need for successful ecommerce is available here.
Shopify does not require any technical knowledge for users to get up and running quickly and offers numerous templates to get things going quickly. Plus, Shopify's vast array of plugins and apps provides enough customization solutions to meet almost every imaginable need!
Shopify stores can be fully tailored with customized design solutions from designers. Burga, an adorable phone case brand is one such example.
Key Features
- Shopify has a store of over 1,200 apps
- Multichannel integration is available
- Supports multiple payment gateways as well as multiple currencies
- Tools to improve shipping experience
- Supports dropshipping
- Tools for managing product and inventory
Pros
- This is ideal for both small and large businesses.
- Its functionality is enhanced by numerous applications and plugins from third parties.
- Both paid and free themes have flexible and functional designs
- Payment gateways with a wide range of options
Cons
- There are fewer built-in features, so you're more reliant on third party applications
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce stands apart from Shopify as an e-commerce plugin specifically tailored for WordPress. As one of the leading and best tools on the market today, WooCommerce remains an impressive e-commerce solution that boasts popular support among both retailers and customers alike.
If you don't already have a WordPress website and know its framework well enough, installing WooCommerce could make adding ecommerce functionality to it an effortless process. Kinsta provides lightning-fast performance for websites as well as simple scaling features and bulletproof malware protection; their platform supports high traffic sites while being tailored specifically for WooCommerce sites; give them a try today to see how Kinsta can make your WooCommerce store 39% faster!
WooCommerce provides an impressive range of extensions and integrations that enable users to execute various ecommerce functions, including selling products, offering subscriptions or performing other related ecommerce operations on existing websites. It can help monetize an already profitable web presence.
Ecommerce platform Magento 2 provides medium and large businesses alike with a user-friendly, customizable ecommerce tool perfect for eCommerce needs. As it's open source software, your online store can be tailored exactly according to customer demands.
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Key Features
- Multiple third-party integration options
- Supports customer service help desk functions
- Tax automation for easier tax reporting
- Supports multiple currencies and languages
- Themes and display designs can be customized
Pros
- If you already own a WordPress website, it's cost-effective.
- There are many themes and layouts to choose from
- The open source nature allows for more customization
- The software is scalable to any size.
Cons
- This plugin is only available to WordPress users
- Help desks are the only options for customer service
WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin that is free to use, allows you to sell products online. If you do not already have a WordPress site, such as hosting, then the costs of building one will be incurred.
Kinsta is a great option for Woocommerce stores. Kinsta, a managed WordPress host company, provides an ultra-fast platform designed for WooCommerce websites with heavy traffic or resource requirements.
Kinsta offers all clients with premium features such as Google's Top Tier Network, DDoS protection and enterprise-level malware security protection - WooCommerce sites additionally receive 24/7/365 support!
Building and running an ecommerce website can be challenging, and CPU performance will likely play a vital role. C2 compute optimized VMs stand out with their superior CPU capabilities - they make Kinsta shine bright!
Kinsta has developed an optimal hosting workflow to maximize performance for ecommerce websites, offering customized caching features, lightning-fast speeds and outstanding security features in Kinsta WooCommerce Hosting - an unrivaled option when it comes to running an ecommerce storefront.
Features:
- Google Cloud Platform offers ultra-fast loading speeds
- Choose from 35+ datacenters and 300+ CDN locations to find the nearest Data Centers to your customers.
- Edge caching, fast server-level cache and early hints
- Free Expert Migration
- Best 24/7 expert customer support
- Automatically scale up resources when traffic increases
- Free backups and monitoring of your system.
- Cloudflare Enterprise malware and DDoS protection protects financial and website data
Pros:
- Easy to scale and ready for traffic spikes if you run a promotion.
- Customer service and performance are praised.
- Many website optimization features are available.
- Custom dashboards with high usability
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- The price is higher than the average host, but you will get more features, better performance and expert support.
- No domain included.
3. BigCommerce
BigCommerce, like Shopify, provides an ecommerce platform with numerous features suited for specific businesses and customers - these features include creating highly tailored websites with SEO/analytics optimization as well as payment and inventory control features - making BigCommerce another powerful ecommerce option with which businesses can flourish online.
BigCommerce boasts years of expertise in the ecommerce field and features an easy website builder and tutorials designed for both newcomers and advanced technologists alike.
For top-quality security and fast loading speeds with 24-hour customer service support this option may be ideal.
This ecommerce tool's site boasts extensive customer support information and tutorials. Should any further assistance be required, the team can be reached out to via email, live chat, or telephone.
Read More: Why eCommerce Software is the Future of Business?
Key Features
- Multichannel sales for sites such as Amazon, Facebook and eBay
- Layouts and designs that can be customized
- WordPress Integration
- Checkout Tool Customizable
- Visual editors and page builders that are effective
- Mobile optimization of your site for shoppers on the go
Pros
- BigCommerce offers a variety of customer support options
- There are many visually appealing themes available and customisable designs.
- This is a flexible, scalable and powerful ecommerce tool
Cons
- Most themes are paid-for themes, so there are few free options.
4. Wix
Wix offers much more than simple website building capabilities; it is an all-in-one ecommerce solution which makes building an online store, selling products online and growing your business incredibly simple and straightforward.
Wix is an accessible, cost-efficient option designed specifically to make website creation for small businesses simple - it's drag-and-drop website builder making it possible without needing coding knowledge to develop functional ecommerce stores themselves.
This tool includes over 800 customizable templates to meet the unique requirements of retailers, helping to expand website functionality by connecting third-party applications or tools.
Wix websites are safe because they come equipped with an SSL Certificate at no additional charge and PCI compliance standards, providing your customers with peace of mind during online transactions.
Key Features
- Support for multiple social media platforms with omnichannel marketing
- Themes that can be customized for individual webpages
- Website design tools
- Blog tools to boost content-marketing campaigns
- Email marketing suite
- Choose from over 800 different website templates
Pros
- Drag-and-drop tools for easy website creation
- The annual plan includes a free domain for the first year
- Mobile application that is easy to use
Cons
- Third-party applications are required for advanced features
5. Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce was previously known as Magento Commerce and forms part of Adobe Cloud as an open-source ecommerce solution.
Adobe Analytics, Adobe Marketing, and Adobe Advertising products. By integrating with these, this tool becomes even more advantageous if your organization utilizes them all.
Build and Maintaining Ecommerce Platform
If you require extensive customizations and already use Adobe products, this tool may be right for you. Not suitable for beginners and not recommended if running a small-business.
Key Features
- Create a website with a customizable page builder
- Management and analytics tools with detailed information
- Segmentation and personalization of customer experience
- B2C and B2B retail modules
- Catalog and Order Management Tools
- Data Reporting and Insights
- Adobe Experience Cloud Suite and other popular Ecommerce tools are integrated into many stores
Pros
- Open source software is highly customizable
- This platform allows you to run B2B as well as B2C businesses.
- You can scale it
- Adobe Marketing and Analytics Tools can be seamlessly integrated with your online store
Cons
- For the installation and maintenance, you need to hire a developer
6. Shift4 Shop
Shift4 Shop (formerly 3DCart) provides businesses with many features they need for successful ecommerce operations, allowing you to build an online store through a user-friendly drag and drop interface.
Your platform will be fully equipped to take full advantage of social media integration, inventory control tools and email tools - as well as SSL certificate support and the GDPR toolkit to support businesses selling into Europe.
Shift4 Shop is an affordable credit card processor offering free transactions. Shop4Shop can host an entire website or simply add its functionality onto an already established one.
Shift4 Shop stands apart from other ecommerce solutions by including an inbuilt customer relationship management system to track customer interactions directly without needing third-party assistance.
Key Features
- Google Accelerated mobile Pages integration for mobile optimization
- Responsive themes, designs and templates
- Edit Store Language Option
- Drag and drop website builder
Pros
- Mobile-responsive page designs
- Page builder is easy to use
- The CRM system is built in
Cons
- Personalization Options for Minimalists
- Only high-end plans are capable of auto-shipping.
Now is the time to invest in marketing tools, with features like automated campaigns, audience segmentation and easy content production being of particular importance to you.
Are your options overwhelming you? Consider these top picks if you're after only the best!
7. Omnisend Is A Marketing Automation Tool
Omnisend excels at multichannel marketing, meaning you can connect multiple channels to an automated workflow for seamless delivery of messages across channels.
Spend less time managing multiple channels by consolidating email, SMS and social media marketing into one spot. An omnichannel approach doesn't reduce individual channels' effectiveness - contrary to popular belief SMS may actually increase sales! Transactional SMS such as order confirmations can actually help customers anticipate future orders more readily resulting in faster revenue gains for your company.
Omnisend is an efficient email marketing automation tool with features including:
- Easy-to-use editor
- Pre-built templates for ecommerce are available in abundance
- Lead generation forms, landing pages and pop-ups are all options for email capture.
All these tools can help you create your own emailing list.
Omnisend's automation features are sophisticated yet simple to use. Omnisend offers welcome series emails, cart abandoned workflows, birthday emails and special offers as part of its welcome series to make setting up and sending campaigns easier than ever.
Key Features
- Both SMS and Email marketing is possible
- Reporting and Analytics
- Lead tracking and Management
- Automated workflows
- Customizable email templates
- Push Notifications
- Integration with more than 30 ecommerce apps
Pros
- User-friendly
- Automate your entire marketing campaign with pre-built automation
- Easy integration with ecommerce software like Shopify WooCommerce BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce
- Excellent customer support
- Get a free plan with email marketing automation
Cons
- Email and SMS marketing is the best-suited type of marketing.
8. Ahrefs SEO and Website Health
Ahrefs is an impressive competitor research tool and SEO platform with an expansive backlink index, and offers you a chance to quickly gain an advantage in any SEO competition by tracking their strategies - such as keywords used, backlinks established etc.
Ahrefs offers invaluable statistics for understanding successful ecommerce strategy. Although not as in-depth a content audit or link analysis tool as other similar platforms do, Ahrefs remains an effective means for optimizing eCommerce sites.
Ahrefs provides tools that will enable you to optimize every element of your online store - from blogs and product listings, through SEO optimization.
Content on your website will help create brand recognition and engage visitors while also helping retain existing ones.
Key Features
- Keyword research tool with detailed results
- Domain rating and link building
- Check your SERP ranking and check its history.
- Site Explorer with charts and graphs
- Website audit tool
- Analysis of competitors
- WordPress SEO plugin
- Google Data Studio integration capabilities
Pros
- Content planning is a feature
- Get weekly updates about recent rankings keywords
- A large database of backlinks
- Data visualization and analytics tool with detailed analytics
Cons
- No free trial
- It is primarily a SEO tool and not a marketing tool in general
9. Buffer For Social Media Automation
Buffer makes scheduling posts and managing social media easy - creating beautiful visuals, assigning tasks easily to team members, and connecting with applications like Zapier, Feedly and Pocket from one central dashboard.
Buffer offers an intuitive platform that makes creating and sharing content simple, with real-time analytics to track its performance.
Ideal for companies with smaller social media teams. Packages offered through this service are highly affordable; even their free plan allows you to schedule up to ten posts weekly on three channels!
Key Features
- Social Media Analytics
- Planning and optimizing campaigns
- Create your own content
- Social listening
- Social Media Publishing
- Calendar of content
- Content library
Pros
- Easy to use
- Get a 14-day trial for free on all paid plans
- Social media publishing and scheduling capabilities
- Mobile application available
Cons
- Limited customer support channels
- The price can be high when you connect multiple channels
10. Referralcandy Is A Referral And Affiliate Marketing Tool
Referral Candy offers an effective referral program designed specifically to meet the needs of any business. By rewarding customers for referrals, this solution helps increase revenue and conversion rates, - in turn leads to higher overall revenue and conversion rates.
Referral Candy provides various incentives and rewards, from coupons, cash bonuses to unique gifts, all to motivate referrals.
ReferralCandy does not require special technical skills and is extremely user-friendly, helping businesses quickly acquire new customers while keeping existing ones loyal through word of mouth advertising and customer retention strategies. This automated solution makes customer acquisition and retention simple.
Referral Candy provides an anti-fraud feature to safeguard your ROI and is compatible with multiple eCommerce platforms - including Shopify.
Key Features
- Automatic referral links
- Customizable rewards systems
- Fraud detection tool
- Customer support
- Pay per performance
Pros
- Free 30-day trial is available
- A cost-effective tool that has great features
- Multi-integration seamless
Cons
- Live chat is the only way to contact website customer service
11. Datafeedwatch: Product Feed Management For Ppc Campaigns
Cart.com's DataFeedWatch tool makes advertising your products simultaneously on one, several, hundreds or even thousands of shopping channels and platforms easy and effective. PPC campaigns can be automated for each channel while novice or expert users alike can utilize its capabilities - this popular solution has also recently expanded internationally, becoming available in over 60 other nations!
Since 2023, this tool has proven highly valuable for tracking who else sells your product at what price, while smart algorithms offer recommendations regarding an optimal pricing point for it.
Online stores, merchants and brands as well as marketing agencies and businesses use this tool to facilitate growth across new channels.
DataFeedWatch pros:
- It is possible and easy for anyone to use the tool at a novice level. Professionals also use the expert level.
- Improve your PPC results by increasing conversions, ROAS and ad relevance.
- You/your team will save a lot of valuable time with the centralization and automation of your channels, shops and feeds.
- Customer service is quick and helpful. DataFeedWatch is rated higher than its competitors by users.
DataFeedWatch cons
- To use the tools effectively, you need to spend some time learning all of their features.
- Extra payment is made for the competition price monitoring tool
- There is no free plan, only a trial.
12. Shipstation Is A Shipping Platform
ShipStation integrates seamlessly with major ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and systems for business use to offer customized shipping solutions tailored specifically for each organization.
ShipStation stands out as a time saver with its automation, saving valuable hours every week. Orders are imported automatically and organized based on priority; custom rules can also be created for specific orders; plus all necessary data has already been prefilled!
Shipping could not be any simpler! Simply print off and adhere a label directly onto each piece - shipping could hardly be any simpler!
Key Features
- Integrate with major ecommerce platforms
- Inventory Management Tool
- Branded shipping after purchase
- Simplified shipping workflows
- Order Management
Pros
- All business sizes can benefit from a wide range of plans
- Shipping calculator tool
- Discounted shipping rates are available through FedEx, DHL and other partners.
Cons
- The interface can be made more user-friendly
13. CartHook for Checkout
CartHook can help retailers address one of their top challenges - cart abandonment rates reaching as much as 70% - with successful abandoned cart strategies that capture some or all of these carts, increasing revenue and improving margins.
CartHook records email addresses of website users who have completed the first stage of checkout but abandoned their cart before an hour has elapsed, along with details regarding any abandoned cart contents that remain. Should these purchases not go through within this window of time, a series of automated abandon cart emails containing up to three emails is sent automatically as follows.
CartHook typically achieves an average recovery rate of 20%, leading to an expected revenue boost of approximately 9% on average - an impressive amount from just one tool!
Key Features
- Shopify integration is available.
- Data analytics and insights
- Customizable designs for your specific brand
- Live Chat Support
- A/B Testing for Upsell Optimization
- Analysis of post-purchase revenue
Pros
- Free 14-Day Trial
- Setup of tool does not require a developer
- This tool is easy to use
- Upsells are available.
Cons
- Niche solution to a specific case
14. Gorgias For Customer Service
Gorgias provides retailers with an invaluable way to provide exceptional customer service - something every retailer should aim for with their ecommerce efforts.
As our days are limited in hours and resources are finite, customer service may often fall to the bottom of priority lists.
Gorgias can save time by quickly responding to customer questions automatically - meaning no manual answering! With one dashboard for all communications management and automation of customer interactions.
Gorgias can assess your customer service impact on revenue and productivity so you know exactly where you stand.
Key Features
- Social media listening
- Tickets Management
- Statistic and Analysis
- Shopify, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce integration
- Centralized social media interactions
Pros
- This is the best solution for all businesses
- Many integration options are available
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Revenue statistics are only available to advanced plans
15. Nosto Is A Personalized Product Recommendation And Personalization Service
Nosto has long been recognized for its product recommendations; however, Nosto also now provides content personalization, email recommendations, popups and customer insights to its offerings.
Nosto uses real time prediction technology and delivers highly curated experiences to customers based on real-time prediction algorithms to increase customer engagement while simultaneously optimizing revenue growth.
Customers expect an experience tailored to them while shopping online; personalization has therefore become a popular trend within ecommerce, something your business should certainly take note of.
Nosto believes their product can increase conversions, offering additional value as an added advantage.
Key Features
- Segmentation of audiences and insights
- Category merchandising
- Dashboard interactive with analytics and reports
- A/B Testing
- Email personalization
- Pop-ups remind you of important things
- Product Recommendations
- Content personalization
Read More: 5 Ways AI is Revolutionizing E-commerce Experience
Pros
- Customers can enjoy a personalized shopping experience with this tool
- This software offers A/B Testing capabilities
- It has an easy to use interface
- Reporting and Analytics Tool
Cons
- Competitors offer better reporting tools
16. Use Optimizely to Optimize and A/B Test
Optimizely is an invaluable platform for testing changes to your ecommerce website, such as testing user reactions when changing font or logo on landing page landing pages.
Focusing mainly on A/B testing capabilities, A/B Testing Engine claims to offer one of the world's most robust A/B Testing and front-end experimentation solutions.
Optimizely provides visual editing, multivariate tests, behavioral targeting capabilities and full integration with major analytics tools like Google Analytics to deliver the perfect testing platform. Optimizely is truly the ideal way to test!
Key Features
- Content management
- Commenting and collaboration is easy.
- Workflows that are streamlined
- Inventory Management
- Order Management
- Calendar for tracking time integrated
- Multivariate A/B Testing
- Personalization of content
- Multilingual sites
Pros
- It has a huge community of users and resources that will help you get the most out of the tool
- Prices are tailored to meet your business needs
- It has powerful editing capabilities
Cons
- The test requires a high level of IT knowledge to use.
17. Yotpo Is A Tool For Creating Reviews
Yotpo Reviews can help your company build social proof, trust and confidence among your target audiences through customer reviews left via their convenient interface. Customers are easily allowed to leave reviews.
Outsourcing your marketing campaigns to satisfied customers is an excellent idea - 77% of online consumers read reviews before making their purchasing decisions!
Yotpo's user-generated content (UGC) platform helps marketers access, curate and manage any type of customer generated content relevant to their brand.
Yotpo makes accumulating positive reviews simple with easy integrations for Facebook, Google and Shopify platforms. Their intuitive algorithm instantly recognizes products which need review at just the right moment in time - you won't miss a beat with positive feedback rolling in from customers!
Key Features
- Effective tools for moderation
- Support for multiple languages
- Reporting and Analytics Tool with Powerful Reporting
- Discounts and loyalty programs
- Product Recommendations
- Cloud-based Platform
- Supports popular ecommerce platforms
Pros
- Integrates with the majority of e-commerce websites
- You can use a powerful analytical tool
- The user interface is simple to use
- Free plan
Cons
- You cannot control the way reviews appear on social networks
18. Veeqo Inventory Management
Veeqo makes managing all orders, inventory, and shipping across channels easier with one central dashboard interface.
Manage and report on the overall process in an efficient warehouse operation using powerful analytics.
Purchase directly from suppliers, create shipping labels, and integrate your accounting platform, such as Xero or QuickBooks, in order to keep an eye on your numbers more closely.
Key Features
- Automate repetitive inventory tasks
- Reports and insights on inventory
- Storage management tools
- Inventory management
- Product Management Tools
- Barcode scanning capabilities
- Purchase tools
Pros
- Supports for shipping
- It has a friendly interface
- Multiple functions are available under one platform
- Support options for customers
- Integrates with popular shipping platforms
Cons
- Lacks a sales processing function
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Final Thoughts
There is an incredible range of tools out there; this list merely scratches the surface.
These tools are all easy to use, efficient, and provide great value - essential elements of an ecommerce toolbox for all kinds of businesses!
