7 Ecommerce Tools for a Successful Online Business

Ecommerce tools, including shopping cart software, analytics plug-ins, and all-in-one website builders, are crucial to the success of ecommerce companies all over the world.

These programs enable internet shops to function more effectively than simply that. They also assist these companies in expanding, keeping up with customer demand, and differentiating themselves from the competitors.

What are ecommerce tools?

Ecommerce tools are computer programs, such as platforms, applications, and plug-ins, that assist store owners in managing their online shops.

Although there are many various types of ecommerce tools, they all serve the same function: to speed up, arrange, and automate the procedures involved in maintaining and expanding an online business. Drag-and-drop website builders, inventory management programs, and analytics tools are a few examples.

Why are ecommerce tools important?

It might take a lot of time and money to create the software from scratches, such as shopping carts and mobile applications. However, you may simplify the procedure, effectively manage your online business, and save expenses by using a comprehensive collection of ecommerce solutions. Benefiting characteristics are:

Tools to build and host an online store: The foundation of any online shop is the ecommerce tools. Ecommerce systems sometimes include website builders, which make it simple to create a visually appealing online store, and web hosting, which makes it possible for customers to visit the site and make purchases there.

Analytics tools: Analytics assist internet retailers in determining what is and is not working. You may measure metrics like key performance indicators (KPIs) and gain insights into profitability using tools like Google Analytics. By improving the ranking and visibility on search engines, SEO analytics can show you how to drive more visitors to your e-commerce site.

Tools for day-to-day operations: There are many moving pieces to keep track of while managing an internet shop. Some of the greatest tools an e-commerce business owner may employ are those that facilitate the organization of the store's daily business activities, such as ensuring that internal business operations and organizational requirements are met.

Marketing tools: Ecommerce businesses may benefit from marketing initiatives to build their brand identity, get more visitors, and turn leads into loyal consumers. Online companies may keep in touch with customers via email, social media, and even a dedicated blog with the help of the correct marketing tools, which also allow them to track a campaign's efficacy and automate content generation.

Tools for customer service: Superior customer service draws clients who are more likely to sign up for newsletters and make repeat purchases, according to a PwC analysis of customer experience. With the right customer service resources, online retailers can look after customers and guide them through every phase of the buying process.

7 types of ecommerce tools

Your e-commerce website can be built, managed, and improved in a variety of ways. The top seven ecommerce tool categories used by online companies are listed below.

1- Ecommerce platforms

Choosing the best ecommerce platform is the first step in creating an online store. The software that an online business utilizes to handle its basic requirements, such as creating product pages and processing orders, is known as an e-commerce platform. Examples comprise:

Shopify: Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform that aids in the launch of online enterprises. A wide range of ecommerce solutions is available, such as a website builder with premium and free themes, integrated marketing tools for creating, implementing, and analyzing digital marketing campaigns, a shopping cart with 100 payment gateways, and multi-channel selling.

Wix: Wix provides a drag-and-drop website builder. The fundamentals of an ecommerce platform are covered by Wix, including domain name registration, web hosting, and adaptable templates. Order tracking and online payment acceptance are further capabilities. Additional plug-in purchases or switching to a different ecommerce platform may be necessary for more sophisticated capabilities like analytics tools and complex inventory management.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform made specifically for large companies. It provides multi-channel selling, extensive customization choices, SEO analytics tools, and site hosting. However, some of BigCommerce's capabilities aren't as responsive or user-friendly as alternatives made for small businesses because it's a larger platform for bigger firms.

Big Cartel: Big Cartel is an ecommerce site designed specifically for artists and creatives. Big Cartel provides ecommerce options like as configurable layouts, domain name registration, and basic marketing tools. It's an excellent place to start an online business, but it's not always a smart place to scale one: payment and integration are limited, and pricing is determined by how many things are sold at once.

Squarespace: Squarespace is essentially a website builder that can also be used as an ecommerce platform if specific features are paid for and enabled. Once you're up and running, though, the platform provides inventory management capabilities as well as the opportunity to add a Shopify Buy Button to speed sales.

2- Content creation

Creating content for your ecommerce website can be an effective method of increasing visibility. It's also rather simple, thanks to ecommerce technologies like:

Canva: Canva is an ecommerce application that assists teams, even those with little to no experience, in creating visually appealing designs. Canva's drag-and-drop tools make it simple to create and share well-designed materials, whether you're establishing a brand identity or just providing supportive images for your online business.

WordPress: A dedicated blog is not required for all ecommerce businesses. However, for those that do, a content management system like WordPress may be useful. WordPress may assist in the development of a blogging strategy for developing and nurturing customer relationships, establishing a brand, and generating recurrent visitors.

3- Communication and internal organization

The internal operations of an online business might benefit from ecommerce solutions as well. This could entail anything from creating a specific area for staff communication to creating a platform to automate project management activities.

Slack: Slack is a messaging app that was created with workers in mind and allows you and your staff to communicate in real-time. Because Slack makes it possible for teams to become organized, supervise one another, and communicate about daily to-dos, this may increase productivity for remote workers.

Coda: Coda is a powerful productivity tool that can help you manage various aspects of your business, such as marketing calendars and tracking documents. It's highly editable and customizable, making it an excellent tool for internal project management. And as a bonus, Coda offers a Shopify pack that integrates with your Shopify store.

Monday.com: Monday.com is a flexible and customizable project management tool that automates workflows and centralizes work processes in one place. Monday.com can help online retailers manage inventory, track key metrics, and more.

4- Sales and logistics

Sales and logistics are critical components of running an internet business. While several ecommerce systems include these capabilities as part of their overall offerings, there are a few notable stand-alone choices as well.

Shipwire: Shipwire is a global fulfillment platform that handles orders for DTC, retail, and dropship channels. Shipwire provides logistical support and enables both national and international shipment by integrating with your existing shopping cart and marketplace.

Veeqo: Veeqo offers ecommerce website fulfillment and inventory management capabilities. Consider it a one-stop-shop for order fulfillment, complete with real-time inventory updates, order management, and reporting and forecasting capabilities to help your company plan for the future.

5- Marketing

There are numerous marketing tools available, ranging from content marketing to sponsored advertisements. Among the alternatives:

Mailchimp: Email newsletters are an effective ecommerce tool because they provide a direct line of communication with clients as well as a dedicated space to post updates, specials, and other information. Mailchimp, for example, helps you develop, send, and track email marketing campaigns, which simplifies the marketing process. Mailchimp integrates with Shopify, which means it syncs your Shopify data—including customer, product, and purchase information—to Mailchimp.

Constant Contact: Constant Contact is a comprehensive marketing platform that is best known for its email marketing services. Because it can assist internet businesses to develop and managing email lists, tracking outgoing emails, and more, the user-friendly platform may be a suitable choice for new business owners.

Buffer: Having a constant social media presence is a simple method to boost the visibility of your online store. Buffer is a simple social media management application that simplifies the process. It's a simple ecommerce application that allows online stores to pre-schedule social media material for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

6- Analytics

Ecommerce analytics track user activity, performance trends, and ROI (ROI). With the correct tool, it's easier to make informed decisions that could enhance sales while decreasing expenditures.

Google Analytics: With an ecommerce solution like Google Analytics, you can collect data on repeat visitors as well as real-time statistics such as: How many people are visiting the website? What is the source of the traffic? How do visitors interact with products?

Optimizely: Optimizely is a digital experiences platform that allows you to do A/B testing and offer customized, targeted messaging to ecommerce site visitors. In reality, this means that you may acquire insight into the effectiveness of your experiments and utilize that data to determine what content will (and will not) convert.

7- Customer service

It is critical to have an ecommerce solution that assists online shoppers during their customer journey. Ideally, you'll want a customer service platform that both helps keep repeat clients and attracts new ones.

Acquire: Acquire's platform assists online stores in providing high-quality customer assistance by optimizing workflows and customer information for customer service agents. Consider it a unified experience: customer support agents can access inquiries from all digital channels in one location and resolve them more rapidly.

Zendesk: Zendesk is a famous customer support platform and ecommerce solution that consolidates all of your support requests from various channels (social media, email, and chat) into a single location. Zendesk allows you to integrate live chat into your Shopify-powered site, conveniently access essential customer data, and troubleshoot support tickets more quickly.

Final thoughts

Ecommerce tools are critical to online store success. Businesses can do the following with the help of the correct ecommerce tools:

• Create an aesthetically beautiful and easy-to-navigate ecommerce website.
• Use analytics tools to track user activity and discover what works well on your ecommerce website.
• Organize day-to-day operations through automated workflows.
• Create marketing programs to strengthen brand identification and increase customer visibility.
• Provide strong customer service to encourage repeat business.

Finally, ecommerce solutions not only assist in the establishment of online firms but also in their growth.