The e-commerce sector is thriving, with a projected global value of $6 trillion by the end of 2023 despite the tough economic climate.
This is partially because of how easy it is to get started in ecommerce – platforms like Spotify and Etsy have made it very easy for anybody with some spare hours and a product to sell to launch a store.
Still, running any online business requires time, attention, and access to the right tools. This post will examine 11 tools and how they can help ecommerce traders.
Zoho (Business Suite)
Zoho offers a comprehensive suite of business applications, including CRM, email marketing, accounting, and more, tailored to meet the diverse needs of e-commerce businesses.
The Zoho platform allows users to create multiple email accounts, and tools like Zoho projects are great for collaborative working.
The platform is hosted entirely online, so it is not ideal for businesses who prefer to “own” their information. The Zoho server also goes down and slows down more than some users would like. The default mailbox capacity of 5GB is also on the small size.
Oberlo (Dropshipping)
Oberlo is a dropshipping tool that allows e-commerce businesses to find products from suppliers in their shops to sell without carrying inventory or shipping products.
The main advantage of Oberlo is that it is low-risk with no investment costs. The downside is that product options are limited to what is available on Oberlo, prodigy margins are tight, and competition can be intense.
Printful (Print-on-demand)
Printful offers custom print-on-demand services, allowing e-commerce businesses to sell custom apparel, home decor, and more without holding inventory. The concept is simple: a prospective customer enters the store, orders an item, and then a third-party supplier prints the object (using the shop owner's designs) and then sends it to the buyer.
Printful is excellent for artists and creatives who want to monetize their designs. However,, fulfillmet times and product quality vary between third-party suppliers.
ReferralCandy (Customer Referral Program)
ReferralCandy is a referral marketing tool and affiliate program that allows e-commerce businesses to set up and run customer referral programs to increase word-of-mouth sales.
ReferralCandy is primarily used for bloggers and influencers who utilize “word of mouth” (or word of print) to drive their audience toward particular products or services.
The only major limitation with ReferalCandy is that, like other affiliate platforms, influencers can only drive sales toward sellers participating in the ReferralCandy program.
PushOwl (Web Push Notifications)
PushOwl helps e-commerce businesses re-engage their website visitors with targeted push notifications. This means that PushOwl allows sellers to track prospective purchasers who have visited their store and send pop-up push notifications directly to their desktops, reminding them to complete a sale.
While this can be very effective, many web users find push notifications invasive and disable them.
Loomly (Social Media Management)
Loomly is a social media calendar tool that helps e-commerce businesses manage content, track post performance, and engage with their audience.
Some of the most powerful features of Loomly include its automated content calendar that allows creators to schedule content for up to weeks at a time, along with its post-ideas and inspiration tools that track trends and offer suggestions to help kick-start the content generation process. Of course, the downside of this particular tool is that Loomly users risk making overly similar content.
TaxJar (Sales Tax Automation)
One of the biggest mistakes that ecommerce sellers make is failing to set aside enough money for taxes. This is where TaxJar comes in.
TaxJar provides automated sales tax calculation, reporting, and filing for e-commerce businesses, simplifying the complex world of sales tax.
In terms of downsides, some sellers would be better off using an accountant and tax advisor rather than relying on software.
SBLA's Debt Calculator
Many online stores and ecommerce entrepreneurs need to borrow money to kick-start their businesses. Repaying this money correctly and on time is vitally important.
The SBLA debt calculator tool can be handy for calculating expected debt repayments, making it convenient for any business that borrows start-up lending. It is very intuitive and easy to use.
Stamped.io (Product Reviews & UGC)
Stamped.io is a tool that integrates with platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce and helps e-commerce businesses collect and showcase product reviews, ratings, and user-generated content to build trust and increase sales.
Stamped.io essentially contacts customers after making a purchase and asks them to write a product review, potentially saving hours of sellers' time. One significant advantage of Stamped.IO is that it structures these customer reviews in an SEO-friendly format.
ShipStation (Shipping & Order Fulfilment)
ShipStation is a web-based shipping solution that streamlines the order fulfillment process for e-commerce businesses, integrating with multiple carriers and marketplaces. By integrating with a wide array of marketplaces, shopping carts, and pages, Shopstation centralizes shipping operations into a user-friendly platform.
Specific tools offered by ShopStation include customizable shopping labels, batch processing, and tracking information. Its scalability has made it popular with medium to big ecommerce traders.
Privy (Email & SMS Marketing)
Privy is an email marketing and conversion platform tailored for e-commerce businesses, offering tools to grow their email list, reduce cart abandonment, and drive more sales. Privy's easy-to-use ‘drag-and-drop design' interface enables users to create customized pop-ups, banners, and exit-intent displays.
The platform also offers A/B testing so sellers can experiment and identify what works best with their customer base.
Final Thoughts
These are just some tools now available to help ecommerce entrepreneurs succeed. In reality, no single online business will want or need all of these; indeed, using them all would incur considerable expense.
Instead, though, online sellers should identify which of these tools they need the most and choose these.
