Shopify is a really powerful e-commerce tool that can help you easily set up an online store – even if you have no prior experience or technical know-how. With it, you can create a website, add a shopping cart system, and proceed to take advantage of its features for marketing, CRM, inventory, and more.
In fact, Shopify even has many extensions in the form of specific Shopify apps that can add more features to the mix.
But as powerful as Shopify may be, you may not want to rely on its internal ecosystem for everything. The fact of the matter is that there are tons of other useful e-commerce tools out there that could be a huge help when you’re starting a Shopify store.
So if you’re interested in taking your Shopify store to the next level, here are five e-commerce tools you should look into.
E-commerce tool content Creation
Content is the cornerstone of every successful e-commerce business. You will need it for your Shopify site and to market your website and the products you’re selling on social media and other platforms.
Because of that, you need tools that can help make it easier for you to create content, and some of the best options include:
- Canva quickly creates many different types of graphics. Even if you have practically no experience, it will allow you to develop finished products that look professional.
- Burst is an excellent platform for finding free images that can be used commercially.
- Grammarly that can help you to edit and check your grammar so that everything you publish looks professional.
- InShot which is a tool to edit and produce simple yet great social media videos directly on your mobile phone.
Communication and Project Management
It isn’t easy to keep track of everything that needs to be done and communicate with team members to ensure they’re all on the same page. But fortunately, many tools can help on that front.
The most popular communication tool nowadays is probably Slack – a messaging platform you can use to organize your teams and let them collaborate on projects more easily. It integrates with many other tools, including Trello, one of the most popular project management tools, and will break down projects on a board into lists and cards.
That being said, you can look at other noteworthy communication and project management tools, such as Coda, Asana, or even Google Workspace.
Productivity
If you want to ensure your employees are using their time productively, one of the best tools available is Controlio – an employee monitoring and time management tool. It will let you monitor your employee’s attendance and activity while they’re working, including used apps, web browsing history, file transfers, and more.
With all the data from Controlio, you can measure your employee’s productivity. It will even calculate a productivity score of its own that you can use to compare employees and spot any outliers that may require you to take action.
If you intend to allow your staff to work from home, Controlio can also act as a remote worker monitoring tool. According to the Harvard Business Review, about 52% of remote workers feel cut off, which can affect their productivity – so keeping an eye on their data may help you spot early signs of that happening.
It is worth noting that the monitoring that Controlio provides is also an excellent way to bolster the security of your Shopify store. It will enable you to identify suspicious behavior, and its records will even let you check if there has been a security breach.
Sales and Marketing
The most direct way to improve the profits your Shopify store can generate is with sales and marketing tools. There are many such tools out there, and the ‘best’ options really depend on what area you want to focus on – including:
- CrazyEgg to track the performance of your website and optimize its pages for increased conversions.
- Mailchimp is an email marketing solution that integrates with Shopify.
- Buffer to manage social media channels and schedule content posts.
- HypeAuditor to try influencer marketing with an AI-powered platform.
- SurveyMonkey, which allows you to create surveys and collect responses easily.
Customer Service
One thing that can make or break your Shopify store is whether or not you provide good customer service. There are several tools available that can make that part easier and give you the means to support your customers in several different ways.
Arguably the most widely known customer service tool is Zendesk due to how comprehensive and powerful it is. However, other tools such as Gorgias, LiveChat, Acquire, and GrooveHQ are arguably just as good or better in specific situations.
To figure out which tool best fits your Shopify store, you should think about what you need to meet the requirements of your potential customers.
Final Words
The five types of tools covered above should help you get your Shopify store up and running smoothly and with fewer issues. More importantly, these tools will help you to optimize its operations and processes while improving its ability to attract customers and make sales.
It should be noted that aside from these types of tools, there are others that you may find you eventually need to help with logistics, specific types of content creation or marketing, analytics, testing, or other areas. In other words, you should consider these five types of tools as your starting point – and look into other types of tools as and when the need arises.
At the end of the day the tools you choose to use should be the ones that you feel will have the largest impact on your business and its bottom line. Some may improve your profits directly, while others may indirectly improve other areas such as productivity, brand loyalty, or exposure.