SaaS Tools Best for Your eCommerce Business


E-commerce businesses are often started by one-person shows. You are the founder of an online business and need productivity software and platforms which will support your entrepreneurial spirit. By maximizing productivity using powerful Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools, you can make the most efficient use of your time, especially in the beginning. As time goes on, you will want to delegate some of these tasks to employees. You can easily hire specialists to help you improve your results with any of the software packages if you already have the right tools.

E-Commerce is an online business model. It involves buying and selling goods on the internet, and it also covers other business transactions like online auctions, billing, and internet banking.

Ecommerce is steadily growing, and many traditional businesses are switching to selling online to stay competitive in their niche or be the dominant player. If you are interested in starting an online business, you have come to the right place. Experts predict that eCommerce is going to continue growing in the future.

It is always best to do research on data and facts before embarking on any venture. Here are some Removal.ai data that will help you see the potential for success if you run a business on the internet:

  • eCommerce sales are expected to reach $6.54 billion by 2022.
  • China is the fastest growing eCommerce market, with $672 Billion in revenue for 2017.
  • The United States of America takes second place with a market value of $340 Billion.
  • Next came the United Kingdom’s eCommerce model, with a total income of $99 for the country.
  • 43% of eCommerce traffic comes from organic Google searches.
  • eCommerce is expected to be responsible for 95% to 95% of all eCommerce transactions by 2040.

It is because of its convenience that people visit eCommerce sites. This is how it should be thought about. The decision between going to a physical location and shopping anywhere and anytime is easy. This brings us back to data about customer experience when it comes to eCommerce transactions. These insights are crucial for determining the potential return of investment for your enterprise.

  • Boomers are second and third, followed by Millennials.
  • Smartphone users make up around 51% percent of online shoppers. Mobile eCommerce shopping could grow up to $3.5 Trillion in sales by 2021.
  • Customers may be more likely to shop online if they have access to free shipping vouchers.
  • Online reviews are very important for shoppers who make a purchase.

If you think an eCommerce business is the best option, the next thing you need to understand is that it goes beyond a website and social media pages. Software as a Service or SaaS tools will be required to help your business run smoothly.

You may be asking the following question: What’s SaaS? SaaS (software access over the internet) is a cloud-based solution that offers software access via a web browser and an internet connection. This allows users to install and use software quickly and easily. SaaS powers the majority of eCommerce tools, making it an indispensable tool for starting your online business.

Business and Product management tools

Too many times, managing your own business is a hindrance to your business’ growth. We’ve all been there. And it gets more frustrating the bigger you get. These tools allow you to organize your time, finances, channels, and even competitive analysis.

Kin: Kin helps you manage all your HR needs for your ecommerce store. Kin manages employee data and files, onboarding, time off, and performance reviews all in one cloud-based, easy-to-use system.

inDinero: This tool is designed to simplify the accounting tasks and responsibilities of your ecommerce business. inDinero offers you full access to an accounting and finance staff that can create and maintain financial accounts, review and categorize transactions and handle tax filings.

Zirtual: This tool can save you valuable time and make it easy to spend less time on back-office tasks and more time developing your ecommerce store. Zirtual allows you to connect to your own personal assistant. She can help you with everything: booking travel accommodations, scheduling meetings, managing your email inbox, fulfilling personal errands, and more.

Sellbrite: This is a multichannel inventory and listing management tool for online businesses. It allows merchants to easily list and sell products through multiple sales channels. You can control and sync inventory, manage orders, and access the multichannel intelligence that will help you succeed. This is the best growth initiative you can take if your business is still focusing on just one channel.

UpCounsel provides instant access and support to a pool of lawyers who you can turn to when you need it. As your business grows, you will need to hire legal counsel to assist you in trademarking and protecting intellectual property, branding, customer agreements, labor, and employment agreements.

HelloSign: Another useful tool to be leveraged when you are working on scaling your online business. HelloSign can help you secure and legally bind e-signatures to your business. HelloSign integrates seamlessly into Gmail, Google Drive, Box, Evernote, Dropbox. As you grow, you’ll most likely be hiring contractors. This is the easiest and fastest way to get all those signatures.

ShipStation: A ShipStation tool can help you manage, import, and ship product orders. ShipStation has integrations with numerous ecommerce shopping portals, platforms, or tools such as Sellbrite. Provides a comprehensive list of integrations.

Signifyd: A tool such as Signifyd helps you to prevent fraud, eliminate chargebacks and scale your business. Signifyd has two options. You can manage fraud on your own or let Signifyd handle it.

Kit: This tool helps you with your ecommerce market needs. Kit connects with a virtual assistant who can help create Facebook and Instagram ads that target the audience, post updates about your store to your Facebook page, as well as send emails to your customers.

Wiser: A pricing intelligence tool called Wiser allows you to be competitive in your price space. Wiser – You can monitor prices of competitors and dynamically adjust your own pricing. It also gives you access to useful reports and powerful analytics, which can help you scale up and grow your online business.

Hiver: As your team grows and your communication needs change, it is more important to be able effectively to manage them. Hiver will allow you to have a cleaner, simpler inbox. Shared mailboxes allow your team to assign tasks to one other and eliminate any problems that arise from multiple team members communicating with customers through the exact same email.

Sourcify is a platform that allows you to rely on your manufacturing partner to create high-quality products on a large scale. Sourcify connects you with various manufacturing platforms around the globe and makes the bidding as well as shipping process simple. This tool keeps your inventory in stock, so customers don’t suffer from product shortage delays.

TaxJar: TaxJar is a tool that automates the filing of sales tax in various states and jurisdictions. It can help you to reduce stress and ease the process. You can set up auto filing and connect your store to the sales points. This will allow you to receive all relevant returns immediately, including the correct sales taxes.

QuickBooks: This accounting software can be used for any stage of your business. QuickBooks gives you a 360-degree overview of your company by managing all aspects of business bookkeeping. You can manage all aspects of your business with multiple user logins and extensive analytics.

Marketing Tools

Marketing is my profession. You need great products. And you need excellent service and management. But, regardless of how great you are at products or customer support, you need someone whose goal is to find customers and communicate with them in such a way as to convince them that your products will be the right ones for them.

I view it less like a Jedi mind trick and more as a cobbler. My job is to carefully inspect, tweak, and improve the store’s language. Pricing strategy. Customer personas.

Optimizely: Optimizely helps you increase conversions, improve customer experience, and launch and analyze A/B experiments on your ecommerce site. Optimizely makes it simple and quick to A/B-test copy, colors, product placements, and entire pages.

Don’t think that CRO is just a bunch of hocus-pocus. Take a Look at how Optimizely helped me increase conversions by over 40 percent in a matter of a month.

Google AdWords: Google AdWords allows you to increase brand and product visibility, and Google AdWords enables you to target specific audiences according to location or keywords. Furthermore, you only have to pay for actual results.

Google AdWords is different because you don’t have the need to create it, and all that’s required is to fulfill it. Your audience is already searching Google AdWords for your keywords and products.

Photoshop: Photoshop can help you create professional-grade product images for your website. Photoshop can be used to modify and customize graphics and photos, which will help you stand out from your competition. Professional photo editing can be a powerful tool to establish trust and legitimacy in your online store.

Canva: Canva helps you create striking images and graphics that reflect your products or company. Canva is a useful tool if you do not have experience with Photoshop.

Hootsuite: Hootsuite helps you create a strong and authentic brand presence for your online business through social media channels. It allows you to schedule updates and interact effectively with customers. Hootsuite allows users to see what others are saying about their brand or products, and they can also schedule social updates.

BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a great tool to help you create engaging content that attracts new customers. BuzzSumo allows users to search specific topics and see the most viewed articles. You can also see the social media accounts of those who have shared articles about similar subjects in the past.

Campaign Monitor: Campaign Monitor helps you stay in control of customer interactions. You can send personalized emails and campaigns to your customers using Campaign Monitor. Automating can allow you to trigger messages based upon the subscriber’s location within the customer journey. It also increases conversion rates by providing relevant content. Campaign Monitor’s powerful analytics allows you to target your email list with targeted segments and send beautiful, templated emails which inspire action.

Syte is a tool that allows your customers to interact and see how your products are used in their day. Use a photo to make your inventory searchable, or show your products through the eyes of someone who has used your product. Syte gives customers the opportunity to click directly onto your inventory to make a purchase or to learn more.

Shakr: Shakr is a tool that allows you to create video ads. You can use Shakr and then start sharing high-quality video content via social media. Shakr has over 2000 video templates and a stock image gallery, and you can create professional-looking videos with their drag and drop builder. Multivariate tests are also available so you can determine which videos will resonate the most with your audience.

MailChimp is another email marketing provider. MailChimp will create and send you regular emails regarding your products to your subscribers. For example, you can create email campaigns to offer new customers special coupons, or to let customers know about new products.

WordPress: WordPress makes it easy to share helpful blog posts on your products, industry, and specific pain points. This will help you connect with potential customers and new audiences. WordPress is an excellent option for online store managers who don’t have a blog feature, and it is completely free, simple to use, and highly versatile.

Facebook Ads: Facebook Ads can be used to reach specific types of users and connect with them. Because Facebook Ads cost relatively little, it is an attractive option for ecommerce business owners. I have actually been able to get more than 500% ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) for most clients.

Facebook Ads are my favorite part. It allows you to target your ideal client in an extremely precise manner.

OptiMonk: To increase your potential customer’s attention before they leave your site, you can use OptiMonk. This tool creates exit-intent popups, which are displayed whenever a visitor leaves your site. OptiMonk enables you to essentially retarget your visitors by tracking user behavior and offering targeted offers for people who may never revisit your ecommerce site.

Criteo: Create and launch customized retargeting advertising campaigns with Criteo. Criteo will help you convert more shoppers. It presents dynamic ads to show them the best offers and products from your store. It also automatically selects the most engaging creative components, allowing you to optimize your campaign’s performance.

Drift: Drift lets you create conversational chatbots that can interact with visitors to your website and capture more qualified leads. You can make it easy for potential new leads to quickly find the information they are looking for by creating questions and answers to common questions. These questions can then be tailored to different pages on your website. This tool allows you to communicate directly with your support team in case of any issues that are more “human.”

Customer.io is a tool that automates email communication. Customer.io creates relevant email campaigns for customers based on their behavior. Transactional emails can be triggered to keep customers in the loop with important information. Customers can also receive relevant newsletters via segmentation and analytics based on customer profiles. Customer.io is also compatible with an API which allows integration with a variety of services.

AdEspresso: AdEspresso can be used to optimize Facebook Ads. You can run A/B tests to see which ads are performing best for your audiences. You can easily view the results of your campaigns using robust analytics. This tool will offer suggestions on how to optimize your campaign to improve certain metrics.

The Obvious Channels of Social Media: To build a loyal group of brand advocates, regularly engage on the social networks where your target market spends most of its time. This means that you shouldn’t be present on every social media platform just because you feel it is necessary. Only choose the social media channels your customers and prospects use most. Don’t just spend time posting pictures of your products and offers; take the time for meaningful relationships and to connect with those who find and follow them on social media.

Analytics Tools

Without knowledge of what works, your ecommerce store won’t grow. Analytics is the backbone that drives growth, and your hypothesis should be tested, measured, and scaled up if it proves to work. These are just some of my favorite ecommerce analytical tools.

Google Analytics: To keep an eye on how users interact with your pages, products, and websites, you can set up Google Analytics. Google Analytics gives you the ability to track sessions and users as well pageviews conversion events (time on page, bounce rate, etc. You can also set up reports to assist you in identifying problems and opportunities as they occur.

Moz: Moz is another helpful analytics tool for scaling ecommerce businesses. Moz can track keyword ranking and compare it with competitor sites. They also identify link opportunities and keyword opportunities.

I’ve seen websites with over 13,000 “new” 404 errors. That’s 13,000 pages, which is a huge loss for your customers and can be costly. SEO is an essential part of ecommerce.

Kissmetrics: Another powerful tool to identify potential opportunities and help your ecommerce shop grow. Kissmetrics allows users to use data to discover where their best customers are. You can also see who your best customers are and how you can convert them on your website. You can view revenue metrics broken up by traffic source. Funnel Reports provide insight into what is keeping people from checking out.

Taplytics: Taplytics lets you experiment, test, and track all your subscriber actions to better understand how they interact with your product. With their web- and mobile testing tools, you can run A/B experiments to get more insights on the interactions of customers with your app. With real-time analytics reporting support, you can iterate quicker and release features easily based on direct customer feedback.

Clearbit: Tracking sales interaction and lead generation is vital as you begin to scale up your business. Clearbit’s Salesforce integration automatically updates any interactions with your prospects based on various sources. This tool also helps track leads through your entire sales funnel, and you can see when you should retarget or reach out to close the deal.

Metrilo: Metrilo can combine an analytics platform with email marketing and a database management system under one roof. This tool is specifically tailored for ecommerce stores. Users can access conversion tracking and sales attribution as well as cart abandonment and LTV information on a live basis. You can also set goals to track success and retarget customers who have not made any purchases in a time period.

Social Media Analytics: To get more engagement from social media and increase conversions, you should track and evaluate analytics on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and any other social sites that you use to interact online with your target audience. By measuring social analytics, you can determine what products and content your target audience is most interested in. There are many great aggregators out there, but the best source of information is the individual tools.

Customer Service, Advocacy, and Loyalty Tools

Without customers, you can’t run a business. Other companies are also trying to make your customers be your clients. It’s crucial to figure out how to support and advocate for them, delight in them, build up their loyalty, and keep them coming back.

Zendesk Chat: Use Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) to eliminate objections and build confidence with your site visitors. Zendesk Chat enables you to make a customized chat button to place on your site. It also allows you to set up proactive chats that engage customers based on specific triggers. Customers can also leave questions. Additionally, Zendesk Chat gives you access to powerful reports and metrics.

I’m not sure how I could emphasize the power and importance of live chat enough, especially for ecommerce development.

LeadChat: Another tool to communicate with future customers online. LeadChat is more about converting customers, and it also helps you identify qualified leads that can be followed up with. LeadChat allows customers to chat with a team that is experts in conversion. This means they can get all the answers and understand all the common objections people have about your products. This is especially beneficial if you don’t sell products that are extremely technical.

ReferralCandy: To grow customer loyalty as well as increase ecommerce sales, ReferralCandy will allow you to set up an ambassador program or referral system for your company. ReferralCandy will enable customers to create a customized referral link and share it with friends. You can set up discounts, special deals, or view data on the highest-referring customers.

Coed Monkey: Surprise your customers by offering them swag. CoedMonkey lets you create and order shirts to promote your business. Send your shirts out as gifts to your most loyal clients, new customers, or customers with great reviews.

AuthentiPix: In order to increase product sales in your store and drive conversions, you can use a tool like AuthentiPix. AuthentiPix will allow customers to post photos of your products as well as free advertising for you on Instagram. Social proof can be extremely powerful when it comes to boosting ecommerce orders. AuthentiPix is a fantastic way to show potential clients how much people love your products.

Smile.io is another great way for customers to stay loyal and drive more sales. Smile.io (formerly Sweet Tooth), a tool that lets you reward customers with points, referrals, social shares, and purchases, can be created. This tool is compatible with Shopify BigCommerce Magento, Shopify, and custom platforms that are available for enterprise companies.

Qualaroo is a tool that helps you improve the buying experience, learn more about your customers, and create better customer and visitor experiences. Surveys are a great way to improve conversions, uncover issues, and get a better understanding of the buyer journey.

Promoter.io: Another tool that you could use to survey customers. But this one is solely focused on gathering feedback through the Net Promoter System. You can use the tool to continuously improve your NPS, or Net Promoter Score, to increase sales, connect with brand advocates, find real problems, and grow your business.

Thankbot: Another tool you can use for customer delight. Thankbot makes it easy for you to send customized, handwritten thank-you cards to customers. Making a good impression is key to growing your ecommerce business, and it also helps you build relationships with your customers and be the best option they can find. A great way to stand out is to send thank-you cards handwritten to your customers.

Yotpo: Customer reviews are an excellent way to overcome objections and increase customer loyalty in order to improve future sales. Yotpo lets you embed customer reviews in your ecommerce store, and the widgets for your website are fully customizable and simple to install.

ProTip. Yotpo allows you to send mail after purchase (MAP), review requests. Customers will receive MAP questions automatically after they have purchased a product, and it’s an easy way to capture positive reviews from customers.

Postmates: Interacting directly with customers through your website or via social media is an excellent way to make a personal connection. If the interactions are positive, or customers leave glowing reviews about their purchase, you might send them an extra thank-you gift. Postmates can be used to delight customers. You can “take them out” for coffee or lunch at their favorite spot. It’s an excellent way to make connections with customers even if they’re not in your city.

Kayako: Your customer base will grow as your business does. And customers are always asking questions. Kayako is an ecommerce-specific support software. It can help you interact with your customers on multiple channels, prompt engagement and track past interactions.

UJET: Customer service experience that is faster and more personalized. UJET gives support reps access to a modern Software Development Kit (SDK) that includes fingerprint verification as well as real-time photo sharing. Also, a unique diagnostic package with customer information. A fast and seamless resolution in customer support can mean the difference of retention or attrition. UJET gives frontline employees all they need in order to leave customers smiling.

Other Tools

In addition to all the other tools we discussed, there are still some that need to be addressed. These are the tools that make life more fun. These tools will help you scale your ecommerce shop by allowing personalization, avoiding MAP Policies, and custom searching.

BloomReach: This tool helps you personalize and maximize the user experience on your website and mobile apps. BloomReach gives you the ability to leverage a range of tools to increase organic SEO, improve search functionality, and present products to customers that are customized based on their interests.

Personalization is definitely an important step in the right direction, but if the rest of these tools have been mastered, personalization might be your next big win.

PriceWaiter can be used to increase conversions as well as automate sales campaigns. PriceWaiter offers pricing match capabilities that enable visitors to make purchases on your products. You can also make compelling call-to-action offers by using the tool, and these will be displayed to visitors who leave your site after they have not yet purchased. PriceWaiter lets you send automated drip emails with limited-time offers that are personalized to your potential customers.

Pro-tip. PriceWaiter offers a way to skirt the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) rules that many manufacturers have enacted. Take the time to read the MAP policy carefully. You may find that some brands don’t allow you to charge a lower price for your product in the cart.

SearchSpring: Another powerful personalization tool, which you can use in order to drive more sales or grow your ecommerce company. It provides the most relevant products that you have to offer to any visitor who visits your product pages. It uses machine learning and predictive artificial intelligence to analyze product data, aggregate user behavior, and surface the most relevant products along the customer journey.

Aimtell: This tool makes it easy to re-engage website visitors using targeted desktop and mobile web push notifications. This tool lets you send reminders or offers to website visitors about your product even when their browser is closed. The installation is fast and simple, and the tool integrates well with Shopify.

Segment: When all your processes, both internal and external, work together, running a successful company becomes much easier. Segment allows you to ensure that your analytics and email are working together. Segment is a tool that will enable you to connect several providers and change integration settings. Additionally, it has an open source API which can be used by developers.

Zapier allows you to connect many different apps together, and Zapier allows you to act as a conduit for various services. This platform can automate your customer tracking, update a spreadsheet and update it with new purchases. This powerful tool helps you streamline many processes to grow your business.

Conclusion

Investing in SaaS products is a great place to start a new eCommerce business. Your business can be simplified and grown by knowing the right software.

These seven tools will help you determine if an online storefront is right for you. Some of these tools come with free trials you can take advantage of. You won’t feel pressured or deceived into buying paid plans unless it is something you choose.

Future business models and business intelligence tools will only improve, and eCommerce software and SaaS applications are leading the pack. Invest today and watch your business grow.

 


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