Consumers are now turning to online platforms for their purchases due to convenience and quick deliveries. Items they rarely purchased online have become frequent additions to their shopping carts – from groceries to medicine. As more and more customers realize the power of online purchasing, e-commerce grows and will continue to grow.
For businesses, this is an opportunity to remain in front and center of their potential customers. So, how do you start a successful e-commerce shop? What tools can you use to make sure your online store is accessible to customers?
Let’s start with these five tools that will help you set up and run a successful e-commerce shop.
Considered as one of the best e-commerce platforms, Shopify offers you a quick and easy way to set up your online store. It supports more than a million online stores and provides you with essential features to operate your e-commerce shop.
Why use it?
- Brand name generator – If you are starting an e-commerce business and have yet to come up with a name, you can use Shopify’s Business Name Generator. This allows you to create a name and use it as a domain for your Shopify store.
- Website builder – The platform comes with a drag-and-drop builder that makes website design a breeze – even for those with no coding experience.
- Intuitive dashboard – Manage everything in one place, from order placement to shipping. Everything you need to start selling online is at your fingertips.
If you’re looking for a powerful e-commerce platform, BigCommerce should be part of your list. Around 90,000 businesses around the world use this as their e-commerce software platform. It is easy to use and provides all the essentials to build and scale your e-commerce business. It is the best fit if you’re planning to expand your online store.
Why use it?
- Pre-built templates and easy customization – The platform offers design features that help merchants set up their online store. You can choose from different templates to set up your web store. The platform also comes with a drag-and-drop tool that allows you to design your online shop in minutes.
- Tools to market your online store – If your e-commerce business is not visible, how will customers find you? This is one problem that BigCommerce can address. The platform comes a built-in blogging function and SEO tools to keep your online store optimized.
- Coupon and discount features – One way to attract more buyers to your e-commerce site is by offering coupons or discounts. BigCommerce offers these conversion features to help boost your online sales.
Part of running an e-commerce business is knowing your data. You need to know what is working or not, so you can focus your energy, time, and budget on the right efforts. This is where analytics tools come in handy, and one tool you can use is Optimizely.
Why use it?
- Data insights – Get data about your customers to determine how you can better improve your e-commerce shop. This allows you to optimize your online store for better customer experience.
- Experimentation – This tool allows you to run A/B tests to determine how you can drive more checkouts and reduce cart abandonment. This is the best approach if you want to try new techniques and ramp up your e-commerce shop.
Studies show that 82% of customers expect quick responses when it comes to sales or marketing questions. This makes customer service one of the pillars of a successful e-commerce business. Slow response times can push your customers to the competition instead. If you need a tool that drives engagement on your online store, Chatfuel is one of your best bets. This allows you to automate messaging, so you do not have to worry about missing any queries from your customers.
Why use it?
- Ads to conversations – Running a social media ad? You can use Chatfuel to send potential customers from an ad directly to your messaging ad. This helps in setting up conversations with prospects from the get-go.
- Easy-to-use interface – You do not need to spend hours integrating chatbots. You can use the drag-and-drop feature to choose the chat flow, add questions and set up your chatbot.
- Customized messages – Make every message more suited to your audience and business needs. You can create chatbots tailored to how you want to engage with your customers.
If you are running an e-commerce store using Shopify, one of the features you can integrate is WhatsApp Chat plugin. This allows you to access different tools to manage your online shop – whether you need to provide automated customer service or get customers to complete their purchase.
Why use it?
- More engagement – Connect to your customers immediately by adding a live chat button on your Shopify e-commerce store. You can customize the call to action and position of the button, so customers can easily see it.
- Order notifications – Customers appreciate it when they are informed of when their orders are confirmed or shipped. With WhatsApp Shopify Plugin, you can set up notifications to give customers a heads up about the status of their orders.
Final thoughts
Having the right tools can make all the difference for your e-commerce shop’s success. Before trying every e-commerce tool out there, it is best to evaluate your business needs and goals. This will help you choose the tools that are worth your money, time and effort.
Ready to set up your e-commerce business? Let our team help you get started! Fill out the form below to schedule a free consultation with our team.