If you want a high-performing online brand while keeping your operation lean, then you are going to need the right eCommerce tools, apps and resources to streamline your business and increase sales.
This week, we’ve put together an ultimate list of eCommerce tools in a variety of categories to help you ‘cheat’ at eCommerce and easily streamline your business and drive sales.
We will provide apps, tools and resources that cover your most crucial eCommerce tasks; so feel free to click one of the links below to skip to a task you need help with or would like to outsource to a top eCommerce tool or app.
- Branding and design
- Content marketing and copywriting
- Customer service
- DIY SEO
- eCommerce traffic
- Email marketing and list building
- Finance, accounting and legal
- Inventory management
- Product photos
- Product/supplier sourcing
- PR/influencer outreach
- Shipping and fulfillment
- Site comparison and analysis
- Social media marketing and selling
- Task management
- Tools and courses for eCommerce entrepreneurs
- Word-of-mouth marketing/product launch
- Web development tools and resources
Ready? Let’s jump in!
Branding & Design Tools and Resources for Online Stores
1. Coolors
Cost: Free
Looking to create color pallets for your branding or new brand campaigns or themes? Then Coolors is a super handy app. Furthermore, with this app, you can pick up starting colors from images to get the perfect combination automatically, customize your colors and create well-organized color profiles and schemes.
2. Looka
Cost: From $20 once-off
Formerly known as Logojoy, Looka AI-powered platform to create a logo in minutes. They have now expanded their product list to include other branding materials such as website building, business card creation, social media kits and more.
3. Tailor Brands
Cost: From $3.99 per month
Another automated branding platform is Tailor Brands. It provides not only an affordable and easy-to-use logo maker, but social media management and scheduling, online ad creation and a branding toolbox package.
4. TermsFeed
Cost: Free for basic agreements with premium agreement packages
TermsFeed is an online platform that will help you create legal policies and agreements. These include eCommerce terms and conditions, and privacy and refund policies.
Content Marketing & Copywriting Tools for Online Sellers
5. BuzzSumo
Cost: Basic free searches and business plans from $79
BuzzSumo is a search platform that will help you find the most popular (viral) social and blog content for the keywords you’re searching. This is very helpful in terms of content planning for your blog and finding possible viral content capabilities. Some of their other tools include brand and competitor mentions, and backlink and keyword tracking.
6. Content Consulting Services Guide
Cost: Varies
If you want to outsource your content, why not consider a content service? Tools and platforms such as Upwork and WordGeeks are a big asset. Whether you’re looking for a freelance writer to handle your product descriptions, a consultant to put together a solid blog topic plan or want to take a newsletter to the next level, there is a variety of content and copywriting services out there. You can head over to our Guide to Finding Freelancers for the eCommerce entrepreneur.
7. HubSpot Topic Generator
Cost: Free
If you are stumped for eCommerce blog topic ideas to match your chosen keywords, then you may want to give HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator a try. The tool will provide you with over 250 blog titles in a spreadsheet for you to use. However, not all the topics will be ready as is, and will need to be tweaked for your market and refined for your readers – think of them as a starting point.
8. Google Alerts
Cost: Free
Google Alerts will help you track your brand mentions and top topics around your top keywords. This will help you keep ahead of trending content online that can inspire your own content plans. Plus, track your competitors’ brands to see what they are up to on their eCommerce blogs.
Pro Tip: If you are looking for a more robust option, Mention is a popular choice.
Customer Service Tools for Online Sellers
9. Tidio
Cost: Free for their basic version, with pro packages from $15 per month
Tidio is an affordable live chat solution that is boosted by bots. Enabling sellers to communicate with customers quickly and efficiently, this eCommerce chat tool also includes extra features such as automatic customer lead messaging and customizable chatbots. Plus, it integrates with other tools and platforms such as Zendesk, Salesforce, WordPress, Shopify, Wix and more.
10. Facebook Messenger
Cost: Free
Compatible with Shopify, Facebook Messenger will enable you to take advantage of all its features, including automated replies and chatbots. Plus, it’s not just about customer service, with Facebook Messenger now being an effective selling tool. If you’re new to Messenger, check out our Selling with Facebook Messenger beginner’s guide.
11. LiveChat
Cost: From $16 per month
LiveChat is a robust customer chat support system for busy online stores and eCommerce agencies. Its features include visitor information, chat tags, rich message support, file sharing, chat archives, delivery status, chat window themes and customization, automatic and personal greetings, and more.
12. Gorgias
Cost: From $50 per month
Gorgias is a complete help desk tool that is specially designed for eCommerce businesses. It enables you to have one central dashboard to handle all your customer communication, across multiple channels, from one central place. Its features include being able to manage email, chats and Messenger communication from one platform, smart autoresponders with rules, internal notes, tags, ticket assignment to prevent duplicate work, customer history and timelines, and more. On Shopify? Here is the link to their Shopify app.
13. Salesforce
Cost: From €25 per month
If you’re looking for a full CRM system, then Salesforce is a popular choice. With a wide variety of options to suit any business size or type, their customer service solution offers personalized support across digital channels and AI-powered chatbots and solutions.
14. Zendesk
Cost: From $5 per month
Another awesome customer service tool is Zendesk, who label themselves as an omnichannel customer service and engagement platform. Offering a whole suite of features and products, it includes analytics and reporting, a support dashboard, help center features, live chat and more.
DIY SEO Tools, Apps and Resources
15. Ahrefs
Cost: From $99 per month
Ahrefs offers a host of tools to help eCommerce business up their SEO game. This includes competitive analysis, keyword research, backlink research, content research, rank tracking and web monitoring.
16. Backlinko Blog
Cost: Free
If you want to stay ahead of SEO and backlink trends, sign up to Backlinko’s blog for free tips to your inbox. Backlinko was founded by SEO expert and influencer Brian Dean, to share his secrets with growing online businesses.
17. KWFinder
Cost: Free basic search, then from $29 per month
Keyword research is an integral part of your organic and paid traffic strategies. KWFinder is a popular tool for doing just that. Created by Mangools, their SEO tools package includes keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking and backlink analysis – LinkMinder – which has free options as well.
18. Moz
Cost: From $99 per month
Another SEO analysis and research tool kit comes from SEO experts Moz. The Moz Pro SEO tool suite includes keyword research, link building, site audits and page optimization insights. Some other top SEO analysis tools include SEMRush, SEO Review Tools, and SERPWatcher.
eCommerce Traffic-Driving Tools, Apps and Resources
19. Traffic Booster
Cost: From $120 per month, including your advertising budget, to run the ads
Traffic Booster will automate and optimize Google Ads using its unique AI technology. Based on millions of dollars’ worth of online ads, it’s designed to drive the most relevant customers to the most relevant product pages on your behalf. Some of its top eCommerce merchants include Military Hippie, Beautiful Disaster, Old Guys Rule, GearBunch and more.
20. Recart
Cost: From $29 per month
Take your remarketing to the next level with Recart. Recart is a Facebook Messenger marketing app that will help you retarget traffic, previous shoppers and abandoned carts while also streamlining your whole customer journey. Its top features include:
- Messenger subscription tools
- Unlimited visitors and messages
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Product review strategies and implementation
- Customer journey management on Messenger
Email Marketing & List Building Tools and Resources
21. Omnisend
Cost: From $16 per month
Omnisend is an all-in-one solution that goes beyond traditional email marketing. Therefore, along with their bulk automation and segmented email features, they provide a cross-channel messaging solution that includes SMS, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp personalized messaging and marketing.
22. Coupon Pop
Cost: $9 per month
Grow your email marketing lists and social accounts with Coupon Pop. Coupon Pop’s features include social marketing, email leads, email platform integration and design templates to easily turn store traffic into brand fans.
23. Klaviyo
Cost: Free to try and then from $20 per month (for up to 300 contacts)
Klaviyo is fast becoming the most popular email platform for online stores. You only have to see their features to see why. With unprecedented segmentation, ROI-based reporting, one-click integration, pre-built autoresponders, email personalization, product recommendations and much, much more, Klaviyo was built for the eCommerce entrepreneur..
24. ZeroBounce
Cost: You can either pay monthly (starting at $40 per month) or buy annual credits to use the platform as you need it
ZeroBounce is a unique email verification service that enables you to keep a handle on your email list maintenance. This includes invalid email address removal, identifying and deleting spam trap emails, and valuable metadata additions to your email lists. As you know, most email platforms charge depending on your contacts. Therefore, this will help ensure you are not wasting money sending emails to invalid or spam addresses – which ultimately hurts your email stats.
Finance, Accounting & Legal Tools for eCommerce
25. Brightpearl
Cost: From $375 for customizable plans
Brightpearl is an all-in-one cloud-based platform for small to medium omnichannel and eCommerce businesses and retailers. This means it doesn’t just include finance and accounting but offers CRM, order management, batch processing and payment management in one eCommerce tool.
26. QuickBooks
Cost: Starts from $15 per month
QuickBooks is one of the most popular online accounting and finance tools for small to medium growing eCommerce businesses. It includes a variety of accounting tools and flexibility, ensuring you can track profits, expenses, sales, suppliers and profitability with ease.
27. TaxJar (US)
Cost: From $17 per month
With the ever-changing tax implications and requirements, investing in a good tax tool will ensure your taxes are always filed and up-to-date with US state tax authorities. Integrating with Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, PayPal, Etsy and many more top eCommerce platforms, TaxJar offers real-time sales tax calculations via SmartCalcs and automates your required state filings.
Inventory Management Tools for eCommerce
28. Inventory Source
Cost: From $50 a month
Inventory Source offers affordable inventory management as part of their Inventory suite. Its basic features include eCommerce platform integrations, access to their directory of suppliers, up to 50k SKUs and two daily syncs. Their pro versions allow syncing across more than one platform, unlimited daily on-demand syncs and more.
29. TradeGecko
Cost: From $39 per month
TradeGecko is an inventory management software designed by a former clothing retailer. Its inventory management product includes centralized sales channels, batches and expiry dates, locations and currencies, reports and insights, and manufacturing and shipping management features.
30. StoreAutomator
Cost: From $250 per month
Specially designed for multi-channel eCommerce sellers, StoreAutomator is an inventory and channel platform for eCommerce entrepreneurs and agencies. Some of its key features include order, channel and product management, and repricing tools for Amazon.
31. Veeqo
Cost: From £125 per month
For bigger eCommerce and omnichannel stores, Veeqo provides an advanced inventory management system that includes 40+ integrations. It includes product kit and bundling capabilities, price control, automatic stock rules and more.
Product Photo Tools and Apps
32. Photoshop and Photoshop Express
Cost: Free app and then from $20.99 per month per product
By now, you know that Photoshop is a world leading photo editor that will help you edit your product photos and mock-ups – while Photoshop Express is a simple app that will offer the basic functionality of Photoshop for free.
You can download the app here: Google Play, iTunes and Windows Store.
33. Pixlr
Cost: Free, with some purchase upgrades
Pixlr is an online photo editor offering a more affordable option for editing and touching up. Its free online editor offers a host of features. Plus, you can join 150 million users by downloading their phone app for editing pics on the go.
34. Pixc
Cost: Either by credit system, where you pay per photo or monthly subscription from $79 per month
Pixc is a photo editing tool specially created for eCommerce product photos. This platform allows for team-project editing of product photos and platform integration to get your photos edited and online quickly and easily.
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Some other photograph tools and apps for eCommerce include Clipping Magic, Portrait Pro and ShortPixel.
Product and Supplier Sourcing and Research Tools for eCommerce
35. JungleScout
Cost: From $25 for the web platform and $97 once-off for their Chrome extension
If you’re on the hunt for best-selling products, JungleScout will help you track the performance of possible trending products on Amazon. As we know, Amazon is the internet’s leading eCommerce site, making this platform and/or extension a great product sourcing tool.
36. Maker’s Row
Cost: From $35 per month
For those of you who private-label your own products, Maker’s Row is a database of Made-in-America manufacturers. The platform lists over 10k manufacturers and includes options for product idea development projects, direct messaging with factories and the option of one-on-one consultation.
37. MXED (Shopify)
Cost: Price per product varies depending on category and licensor
MXED is a dropshipping Shopify app that helps specifically source pop-culture, licensed products and merchandise. It offers automatic US-based fulfillment, margin automations, and inventory and price updates.
38. Oberlo
Cost: Free starter package and then $29 per month
Another popular product source and dropshipping tool is Oberlo. Oberlo is a marketplace that helps you find products and sell them, including the following features: product page customization, pricing automation, order and sales tracking, wishlist product creation and more. Their blog is also packed full of free, valuable eCommerce tips and hacks, so be sure to give them a follow here.
Newbie Tip: Some other sites, tools and resources to search for products include Commerce Inspector, Think With Google, Dropship Spy, Pexda, Social Mention and more.
Another similar tool to consider for sourcing and managing your dropshipping is Spocket, which includes a free basic package.
39. Online Supplier Directories
There is a host of supplier directories out there to help you find the right manufacturer for your products. A good excellent of some such directories are the Clothing Manufacturer and Suppliers Directories from A Better Lemonade Stand. Some other site directories include:
- Alibaba/AliExpress
- Worldwide Brands
- SaleHoo.com
- TheWholesaler.co.uk
- Inventory Source Free Supplier Directory
40. Print-on-Demand Apps
Cost: No monthly costs; you pay the cost of printing per product
Gooten is a Shopify app that allows you to print products on demand and dropships them to shoppers. Another such popular print-on-demand platform is Printful. Both platforms ensure you don’t have to manage inventory, while reducing your risk.
41. Sourcify
Cost: Customized depending on your needs
Another eCommerce tool specializing in helping you to find the perfect supplier for products is Sourcify. Sourcify streamlines your manufacturing process, ensuring you are able to find the ideal supplier for your budget by giving you access to their database of supplier networks, and provides a very personalized service.
PR and Influencer Outreach Tools
42. Grapevine
Cost: From $597 per month + transaction fee per project
Designed to cash in on the power of influencer marketing, Grapevine provides a network of authenticated, human-vetted, brand-safe YouTube, Instagram and Facebook influencers. On this platform, you can engage directly with content influencers, book posts and pay for sponsored posts. It also includes a workflow dashboard, abilities to share sponsored posts across a variety of channels and full influencer agency services.
43. FameBit
Cost: 10% per transaction with no
If you’re looking to specifically concentrate on the power of YouTube influencer reach, then FameBit could help. With this platform, you are able to create a campaign, receive and review proposals from possible YouTube content creators,
44. Instaaa
Cost: From $76 once-off
Want to outsource your cold emailing? Instaaa is an AI-powered service that will connect you with a curated list of websites, directories and communities. The Instaaa team will craft a professional pitch with you to get your brand listed on sites or set up possibilities for product reviews or write-ups. This has the added benefits of improving your SEO with backlinks.
45. Ninja Outreach
Cost: $49 per month
Another platform to automate your outreach is Ninja Outreach. With access to millions of Instagram influencers, bloggers, business emails and Twitter influencers, Ninja Outreach offers a host of services. This includes services such as link building, guest post proposals, content promotion, sponsored post outreach and more.
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Some other influencer tools include QuuuPromote and Brandwatch. If you are specifically looking for reviews and UGC tools, here’s my list of top contenders:
Shipping & Fulfillment Tools, Apps and Resources
46. Easyship
Cost: Free to use; only pay for label purchases
Automate and sync all your shipping orders with Easyship. Integrating with over 250 courier services, this platform will ensure you can automatically offer shipping options to your customers, always ensuring they are getting the best deal.
47. Route
Cost: Free
If you’re looking for ways to protect your customers from “porch pirates” and thus improve the shopping experience, then Shopify’s Route is a popular choice.
48. Shipwire
Cost: Price on request
If you’re looking for a more robust shipping and logistics option for your medium-sized growing eCommerce business, then Ingram Mirco’s Shipwire is a good option. With a combination of global warehouses, they take worldwide fulfillment and on-demand solutions to the next level.
Site Comparison and Analysis Tools
49. Benchmark Hero
Cost: Free
Want to instantly know how you compare to your biggest competitors and other successful 7-figure online stores in your niche? Benchmark Hero is a free site audit eCommerce tool that allows you to compare your eCommerce site to thousands of large stores, pinpointing what you can easily do to improve your store today. This includes analyzing and ranking your brand’s shopping experience, technical performance, trustworthiness and marketing – for free.
Social Media Marketing and Selling Tools, Apps and Resources
50. Buffer
Cost: From $15 per month
Social management platform Buffer will allow you to manage all your social channels from one central hub. Its features include content scheduling, channel analytics, team collaboration and instant content sharing by schedule.
51. Bulk.ly
Cost: $12 per month
Bulk.ly is a social automation tool that enables you to upload bulk social content and automatically recycle and shuffle posts. Additionally, it allows you to create, allocate and assign specific hashtags to specific channels and drip-schedule loads of content.
52. Edgar
Cost: $49 per month
If you want to take the hassle out of scheduling, then Edgar will automate your content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. What makes this platform unique is that it will write posts for you by automatically taking snippets from your content. Besides auto variations, it uses browser extensions to generate posts, offers category-based scheduling, continuous posting and much more.
53. Foursixty
Cost: From $50 per month
Foursixty is an eCommerce app that will enable you to display and make your Instagram posts shoppable on your site. Features include an on-site shoppable Instagram gallery, advanced analytics, scheduling and customized galleries. Another similar tool worth mentioning is Curalate, which allows you to make any social channel shoppable.
54. Kickstagram
Cost: $49 per month
If you’re looking to grow your Instagram followers, give Kickstagram a go. I don’t normally advocate for Instagram growth tools as most of them use spam bots, but this tool uses human account managers to help link your account to your ideal target audience. Meaning they promise real, highly-targeted followers, not just followers for the sake of it.
55. SproutSocial
Cost: From $99 per month
Offering an all-service solution, SproutSocial doesn’t just help you manage your social accounts but will help you curate content for your specific niche. Prime features include response management, campaign management, content development, distribution optimization, issue resolution, social CRM and more.
Task Management Tools for eCommerce Businesses
56. Asana
Cost: Free basic plan and then from $9.99 per month
Asana has a variety of task management packages to suit your needs and budgets. Including all the features you need to streamline the backend of your eCommerce business, it enables project assignment, scheduling and tracking. With file linking and discussion boards, this robust tool is an asset to a growing business.
57. Trello
Cost: Free basic package and then from $9.99 per month for more integration
Another task management tool to consider for organizing your eCommerce business is Trello. With boards, lists and cards, Trello makes team collaboration a breeze. Its main features include unlimited team boards, board automations, command admin and more.
Tools & Courses for eCommerce Entrepreneurs
58. AppSumo
Cost: Free and paid courses and services starting from $9 once-off
AppSumo is a library of tools and services specially designed for eCommerce business owners. With new offers daily and lifetime access to content and services, AppSumo is a leading resource for those of you wanting to get into the eCommerce game or hone skills needed to reach the 7-figure store success mark.
59. Skillshare
Cost: Free classes and then from $8.25 per month for full access to all content
What makes Skillshare different is that by signing up, you get unlimited access to more than 28,000 classes. Think of it as a course/lecture streaming site. Their courses, taught by industry experts, include entrepreneurship, marketing, productivity, design, photography and more.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing and Product Launch Tools
60. Carrd
Cost: Free basic plan, and pro plans from $9 per year
A good tool for easily creating campaign-specific landing pages for your product launches and other advertising is Carrd. It enables users to build one-page sites for “pretty much anything.” It’s simple to use, with designs responsive for any device and totally free for the first three landing pages.
61. ViralSweep
Cost: From $49 per month
Looking for ways to go viral with less hassle? ViralSweep is a marketing platform that utilizes custom giveaways to help your brands and/or products go viral. It includes everything from sweepstakes and contests to insta win and hashtag promotions.
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Other similar tools worth considering include Gleam, Vyper.io, Shortstack, Rafflecopter and Woobox.
Web Development Tools & Resources
62. StoreTasker
Cost: Varies from product to product, but the average costs are between $65 and $230
Want to streamline your online store and improve customer experience? Looking to outsource skills like migrating your MailChimp to Klaviyo? StoreTasker is a web development platform for Shopify stores. They offer a marketplace of services by experts, including anything from Google Analytics integration to more complicated custom web store design or custom projects.
Some other web development platforms to consider are TaskHusky, Shopify Experts and Hey Carson.
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There you have it, 60+ eCommerce tools, apps and resources for streamlining your online business and ‘cheating’ at eCommerce. But before you go, I would also like to give you my list of favorite eCommerce podcasts, blogs (besides this one, of course!) and Facebook groups with valuable, high-value information and resources.
eCommerce Podcasts, Blogs and Facebook Groups
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Ecommerce Fuel (podcast)
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GaryVee (YouTube channel)
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Kissmetrics (blog)
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Online Samurais (Facebook group)
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Practical Ecommerce (blog)
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Shopify (blog)
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StoreYa (blog)
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Shopify Entrepreneurs (Facebook group)
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Shopify Newbies (Facebook group)
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The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders (Facebook group)
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The Unofficial Shopify Podcast (podcast)
Happy selling!