Whether you're starting an eCommerce business or expanding an existing one, it's always simpler and easier to do it when you’re using the right tools. There are thousands of apps and software options available online, all promising to get you on your way to building a successful eCommerce business.

Wherever you are on your eCommerce journey, you want the very best tools to increase your business productivity. Here's our list of 19 must-have productivity tools to get your business ripe for success.

1. Web Store Solutions

Build your business online by creating an eCommerce website where you can sell, ship, and process payments–with powerful tools to help you find customers and drive sales. You’ll be able to market your business and manage your processes, all the way from starting to running and growing your business.

Features :

Shopify remains one of the top all-in-one eCommerce solutions for 2022. It provides everything you need to build your own website with shopping cart integration, and it requires no technical knowledge–anyone can easily set up a Shopify store and sell online from anywhere in the globe.

Pricing :

Shopify's adaptability makes it a popular choice for both small and large businesses, with a price plan to fit all budgets. The basic plan is only USD29 per month, and you can sign up for a free 14 day trial to see whether Shopify meets your needs.

2. Design Solutions

Stand out with eye-catching visuals that engage your audience and bring your brand to life. Whether you have design experience or not, there’s something for everyone, so there’s no reason why you can’t create amazing visual content that puts your brand on the map.

Features :

Canva is design software that can make even the most uncreative person look like a design pro. With Canva, you don’t need any design skills to create amazing graphics for your Shopify fulfillment store, social media, flyers, business cards, or any other marketing collateral you need to promote your business.

Pricing :

There’s a free edition with restricted functionality (but still 8000+ themes), and the Pro version costs a fairly reasonable $16.99 per month.

Features :

Adobe Creative Cloud enables remote and office-based teams to efficiently collaborate on creative projects. Keeping creative materials in Creative Cloud libraries assures brand consistency, while connectivity with favourite productivity tools streamlines processes and keeps teams in sync, regardless of project size.

Pricing :

You can get Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat Pro programs for your company or department, as well as a management centre and seamless asset syncing across platforms. Each license costs $111.99/month, with a free 7-day trial available to start.

Features:

VistaCreate can be your go-to animation maker tool for creating social media or any other content with outstanding animation effects. Starting with 5,000+ pre-made animated layouts and 8,000+ motion graphics, you’ll feel really productive. All the tweaks can be applied in a handy visual editor, with the ability to further work with images, videos, and more.

Pricing:

VistaCreate is free, while with the $10/mo PRO version, you will get many more productivity and collaboration tools.

3. Engagement Tools

Turn shoppers into loyal customers with loyalty programs that keep them coming back, and grow sales through referral programs that reward customers for sharing the love. These tools will help you tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and brand loyalty.

Features :

Brand loyalty is the holy grail of marketing. With Smile.io, you can easily create a personalized loyalty program to keep your consumers coming back. Choose from point-based programs, tier-based VIP programs, and referral benefits to maximize single purchases and convert them into recurrent orders.

Pricing :

Smile.io can be integrated with all major eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix, starting at $49 per month. If you’re not ready for a paid subscription, a free plan is available, so there’s no reason why you can’t start establishing customer loyalty right now.

Features :

Due to its advanced integration with Shopify, highly customizable reward options, and beautiful communication tools for sending out branded emails and showing referral nudges through widgets, signup forms, and post-purchase popups, ReferralCandy is one of the best Shopify apps for setting up referral programs.

Pricing :

Since it’s an automated referral program with fraud protection and management, its premium plan starts at $39 per month. A 30-day free trial is available, but keep in mind that additional charges may apply.

4. Email Marketing Tools

Connect with your audience and grow your business with email marketing. It’s your key to retaining existing customers and attracting new ones with on-brand marketing messages that empower growth.

Features :

You can now link your Shopify sales data to your HubSpot database, giving you a better knowledge of workflows and an understanding of how you can automate your operations to nurture existing client relationships.

Pricing :

This amazing connection allows you to understand how your marketing activities are affecting your sales and makes tracking and analyzing data from your online business easier than ever. Best of all, it's completely free for beginners! For those with big goals to accelerate growth, paid plans start at $59 per month. 

Features :

One of the most important components of running an eCommerce business is staying in touch with your customers on a regular basis. It's easy for people to forget about your business, so sending weekly or monthly emails is critical for top-of-mind awareness. 

Constant Contact is great for eCommerce businesses wishing to establish professional email marketing campaigns to connect consumers, build relationships, and deliver actual results

Pricing :

Plans are affordable with the Core plan at $13 per month, while Plus is $59 per month.

5. Keyword Research Tools

Gain visibility with SEO tools that help you increase traffic and rankings in online searches. By building an SEO strategy that works, you’ll grow organic traffic and boost your top of page rate–so you can stand out and beat the competition.

Features :

Keywords are essential for your products to rank and for your business to gain traffic and revenue. Moz allows you to watch actual keyword ranks for your website, making it simple to see which keywords are working for you. Even better, you can watch rival site keyword ranks, uncover prospective new keywords, and crawl your own site to find and remedy any SEO flaws.

Pricing :

Moz offers a 30-day free trial before committing to a Pro membership, which starts at $99 per month. It’s not cheap, but you do get a lot of bang for your buck with Moz.

Features :

SemRush includes a plethora of reports and tools geared to assist marketers in climbing the SERPs.

Pricing :

Starter pricing is set at $119.95 per month, allowing teams to manage up to five projects and track up to 500 keywords each day with this plan. The second-tier subscription includes up to 15 projects and 1,500 keywords monitored daily, and is available for $229.95 per month.

6. Social Media Management

Engage and interact with audiences through social media to expand your reach and gain more business. These tools will help you plan social media content, streamline posts, stay on top of trends, and manage your online presence with ease.

Features :

Hootsuite is a fantastic social media marketing tool that lets you manage your social media accounts while on the road. Its main functions are to post, interact, monitor, market, and analyze. With Hootsuite, you can create items quickly and manage your whole social media calendar with ease.

Pricing :

You can start with a free 3 month trial, followed by paid options that start at $49 per month.

Features

Buffer is completely customizable–it allows you to plan posts in specified time zones and on specific days and dates, ultimately giving you the freedom to focus on other elements of your eCommerce business.

Pricing : Start with the free plan, or sign up for a 14-day free trial before committing to a paid plan. Pricing starts at $5 a month per channel and goes up to $100 for 10 channels.

7. Project Management

Enhance team productivity with tools that facilitate and encourage collaboration, simplify project management, and improve workflow. These tools will empower your team to reach new heights in productivity and team spirit.

Features :

Trello’s easy-to-use, drag-and-drop Kanban-style task management interface allows everyone on the team to see how tasks are progressing across the pipeline. It's pretty easy to use and offers a fantastic free plan.

Pricing :

In addition to the free plan, Trello offers three paid plans: Standard ($5 per user, per month), Premium ($10 per user, per month), and Enterprise ($17.50 per user, per month), all of which are invoiced yearly.

Features :

Asana is designed to streamline your project management lifecycle so that you can deliver swiftly while fulfilling all of your clients' needs. It also eliminates the need to switch between spreadsheets, tools, and emails, allowing you to keep your project on schedule and on track to completion.

Pricing :

Asana offers a free plan as well as paid plans, starting at US$10.99/month.

8. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Build customer relationships that last with tools that establish trust and build loyalty. These tools will help you create authentic, lasting connections that ensure long-term success for your business.

Features :

Zoho brings you an end-to-end, fully customizable CRM solution for your business. It also pairs perfectly with Shopify, allowing you to integrate multiple stores with a single Zoho Inventory account. 

Pricing :

Paid plans range from $19 to $65 per month, billed annually.

Features : HubSpot CRM enables you to create your own customized product processing pipelines that match orders placed on your Shopify online store. It also integrates email monitoring, deal pipelines, and lead creation functionality to make sales processes easier to handle.

Pricing : Free tools are available, and paid plans start at $59/month.

9. Accounting Tools

Stay on top of profits, expenses, and payments with accounting tools that help your business thrive. These tools make it easier to manage your numbers so you always know where you stand.

Features :

QuickBooks can be used to manage your revenue and spending, invoice clients, pay bills, produce reports, and prepare tax returns. Because it’s so extensive, learning how to use QuickBooks to get the most out of the program will take time, so be prepared for a high learning curve!

Pricing :

A 30-day free trial is available, followed by paid plans ranging between $22 and $140 per month. 

Features :

Integrating Shopify fulfillment and Xero saves time spent manually moving data between your company systems and allows you to reconcile payouts to get visibility over fees and other charges or discounts.

Pricing :

Xero has three paid plan options, ranging from $17 to $54 per month. 

10. Shipping Tools

Deliver a great customer experience with shipping tools that meet client expectations. From advanced package tracking to discounted rates and shipping automation, these tools simplify your shipping processes, cut costs, and delight customers with a delivery experience that keeps them coming back.

Features :

AfterShip allows Shopify to automatically email shipment delivery status updates to customers and eCommerce businesses. Shopify users with a paid plan can receive notifications throughout the shipping journey, and they can also use AfterShip to learn about delays or exceptions.

Pricing :

Choose from three flexible plans: the Essentials plan is priced at $9/month, Pro is $99/month, and Premium is $199/ month.

Features : eShipper offers simplified eCommerce shipping solutions. It’s a one-stop platform designed to meet your eCommerce shipping requirements, with superior automation capabilities and access to the best possible discounts on mail services, domestic and international courier, air, ocean, and LTL freight.

eShipper gets you up to 70% off on all major carriers and integrates with all major shopping carts for a seamless eCommerce shipping experience.

Pricing : eShipper is free to use. There are no subscriptions or monthly fees, and you only pay for what you actually ship.

Wrapping Up

While this isn’t a comprehensive list of all the productivity tools out there for Shopify fulfillment businesses, it’s a great place to start evaluating which tools might significantly impact your eCommerce business in 2022 and beyond.

Most of these eCommerce tools offer free trials, so do give them a try if you think they might help. One of them just might be the key to taking your business to the next level.