E-commerce has changed the way we shop. We can browse, order, and try out products, all from the comfort of our homes. While shopping in online stores is a walk in the park, managing an online store is an entirely different ball game: like a duck, calm on the outside, but always paddling like the dickens underneath. Managing an online store involves multifaceted tasks: marketing, inventory management, website maintenance, managing deliveries, customer support, and managing payment gateways, and things can get out of hand quickly. However, in spite of the effort involved, taking your business online can be very rewarding. You get access to a large number of customers and you can work from wherever you want.
While maintaining an online store can seem like a herculean task, there are dedicated software and apps that can make it simpler for you to manage and keep it organized. Here are 6 apps that you need to boost your online store’s performance and productivity.
1. Slack
Slack is a great tool for inter-team and intra-team team collaboration. It supports both computer and mobile platforms and is a great way of maintaining efficient and effective communication between team members. For someone who runs and manages an online store, you can have different channels for different teams like finance, customer support, delivery, and inventory management. The free subscription of Slack in itself should be enough to keep your operation running smoothly. Further, each and every message in slack is indexed and searchable so you can easily recover and go back to old messages.
2. Inventory Planner
Holding excess inventory can prove expensive in terms of storage and warehousing expenses. On the flip side, not maintaining a sufficient amount could prove detrimental in terms of long turnaround times and the inability to secure yourself against a sudden rise in demand. Consequently, it is crucial to find the sweet spot, and the Inventory Planner app lets you do just that. The Inventory Planner is a great tool to plan when, when, and how much is required to meet your demands. The app helps you forecast your requirements based on your current sales and trend. This lets you maintain the right amount of stock. It also allows you to filter your products based on type, brand, cost, and so on and analyze their trends in detail.
3. MailChimp
Marketing campaigns lie at the heart of any online store. The stronger your marketing game, the more customers you are likely to attract. MailChimp is an email marketing platform that is widely used by online stores and retailers. The app not only helps you stay in contact with your customers but also offers AI-powered insights that help you improve your content. It also allows you to add a personal touch to automated emails and also schedule them. Furthermore, it also packs an analytics tool that offers insights and helps you understand what is working and what isn’t.
4. Helium 10
If you sell your products through Amazon, Helium 10 is a great all-in-one software. The software offers various unique features that make it an absolute must for Amazon retailers. It offers you the ability to analyze the performance of your products through in-depth analytics like seasonal trends and profit estimates. It also comes bundled with a smart guide that helps you create product listings. If you are an Amazon seller and wish to explore the software bundle, the wizards at infinitefba.com/helium-10-coupon-code/ suggest using a coupon to get a discount for the first month. This should be enough to help you discover the benefits that the software offers.
5. Buffer
Social media is a great medium for promoting your products and your online store. But in order to effectively use social media as a marketing platform to gain customers, one has to be active and post relevant content at the right time. A great way to ensure that you always have great content in the pipeline is to use Buffer. The app allows you to schedule your social media posts as and when you desire. This significantly simplifies the process as you can schedule multiple posts at the same time across different social media platforms.
6. FreshBooks
As an online retailer, it is essential for you to stay on top of your invoices and payments. This is where FreshBooks comes in. The software is essentially an invoicing software that simplifies invoicing and billing for you. But in addition to that, it also lets you track your expenses, allows customers to directly pay through invoices and integrates the payments with your account, and also gives you an estimate of your profit and loss.
Managing an online store requires you to keep tabs on various process flows which can get overwhelming. However, using the right tools can help you stay in control and maximize the performance and productivity of your online store. Using these apps can help you level up your online store.