10 Tools You Need to Launch an Online Store

Are you ready to take your entrepreneurial dreams online? You're not alone. 

With global e-commerce sales projected to reach $6.3 trillion by 2024, there's never been a better time to launch your online store. 

But here's the thing — while starting an online business is more accessible than ever, it requires the right tools in your arsenal.

Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced retailer moving online, this guide will walk you through the essential tools you need to get started on the right foot.

Why Using Tools is Important to Launch an Online Store

Before we dive into the specific tools, let's talk about why they matter so much.

The right tools help you automate repetitive tasks, saving you countless hours that you can invest in growing your business. They also help you look more professional and trustworthy to your customers – essential factors in the competitive online marketplace. 

Plus, most of these tools are designed to scale with your business, meaning you won't need to switch platforms as you grow.

Think about it this way: if you're manually processing orders, tracking inventory, and sending follow-up emails, you're spending valuable time on tasks that could be automated. That's time you could be using to develop new products, create marketing campaigns, or engage with your customers.

Moreover, these tools often work together seamlessly, creating an ecosystem that makes running your online store much smoother. 

When your inventory system automatically updates your website, and your shipping software automatically generates labels for new orders, you're not just saving time – you're reducing errors and improving customer satisfaction.

Top 10 Tools to Use for Launching a Successful Online Store

Here are the top 10 tools you must have in your arsenal to launch an online store successfully.

Tool 1 — eCommerce Platform

Your eCommerce platform is the foundation of your digital store — everything else builds upon it. 

It’s like your digital real estate where all your business operations will take place. The right platform can make running your store a breeze, while the wrong one can lead to endless headaches.

When choosing an eCommerce platform, you'll want to look for several key features. 

First, it should offer robust inventory management capabilities. You need to be able to easily add products, track stock levels, and get notifications when it's time to reorder. The platform should also provide a user-friendly product catalog system that makes it easy for customers to find what they're looking for.

Some popular options to consider include:

• Shopify — Perfect for beginners, offering an all-in-one solution with excellent support
• WooCommerce — Great if you're familiar with WordPress and want more control
• BigCommerce — Best if you want to scale your business

Each platform comes with different pricing tiers, so you'll need to consider your budget. Shopify starts at around $29/month for basic features, while WooCommerce is free but requires you to pay for hosting and potential extensions.

Pro tip — When you're comparing platforms, don't just look at the monthly fee. Think about what features you're getting and what additional tools you might need to add later. For example, while WooCommerce is free to install, you'll need to pay for hosting, security, and possibly some extensions to get all the features you want.

Tool 2 — Payment Gateway

Now that you've got your store set up, you need a way to accept payments. 

This is where payment gateways come in. A payment gateway is like a digital cash register – it securely processes credit cards and other payment methods, ensuring you get paid while protecting your customers' sensitive information.

The best payment gateways offer:

• Offers various options for payment (credit cards, digital wallets, buy-now-pay-later)
• Strong security measures to protect against fraud
• Support for international currencies
• Clear pricing with no hidden fees

There are plenty of payment gateway tools you can use for launching your online store such as:

• Stripe — Known for excellent developer tools and customization options
• PayPal — Trusted worldwide and easy to set up
• Square — Best if you plan to sell both online and in-person
• BlueSnap –The best choice for mid-market and enterprise organizations

When choosing a payment gateway, look closely at the transaction fees. Most charge around 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, but rates can vary based on your sales volume and location. 

In addition, you also need to ensure that your chosen gateway integrates well with your eCommerce platform to avoid technical headaches.

Tool 3 — Shipping & Fulfillment Software

Getting products to your customers efficiently is crucial for success. 

Shipping and fulfillment software helps you manage this process smoothly, from calculating shipping rates to printing labels and tracking packages.

The right shipping software should help you:

• Calculate accurate shipping rates for different carriers
• Print shipping labels in bulk
• Track packages and provide updates to customers
• Handle returns efficiently
• Manage international shipping requirements

Just like payment gateways, there are lots of shipping & fulfillment software like:

• ShipStation — Excellent for high-volume sellers
• ShippingEasy — User-friendly with good automation features
• Shippo — Great for small businesses just starting out

Most of these tools integrate with major carriers like USPS, FedEx, and UPS, often offering discounted rates. They can also automatically update your store with tracking information, keeping your customers informed about their deliveries.

Tool 4 — Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A good CRM system helps you keep track of your customers and their shopping habits. 

These tools help you remember everything about your customers – what they've bought, when they last visited your store, and what products they might like.

In simple terms, a good CRM system can help you:

• Track customer contact information and purchase history
• Segment customers based on their buying behavior
• Identify your most valuable customers
• Manage customer support tickets
• Track sales and marketing campaigns

Some extremely reliable CRM tools include:

• HubSpot — Offers a free tier with basic features
• Salesforce — Robust features for scaling businesses
• Zoho CRM — Good balance of features and affordability

The best part is that most CRMs can grow with your business. You might start with just the basic features, like keeping track of customer contact information and purchase history. 

But as your business grows, you can add more advanced features like customer segmentation and automated marketing campaigns.

Tool 5 — Cybersecurity Software

In today's digital world, you need to protect your store and your customers' information from cyber threats. This means having good security software in place.

After all, your customers trust you with their personal and financial information, and it's your responsibility to protect it. 

Key security measures you need include:

• SSL certificates to encrypt data
• Regular malware scanning and removal
• Automated backup solutions
• Firewall protection
• PCI compliance tools

Fortunately, there are various helpful cybersecurity tools you can use:

• Sucuri for website security monitoring
• Let's Encrypt for SSL certificates
• UpdraftPlus for WordPress backups

Remember, cybersecurity isn't somewhere to cut corners. Your customers are trusting you with their personal and financial information, and one security breach could seriously damage your business's reputation.

Tool 6 — Customer Support Software

Providing great customer service can set your store apart from the competition. 

Customer support software helps you manage all your customer communications in one place, whether they're coming through email, chat, or social media.

Ideally, you should use a customer support software that can help you with:

• Live chat functionality
• Email ticket management
• Knowledge base creation tools
• Social media integration
• Customer feedback collection

We recommend using tools like:

• Zendesk — Comprehensive support solution
• Intercom — Great for live chat and automated responses
• Freshdesk — Good value for small businesses

When you're starting, you might be able to handle customer service through email alone. But as your store grows, having dedicated support software will help you provide faster, more professional service to your customers.

Remember, good customer support can turn one-time buyers into loyal customers. That’s why it’s extremely important to choose software that makes it easy for your team to provide quick, helpful responses.

Tool 7 — Email Marketing Software

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to drive sales for your online store. 

It helps you stay in touch with customers, announce new products, and recover abandoned carts. Furthermore,  the right email marketing software helps you send professional-looking emails that get opened and read.

Ideally, whatever email marketing software you choose, needs to have certain key features like:

• Email automation workflows
• Customer segmentation capabilities
• Mobile-responsive templates
• A/B testing tools
• Analytics and Reporting

There are a few tools you can consider using as your go-to email marketing software:

• Mailchimp — Great for beginners with a free starter plan
• Klaviyo — Specifically designed for eCommerce
• Constant Contact — User-friendly with good template options
• Autoklose — Ideal for sales-driven automation and lead generation features

The best part is that you can start small with just a few basic email campaigns and add more sophisticated marketing as your store grows. Many email marketing tools offer free plans for small businesses, so you can get started without a big investment.

Remember, the right email marketing tool can help you generate significant ROI. Therefore, you must focus on platforms that integrate well with your eCommerce platform and make it easy to create personalized campaigns.

Tool 8 — Content Creation Tool

Your product photos and graphics need to look professional if you want customers to trust your store. Content creation tools help you create attractive product images and marketing materials without needing to hire a professional designer.

There are different kinds of content creation tools you need to be using such as:

• Photo editing software
• Graphic design tools
• Video creation software
• Product photography equipment
• Infographic builders
• Interactive report creators

There are mainly three content creation tools we believe everyone starting an online store must have:

• Canva — User-friendly design tool with templates
• Deep-Image.ai — AI Scene Generator can help change the background of your product photo to make it more attractive
• Adobe Creative Suite — Professional-grade editing tools

You don't need to be a design expert to create attractive content. For instance, you can start with a basic tool like Product Photo Booster from Deep-image.ai, and expand your skills into Adobe Creative Suite as your store grows.

Tool 9 — Social Media Management Tool

Social media can be a powerful way to attract customers to your store, but managing multiple social media accounts can be time-consuming. 

A good social media management tool helps you maintain a consistent presence across platforms without spending all day posting updates.

The right social media management tool should have certain features including:

• Post scheduling
• Content calendar planning
• Analytics and Reporting
• Multi-platform management
• Social listening tools

The good news is that there are now a plethora of social media scheduling and management tools you can use such as:

• Hootsuite — Comprehensive social media management
• Buffer — Simple and effective scheduling
• Later — Great for visual-heavy platforms like Instagram

You should pick a tool that works well with your customers' social media platforms. You might not need to be active on every platform – it's better to do a great job on one or two platforms than a mediocre job on many.

Tool 10 — Website Optimization Tool

Finally, you need tools to help you understand how people use your store and make improvements. 

Website optimization tools show you where your visitors are coming from, what they're looking at, and where they might be getting stuck.

In addition, your store also needs to be fast, easy to find, and convert visitors into customers. Website optimization tools help you achieve these goals by analyzing and improving your site's performance.

Ideally, you need to identify and choose a tool that can help you with:

• Track visitor behavior
• Improve site speed
• Optimize for search engines
• Test different layouts and content

For this, we suggest using the following tools to optimize your website:

• Google Analytics — Essential for understanding traffic
• SEMrush — Comprehensive SEO toolkit
• Hotjar — Valuable for understanding user behavior

The key is to use these tools to make data-driven decisions about improving your store. These can help ensure your store provides your customers with the best possible shopping experience.

Conclusion

Launching a successful online store requires more than great products – it needs the right tools to operate efficiently and provide an excellent customer experience. 

While it might seem overwhelming at first, each of these tools serves a specific purpose in helping your business succeed.

Remember, you don't need to implement everything at once; choose tools that match your current needs and budget, with room to scale as your business grows.

The key to success is integration – you need to make sure your chosen tools work well together to create a seamless operation. So, you must take the time to research and test different options before committing.