eCommerce for retailers | Everything you need to know
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You’ve done it — you’ve created your dream product, designed and set up your eCommerce website, and begun marketing your store to the world.
But there’s one final hurdle in your way.
Even as the first trickling of sales starts coming in, there’s a slow realisation that there are a few more moving parts that go into a successful eCommerce business.
Luckily, after you’ve conquered the variables that set out the true costs of your eCommerce business, dealt with your eCommerce logistics management, and sorted out your marketing strategy, you still have some breathing room.
Want to know how to widen that narrow patch of oxygen? Of course you do. Welcome to the wonderful (and tech-driven) world of apps and plugins. A world where automation and integration with your eCommerce platform (like Netcash Shop) creates a hurdle-free environment for your store to grow and your business to thrive.
So, let’s get technical — well, not entirely — but let’s find the best eCommerce apps for your store and put a (h)appy smile on your company revenue.
What is an eCommerce app?
Like most good things in life and business, the devil is always in the details. So before diving into the best eCommerce applications for your company, it’s best to break down the whole app for the eCommerce conundrum.
What even is an eCommerce app? Good question.
At their core, eCommerce apps and plugins represent programs and software that integrate into your existing online shop, each with a unique feature or benefit. These tiny additions to your online store make it easy and convenient for your customers to browse, pay, and get their purchases delivered.
The landscape for this type of software is quite vast, meaning there’s a plethora of them going around that allows you to choose which ones suit your store best. That also means that you can use more than one (or five) to manage and streamline certain parts of your online presence, all for the sake of convenience and driving revenue.
Types of eCommerce apps and plugins
So, what exactly makes an eCommerce app or plugin worth your consideration? Well, these types of plugins, tools, and software come in many different variations and under many unique names, but these are the most common types you can consider for your eCommerce store:
- Shipping logistics and management – Fastway
- Email and SMS marketing – Mailchimp
- Dropshipping – Printful: Custom Printing & Warehousing
- Creating affiliate programs – Affiliatly: Affiliate Marketing Software
- Generation and collection of customer reviews – HelpfulCrowd: Video Product Reviews and Q&A
- General revenue analytics – Google Analytics
- Business accounting and finances – Storehub.io
Ultimately what you have in your arsenal greatly improves your entire eCommerce store functionality. If you choose a variety of software plugins in each of the above fields, you can make use of the latest (and constantly improving) tech to get ahead of your competitors and increase your business growth.
Business model specific eCommerce applications
Now, before you head into the wild yonder of eCommerce apps, take note that there are three overarching app categories that create the umbrella under which all of these apps operate. These are:
- B2C (Business-to-consumer) – This class refers to applications designated to a specific business where the other party involved is the consumer. Think of Takealot, for example, where customers browse and shop entire catalogues on the application.
- C2C (Consumer-to-consumer) – As opposed to B2C applications, a C2C app operates on the basis that a consumer sells directly to another consumer. Gumtree is a perfect example of selling and buying between individuals (consumers).
- B2B (Business-to-business) – The final category revolves around businesses working together on shared platforms or applications to serve consumers or achieve shared business or industry growth.
eCommerce plugins to boost the shopping experience
So, now that the nitty-gritty is out of the way, it’s time to dive into which plugins you should consider to improve your user’s time spent shopping. While most platforms, such as Netcash Shop, can set up your store for you from scratch (with a wide selection of partner plugins and apps), a majority of business owners opt to use distinct website builders such as WordPress.
Why is this relevant? Great question.
Beyond the fact that it is extremely popular, most software developers use WordPress to design and build their unique offerings. This translates into there being a massive collection of plugin options to choose from for your eCommerce app solution.
Here are the best of the best, based on WordPress.
- WooCommerce
Almost synonymous with WordPress is WooCommerce. At its core, this standout is packed with a range of essential features that make an online store an online store. Offering both a free and premium range of add-ons and compatibility with physical, digital, and membership products, it’s a versatile tool to have in your arsenal.
Best for: A varied collection of solutions for all eCommerce business models
Pricing: Free (add-ons range from completely free to $150/year
- Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
If you’re after a lightweight eCommerce plugin that simplifies and tackles the many navigational points of selling digital products, Easy Digital Downloads is your saving grace. While similar apps and plugins do exist, EDD focuses solely on digital products, meaning you won’t need to fuss around with unwanted physical product selling issues.
Best for: Selling digital products
Pricing: Begins at $99.50 per year with the inclusion of a limited-time free version
- WP Simple Pay
If you want to avoid having to deal with common problems faced when accepting one-time or recurring payments, WP Simple Pay is a tiny addition you’ll love. This plugin works magic by adding a simple buy button to your store instead of other alternatives that include an entire (and often complex) shopping cart system.
Best for: Selling single products, collecting service payments, and accepting donations
Pricing: Pricing begins at $49.50 for an annual subscription
- OptinMonster
Don’t let the term “conversion optimisation” put fear into your mind when all you need to put your soul at ease is OptinMonster. One of (if not the) most popular lead generation software systems currently that helps you create conversion campaigns. These come in a bunch of shapes and sizes, from popups, floating bars, fullscreen welcome mats, and more.
Oh, and you don’t need to have coding skills, as OptinMonster comes preloaded with more than 100 templates in a drag-and-drop builder.
Best for: Increasing page views, growing your email list, and ultimately increasing sales conversion rates
Pricing: Starts at $9 billed per month
How to choose the best plugins for your store
Clearly, there’s a plugin for every need, even some you didn’t know you had. But the actual question is — how do you choose the right ones for your shop? Well, let’s break down some crucial factors to keep in mind when deciding.
- Payment Solutions – Your eCommerce plugin should, as a standard, be capable of supporting a payment gateway.
- Design & Customisation – Take into consideration the level and capability of personal design and customisation options a plugin has. These should ideally allow you direct input into how your plugin interacts with your shoppers.
- Support options – A worthwhile eCommerce plugin comes with a reliable support system and options. Having this in place goes a long way in improving customer satisfaction.
eCommerce applications leading the way forward
As massive as the eCommerce application playground is, certain ones lead the pack when it comes to creating the most effective unison between shop and app. If you’re after a one-stop shop (marketplace) where you’ll find a wide variety of apps for your eCommerce store, Ecwid offers quite a selection.
But what about the best of the best?
Well, here’s our roundup of the best eCommerce apps out there that you can use to make your fledgling online store the next global juggernaut:
- Fastway
You’ve heard (and read) all about logistics for eCommerce, but what to do if you want to automate most of it and make it an easy journey? Well, luckily, when you use Netcash Shop, you get access to app integration with Fastway Couriers.
Making your logistics systems work for you, using the Fastway app for your eCommerce store gives you full visibility and control over a few important aspects. From order fulfilment, tracking, costs, product packaging, and even shipping zones, Fastway app integration provides you with a control panel for all of it.
This means automated sales calculations, packaging selections, and order updates provided directly to your customers, all from your Netcash Shop dashboard.
Best for: Shipping logistics and management
Pricing: Free to add to your shop, with some in-app charges for shipping. Annual fee waived for Netcash Shop users.
- Droppa
With Droppa (a Netcash Shop partner), you can manage your online orders directly from your eCommerce platform dashboard to get a lot done in a fraction of the time. This nifty app handles creating and printing waybills, requests collections and makes shipping cost management a seamless digital experience. The icing on the cake is that all of this happens directly from your eWallet account.
It goes a step further and automatically calculates both Budget and Express services at customer checkout, and all its features are completely customisable from your Shop dashboard.
Best for: Shipping logistics and management
Pricing: Based on shipping needs, individual-to-client needs
- Storehub.io
Okay, not everyone is an accounting expert, and the fine folks at storehub.io, one of the many Netcash Shop partners, know this. Thanks to their compassion, you can integrate the storehub.io app directly into your eCommerce store to help your number-crunching escapades.
It syncs your pricing and stock levels while at the same time receiving orders that are generated through your store checkout, which means you don’t need to worry about any manual intervention. So you can effortlessly manage your entire store and leave the administrative maintenance to storehub.io.
Best for: Business accounting and finances
Pricing: Setup is completely free, and pricing per service is given upon Quote
- Bob Go Smart Shipping
Offering complete control of your eCommerce logistics in one place, you can manage your entire store’s inventory from acquisition to shipping. Using Bob Go, you get access to automated waybill creation, a selection of reputable couriers all in one dashboard, and more competitive shipping rates.
As with most other eCommerce apps, it wouldn’t be much of an asset if it wasn’t integrated into your existing store. Luckily Bob Go knows this and is now fully integrated into Netcash Shop. This means you can manage your orders from Netcash Shop directly in your Bob Go dashboard.
Best for: Controlling your eCommerce store logistics
Pricing: Options range from the simple Blue Package at R99 per month to a Gold Package at R1999 per month, based on shipping volume and integrations required by your business. The higher the package tier, the better the courier rates they have negotiated on your behalf. A free 30-day trial is available for all package options.
Deciding which apps work for your eCommerce business
Now for the million rand question, which partner apps should you choose for your eCommerce business? Thankfully, the answer is pretty straightforward. A healthy combination of software for each major player in your business is the way to go.
Benefits of using apps for eCommerce businesses
By now, it’s clear that using and fully integrating your eCommerce store with a range of available apps is not just a phase. It’s a necessity. In the modern business landscape, the way forward is digital. But what major benefits can you expect from using apps for eCommerce or plugins?
- The convenience of integration into your existing shop
- The ability and level of abandoned cart recovery
- Possibility to increase your current and future marketing opportunities
Final thoughts on apps for eCommerce
Nowadays, it’s not just about who has the best product on the market. It’s about who can make user interaction, brand visibility, and the buying experience as fun and effortless as possible.
The golden ticket as to why you ultimately need eCommerce apps and plugins comes down to the additional features they add. This means you get to tailor your store to your own concepts and, at the same time, do it on a personal affordability consideration. All of this enables you to optimise your store for new sales, upselling, cross-selling, recovering lost sales, better marketing, etc.
Now, go out there and conquer. After all, what’s a digital shopping world without some fancy apps and a convenient buy button?
Author:
Candice Sergeant
eCommerce Product Owner
Stay in Touch
Candice Sergeant is an experienced eCommerce Product Owner at Netcash, driving the growth strategy for SaaS e-commerce solutions in South Africa with global partner Ecwid by Lightspeed. Candice is skilled at uncovering opportunities to optimize the online presence and operations of startups and medium businesses across a range of industries.
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