The reality is, the bigger your business gets, the more you’ll have to keep track of, and this is especially true when it comes to your customer management and acquisition.
You may be acquiring more customers than ever before, or maybe you have less but they pay higher. Regardless, information about them that can guide your sales process will be a key advantage to have to grow revenue quicker.
But how do we ensure this in a simple and effective way?
This is where your CRM software steps in…
CRM’s, or customer relationship management software, are software that allow you to manage the relationships between you and your customers effectively by collecting and showing key analytics that oftentimes can make or break a sale.
They can give you key insights into your customers, such as where they are in the sales cycle, and they can also help you optimize the performance of your campaigns, lead collection and closing process. In recent years it has become common knowledge that loyalty and customer retention have been found to be tied to company revenues, and this was well demonstrated by a Harvard Business School study which demonstrated that, “Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.”
With that in mind, this article will list some good options that are out there that not only could help you increase your revenues, but also benefit high-risk merchants.
1.Konnektive
If you’re within the mid-sized to enterprise category, and you are a direct to consumer type of merchant, Konnektive could be a good choice for your business.
They have a reliable backorder, inventory, returns and shipping management system, and they are known to offer top-level customer support for the high price they charge. Currently, they don’t seem to offer a free trial, and they typically cost around $499 USD per month, but this again could vary depending on the plan they establish for you on the scheduled demo.
Their Capterra page seems to show a few of the common features you would expect in an eCommerce CRM such as a customer database, order fulfillment software and returns management, but it also appears that common CRM features like sales orders and reports are not available for some reason.
This is likely out of date though, because their personal website now shows that they have added big updates to their software such as having API logs available, real time extensive reporting and analytics, decline salvaging, and on top of that, 165 gateway integrations that come included with your monthly subscription.
These gateway integrations allow you to add multiple merchant accounts for different gateways, and they also appear to have good chargeback and fraud management capabilities, as Konnektive incorporates well with chargeback management companies through simple plugins.
- No free trial–>$499 USD/month
- For Mid Sized eCommerce businesses
- Backorder Management
- Inventory Management Software
- Real Time Order Entry
- Returns Management
- Shipping Management
2.Sticky.io
Similar to Konnektive, Sticky.io is another CRM that works best for midsize to enterprise level businesses in the eCommerce space, and it too has custom pricing that is in the higher range.
They say on their sales page that they are a “Full-stack subscription commerce platform”, and that by using their service, you don’t need to use too many plugins because they are API driven and have integrations built in. They also make an emphasis on helping you do headless commerce, which is great considering that you can use different software for your backend and your frontend, and ultimately edit each without affecting each other, reducing interruptions and downtime for your business.
In addition to the common features of most eCommerce CRM’s such as one-click upsells and product bundle creation, they also have detailed analytics to help you identify customers who are at risk of being unsatisfied, all so you better prevent cancellations.
That coupled with their smart dunning feature and the pattern recognition of their AI system, Sticky.io could be worth the money for your business if you are really struggling with finding the root cause of your problems with your customers, but are also willing to spend more money to find out.
- No free trial and has custom pricing
- Best for Midsize to enterprise level businesses in eCommerce
- It’s a subscription commerce platform with a CRM software
- Allows you to do flexible subscriptions
- Email Marketing Software
- Social Media Integration
- Third Party Integrations
- Reporting/Analytics
3.WooCommerce
First put on the market in 2011, this open-source eCommerce platform and CRM has proven its usefulness and popularity among seasoned WordPress users, and new ones alike.
Unlike the previously mentioned CRM’s, WooCommerce is definitely more affordable, and this is due to the fact that it is fundamentally a freemium software that allows you to add on other paid extensions, and increase your monthly fees as you scale.
Similar to other eCommerce CRM platforms, they have many of the typical features you would expect such as built-in multi currency support, popular integrated payment methods included like Apple Pay and Google Play, and features to reduce cart abandonment. Their pricing can reportedly go from $110, all the way up to $1500+ annually, but again, there is much more wiggle room on what you are willing to pay, and the annual cost is definitely less than other CRM’s out there.
WooCommerce is a popular eCommerce platform that caters much more to the new business owner who may not have much money to start with, but it can also be useful for companies that are mid sized and even possibly enterprise.
According to Barn2Plugins, WooCommerce’s market share of eCommerce sites was 26% in 2020, outpacing Shopify, but this is likely due to combination of WordPress user adoption and the fact that it is a freeware.
- Create your store in the WordPress platform
- Flexible and Secure Payments
- Manage your orders all in one place
- Sell physical, digital products or both
- Open source
4.Response CRM
Although it isn’t freeware, Response CRM is another platform that may entice some, mainly due to it’s transaction fee pricing, in comparison to monthly membership and contract commitments.
Instead of doing an expensive monthly fixed subscription, they offer a $0.06 transaction fee, and don’t charge setup or hidden fees. This can definitely be an upside for your business especially if you are new and low on cash.
However, this benefit could also lead to higher costs over time if you do in fact start getting larger revenues, as 6 cents can surprisingly start to add up if you have thousands or millions of transactions per month. With a more lenient pricing structure, at least initially, Response CRM could be a decent eCommerce solution to start off with and then transition from… or possibly stick with.
They do offer tools to improve your conversion rate such as split URL testing, reporting and billing analytics, tools for managing affiliates, and integration with 40+ payment processor plugins, and these can help with shipping, building funnels and preventing fraud. All crucial points to your eCommerce store.
And although they offer many features that are commonly offered in CRM’s, they also have some surprises. One unique feature to note is their credit card testing feature, as it allows you to test as many unique cards as you would like in order to protect your business from competitors who try to model after the flow of your highest converting pages. This can help protect your business process, and prevent them from stealing your strategy.
This feature could be a hidden gem that other eCommerce platforms may not provide…
- $0.06 for each successful transaction
- Has detailed customer profiles
- Split URL testing
- Open API keys
- No sign up fees
5.Shopify
You’ve heard of Shopify, right? If you haven’t, you’re probably very new to eCommerce, and even the internet for that matter.
As it is currently one of the most popular commerce platforms in the world and continuing to dominate the eCommerce space, Shopify has shown itself to be a swiss army knife of a platform, containing nearly everything you would need to grow and scale your business, all within a fairly user-friendly way.
Whether you are making no profit, or are a successful business, Shopify gives you different options for the level of your business, with a basic level at $29 USD for a small store with few sales, all the way up to paying $299 USD a month as an advanced seller, who needs intricate analytics and a 53% discount on shipping. They even have Shopify Plus, which is a customized solution for larger enterprise customers…
There are numerous benefits to using Shopify, but there are some disadvantages depending on what vertical you are in.
Shopify offers their own payment solution, Shopify payments, and they prefer if you would use theirs instead of a competitor. They disincentivize you by charging additional fees for each transaction, ranging from 0.5%-2%, and things can get even more tricky if you are a high risk merchant who will have payments processed for CBD, supplements and subscription products.
Shopify can be strict when it comes to certain high risk products, and they do not integrate with the NMI gateway, which is the preferred and most reliable gateway for high risk payment processing. This payment gateway doesn’t mess around, and high risk merchants rely on them for their enhanced security measures like the Merchant defender system, iSpyFraud and CertifyPCI system.
Because of these factors, Shopify may not be the best choice for high risk merchants, and other options may be more sustainable in the long term.
- Free trial, and $29/month
- Most used eCommerce platform today
- Customer database
- Manage sales, payments, orders and inventory
- Has solutions for brick and mortar retailers as well
- Ability to manage sales tax
Summary of main points
So in the end, any of these options could work for your business, but there are some that will prove more beneficial for you in certain situations in comparison to others.
Konnektive has a reliable backorder, inventory, returns and shipping management, and it allows for real time order entry. Sticky.io is similar to Konnektive as it has no free trial, custom pricing, and this software can also be great for enterprise level eCommerce businesses as well, and both these software is great for SMB’s that are direct to consumer merchants, want a reliable inventory management system, but are also willing to pay more than other options without a free trial.
On the cheaper side, Response CRM and WooCommerce could be a viable option for newer businesses low on cash or some SMB’s looking to cut costs on their CRM budget. WooCommerce is freeware at its base level, but it does offer extra features as an upsell that can add to your monthly bill, such as tools to manage your inventory better and prevent abandon carts, while Response CRM scraps the monthly billing model, and just charge you $0.06 per every successful transaction.
And last but not least, there’s Shopify. This platform can be great for SMB’s and enterprise sized eCommerce merchants alike, but things can start to get tricky when you put high-risk merchants into the mix. With apprehension towards high risk industries (CBD, supplements, nutraceuticals etc.…) and a lack of NMI gateway support, Shopify may not be the most suitable option for you even though they have some effective marketing tools.
In the end, the popularity of a CRM platform could give clues on the value they may be bringing to their subscribers, but don’t be afraid to take a look at lesser known options.
Bottomline, if they are willing to take a risk on you, then maybe it could be worth taking a risk on them…