Building the definitive tech stack for your Shopify website

Kaci Carson September 27, 2024

Article E-Commerce

Building a Shopify tech stack is one strategy you can implement to drastically improve your business operations. Through choosing the right additional apps and integrations, you’ll be able to optimize your Shopify store significantly. Having apps that enhance functionality, add advanced features, and integrate with other business apps and software saves you time and helps you manage many different aspects of your business. This article will explore key elements you need to build the definitive Shopify tech stack for your business.

The importance of an efficient Shopify tech stack

When building your ideal Shopify tech stack there are several considerations to make. While it’s important to build the best tech stack for your e-commerce business, tech stacks are rarely ever one-size-fits-all. There are several e-commerce tech stack diagrams to refer to, when looking at each of the elements to include in your tech stack. The apps you choose will vary based on your business size and needs. It’s important to build your tech stack in the context of your business and your future projected growth.

By choosing the right apps and software now that has the potential to grow with you, you can spare yourself time and money in the long run. As your business grows, your needs may change and build a tech stack that is able to be adjusted.

Payment gateways

Secure payment processing is essential for any online business. Payment gateways let e-commerce stores accept payments through various methods like credit cards. Having several payment gateway options significantly improves checkout completion and conversion for online stores.

Shopify Payments is a built-in payment gateway that you have the option of applying to your Shopify store. It offers some of the most popular payment options to your checkout process. This feature allows you to reach different customers who have different preferences. Shopify Payments is a secure and trusted payment gateway option to consider implementing to your tech stack.

When you add PayPal as a checkout option in Shopify, it enables accepting PayPal accounts for checkout. PayPal increases conversion rates by letting customers pay with their account allowing for a faster checkout process by having customers details such as their address and card info saved directly in their account. It is widely used as one of the many popular options of payment worldwide.

Another suitable option as a Shopify payment gateway is Stripe. Stripe’s advanced features include support for recurring payments and global payment methods. It’s important to choose the right payment gateway that is aligned with your business needs and customer preferences.

Accounting software

Having accounting software in your tech stack ensures the financial side of your Shopify storefront is taken care of. A cloud-based accounting software is the best type to include when considering your choice for your tech stack, this is because all your information is stored in one place, making it easy to access.

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software with features that support invoicing, bank reconciliation, and the ability to collaborate with other accountants all in one place. It also offers the advantage of accessibility from any location, which encourages smooth collaboration between your teams.

QuickBooks accounting software is another suitable option for Shopify store owners. It has tools that simplify financial management and efficient expense tracking. powerful tools for creating invoices, and efficient expense tracking. It also has a user-friendly interface that can be tailored to tailored versions to accommodate different business sizes and industry requirements.

MYOB accounting software has a multitude of features that cater to Shopify store owners. Some of these features include payroll processing, stock management capabilities, and efficient time tracking. This software caters to the needs of small and mid-sized businesses.

Sage Accounting is an all-encompassing accounting software with features, including multi-currency support along with customizable reporting. It is a software option suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Each of these accounting software are able to be seamlessly integrated with Shopify through Amaka’s accounting integration.

Accounting integrations

After you’ve chosen your accounting software, it’s time to use accounting integration to further optimize your tech stack. With Amaka’s accounting integration, you’ll be able to sync important data between Shopify and your accounting software within a matter of minutes. Without the integration in place, much of what is done automatically would instead require manual work.

There are countless benefits to using an accounting integration but one of the most important of them is compliance. Because you have access to recent and accurate data this will help you remain in the accuracy of your business cash flow. This then ensures that at tax time you’re paying and reporting the correct amounts. Integration helps you avoid inaccuracies that would otherwise lead to error and potential fines at tax time.

Amaka’s accounting integrations also speed up the reconciliation process. Rather than having to manually compare transactions from your e-commerce platform to your bank data, the integration automatically matches up transactions.. This not only saves you time but also has the ability to give you an accurate view of your business performance overall.

Billing and invoicing apps

Automating billing and invoicing improves efficiency for high sales volume e-commerce sites. Apps can generate and send invoices, along with keeping track of outstanding or overdue invoices. They also can sync data with accounting systems which saves time over manual methods.

Billplz allows creating quotes and invoices right from Shopify. There are even options to send bills via either SMS or emails. This app enables Shopify retailers to easily collect and send payments to customers and connect it to their preferred payment gateways.

The following section is brought to you by Sufio, a tool providing unique templates for invoices, statements and more.

Invoicing might not be the biggest priority when you’re trying to grow your Shopify business, but it’s important you take some time to familiarize yourself with the topic and choose a reliable app to handle these types of documents for you.

Many online store owners assume sending receipts is enough. And sure, we think this approach can work if they stick to countries with a more relaxed attitude towards record keeping. Things quickly take a turn for the worse if a business tries to do the same in the EU, though, as every member state has rules to ensure careful control of a company’s bookkeeping, including keeping a record of all financial transactions for a period of several years.

Even customers in the EU will require compliant invoices for their own accounting. Typically, the invoices your B2B customers expect would include the company details of both the seller and buyer, including VAT numbers (if applicable). Learn more about invoices and what information they must include on Sufio’s website.

If you want to be sure your business stays compliant in some of the world’s biggest markets, including France, Germany, and the UK, Sufio might be the best invoicing app for you. Watch the 2-minute introduction to Sufio. We support thousands of Shopify merchants with powerful, automated invoicing.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re about to launch your first ever store or you’ve already made it as a household name; Sufio’s customer success team will help you configure both your invoices and taxes with compliance in mind. Start your 14-day free trial today to experience the peace of mind automated invoicing for Shopify provides.

Shipping apps

With frequent shipping needs, Shopify sellers benefit greatly from integrated shipping apps. These provide order tracking and logistics insights to improve customer experience and operational efficiency.

ShipStation’s automation and tracking tools help Shopify merchants streamline their order fulfillments with multi-carrier shipping options, tracking information, and return management. The platform saves sellers time with its simple batch order processing and rate shopping.

Starshipit has features that compare rates across carriers to optimize costs. With Starshipit, Shopify store owners can quickly find the best shipping rates, print labels, and track shipments across multiple carriers, ensuring timely and affordable delivery.

Analytics and reporting

Detailed analytics help businesses identify trends, gain insights used for future campaigns, and make data-driven decisions. Monitoring tools also provide visibility into website performance and potential issues. This drives growth through informed optimization.

Shopify provides analytics on store traffic, sales and conversions but when paired with Google Analytics, you’re able to access even greater insights. Google Analytics provides Shopify brands with valuable website traffic insights and conversion tracking to better understand their customers and fine-tune their marketing. With customizable dashboards and reporting options, this app makes it easy not to analyze data.

LogRocket is a tool that has capabilities to identify performance issues impacting site experience and sales. Through monitoring performance metrics this all will provide solutions to optimize site speed. Analytics apps provide essential insights that are necessary for managing your business, making it an important part of your tech stack.

SEO apps

E-commerce sites rely heavily on search engine visibility to drive traffic and sales. SEO apps optimize on-page content and technical elements to improve organic rankings. This helps e-commerce stores surface in relevant product searches, reaching more potential customers.

SEO Manager makes search engine optimization accessible for Shopify businesses with its suite of SEO tools that help improve site visibility. It provides recommendations to optimize pages and content.

Seobility analyzes the SEO strength of Shopify stores, identifying opportunities to rank higher and driving more organic traffic. The automated SEO audits quickly identify issues to fix. With the help of an SEO tool, more people will be able to discover your site and your products effortlessly.

Email marketing integrations

Email marketing is key for e-commerce customer acquisition and retention. Integrations with email services allow stores to categorize contacts, create targeted campaigns, and track performance. This then has a direct effect on your sales and conversions.

Klaviyo empowers Shopify brands to customize marketing campaigns with targeted segments and automations that nurture relationships. Klaviyo is the perfect app for beginners as it has many user friendly features that makes email marketing more simple and helps drive positive results.

Another email marketing app that houses many important features is Omnisend. This app helps Shopify retailers increase sales through AI-powered email and SMS marketing tailored to each subscriber’s journeys. It allows full customization of post-purchase follow-ups. Both apps provide features that optimize your email marketing making them both suitable for your store and your team.

Live chat apps

Instant communication via live chats helps stores deliver excellent customer service. Live chat apps enable real-time support and conversion optimization by interacting directly with shopping customers.

Gorgias is a dedicated help desk for managing customer queries. Gorgias’ help desk integrates natively with Shopify to streamline customer service and offers a user-friendly configuration that makes it easy to use, perfect for teams of a few people to a much larger team.

Another live chat app option for your Shopify tech stack is Tido. It has several features that make it a great option for sellers. This app has advanced live chat features such as ticketing and has LyroAI, a chatbot that assists in solving customer questions automatically. Each of these options are essential parts of your e-commerce tech stack and are important tools to optimize your Shopify store.

Inventory management apps

Inventory management is essential for any e-commerce tech stack. Without an inventory management app in place, your business could face problems of inaccurate stock which can have a direct impact on your sales overall.

Consider adding Cin7 to your tech stack. It is an app that integrates inventory management, order management, and reporting into one platform to help Shopify stores simplify operations and optimize stock levels.

QuickBooks Commerce is another suitable option for your tech stack. This app houses features to enable bulk order processing and business pricing tiers. It also has tools to customize reports and manage stock in multiple locations. With an inventory app in place, you’ll be able to have a much more accurate stock take and to remain a reliable business to customers.

Key takeaways on building your Shopify tech stack

Optimizing the definitive Shopify tech stack involves integrating apps for key elements like payments, shipping, analytics, marketing and business operations. With the right combination in place, you’ll be able to operate an efficient e-commerce business.

With the information in this guide, you’ll be able to build your tech stack according to your business needs and one that can grow alongside your growing Shopify store. Understanding and choosing each element based on your business needs and your projected growth will set you up for a win for now and for the future.