Lean eCommerce tech stack.
Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links.
Using the right tools for your business will make all the difference.
But, figuring out which to use can sometimes feel harder than coming up with your idea and starting your brand. With so many options, it's easy to get stuck overthinking what the best setup will be. Especially if you don't have experience setting up an eCommerce tech stack already.
It feels this way because it seems like you're making a decision you have to stick with forever. And it's tough when you don't know exactly what you need or what your business will look like five or ten years from now.
So, the best thing you can do is to keep things simple.
Select platforms that do a lot but don't lock you in forever. And realize having limitations is sometimes a benefit. It means you can't overcomplicate things on your own and will have to work with what you've got. You don't want to spend time maintaining multiple systems when you should be focused on building your brand and getting more sales.
You should only allow complexity when you know exactly how it will benefit you.
So, at a minimum, to build out a lean eCommerce tech stack, you're going to need:
An eCommerce platform
Website analytics
Accounting software
Shipping platform
Workspace tool
Communication app
Creative tools
Automation
Now, I'm not saying this is all you need or that it's the absolute best eCommerce tech stack. I don't know if there is such a thing as you'll need to add or swap out more tools for your specific needs, but this is what has worked for me to get something off the ground.
Sell with Squarespace for eCommerce.
I like using Squarespace for my eCommerce platform instead of Shopify because it does everything I need to do without having to connect a bunch of third-party apps to make it all work.
Now, does doing this mean there are some things I can't do? Yes. But I'm more than happy to give up some customization for simplicity. Especially when some of the customizations are just nice to have and nothing that's business critical. By not having the option to do certain things, I don't have to think or worry about them.
And, it's not so much that I can't do something. It's more so I don't have complete control over how it's set up. I have to trust that the user experience Squarespace designed has been tested to be as efficient as possible.
So, things like being able to edit the styles of all the components but not being able to design a new component. Or not being able to customize the checkout flow. Or being able to edit the text and design of the automated emails but not being able to change when they're sent.
Small things like these where it's all there, but some of the decisions have been removed.
But, not having total control over the platform means I can spend more time creating content, marketing the brand, and ultimately getting more sales. The kinds of things that actually matter when launching a new brand.
I also think this tradeoff is worth it because Squarespace continually adds new features to the platform. I've seen it happen where another platform will launch a new feature I'd want, and not long after, Squarespace is rolling it out as well. Most recently, they did this with product reviews.
Because of these things, I think Squarespace is the simplest and most straightforward eCommerce platform that will do everything you need while making it so easy to create a well-designed experience. Whatever you want, you can create.
And, if you ever get to the point of outgrowing it, another off-the-shelf solution isn't your answer anyway. You'll likely need to build out a completely customized solution.
Alternative eCommerce platforms:
Track and view analytics with Google Analytics.
If you have a website, you need to have analytics tracking set up for the metrics that matter. Without it, you won't know what's working, what's not, or who your customers are and where they're from.
For this, the industry standard is Google Analytics.
Now, I know there are newer, read "niche" analytics platforms that are a bit simpler and focus more on privacy. But, they're not as established, and you're going to have to pay for them. Whereas Google Analytics is free, and it's what most people will be familiar with.
And while it can be a bit complicated to understand all the reports at first, once you spend a bit of time with them, you'll know what's important and what you can ignore.
This is the real reason to start with Google Analytics.
One day you might need all of the data it captures. So, you'll be better off tracking it from the beginning instead of trying to infer things from what you think happened because you didn't realize something was important.
And it's incredibly easy to set up. Simply add your tracking code to your site, and you'll immediately start capturing analytics.
So, while this may sound like a lot, don't worry if it seems overkill right now. Getting familiar with GA4 will only help you as you'll have more insight into your business as it grows.
Alternative analytics platforms:
Shipping with Easyship.
Then, once you start selling your products, you'll need a way to manage all of your shipments.
And aside from being able to create and track all of your shipments in one place, you will be getting access to better shipping rates by using a shipping platform. This saves you money and is one of the ways brands can offer free shipping as it becomes a manageable marketing expense when they're not having to pay full price.
Just search "shipping platform," and you'll see there are a bunch of platforms to choose from. But they all do pretty much the same thing.
My favorite is Easyship, as it felt like the most intuitive and well designed platform of the ones I looked at. And it was the cheapest option, which is always something to consider when starting out.
Alternative shipping platforms:
Keep track of your money with Xero.
You want to save money on taxes, right? If you do, and who doesn't, you'll need to keep track of all your expenses to write things off when your taxes are due. To do this, you'll want to track your expenses throughout the year, as it's way easier to do it consistently than to try and collect everything right before the deadline.
Accounting software will make this incredibly easy as it connects to your bank account and syncs everything automatically. All you'll have to do is make sure things are tagged to the proper accounts and attach receipts.
The two most popular ones I know of are Quickbooks and Xero. I use Xero, but I have friends who use Quickbooks, and I don't think there's much difference. They both do the same thing and are standard in the accounting industry.
You must also keep your personal and business money in different accounts as it helps separate liability should anything happen.
Alternative accounting software:
Google Workspace for Email & Cloud Storage.
I hope I don't have to convince you that Google Workspace, Google's suite of business tools, is what you need to use for your email and cloud storage.
I truly don't know why you'd used anything else.
It's email, docs, spreadsheets, drive, etc. Everything you know of from Google already if you use Gmail.
And, yes, you have to pay for it, but it's worth it when you get an email @yourdomain instead of @gmail. It's more professional and makes you look like you're taking your business seriously.
Alternative workspace tools:
If you don’t want to use either of these then you could make your own “business suite” with a bunch of different apps but it all becomes more complicated when you do that.
Communicate with Slack.
If you're just starting out, it might seem like you don't need a chat app as you don't have any other team members to chat with. But that doesn't mean having something like Slack isn't valuable.
This is because when I'm not using Slack for chat, I use it as a business dashboard to collect all of my notifications in one place.
This way, instead of checking all of my apps individually, I set up Slack integrations, so I'm getting alerts for specific things in the channels I set up. For example, mentions on Twitter will show up in #marketing, and new sales will show up in #revenue.
Doing this means I get an overview of what's going on and don't have to spend time checking multiple apps to see if there's anything I need to address. If there is, it will show up in Slack.
Alternative communication tools:
Create anything with Creative Cloud.
This is the one thing where I don't really have a recommendation as it seems like the preferred design tool changes fairly regularly, and it really depends on what you're trying to do and are comfortable with.
But that said, you can't go wrong with using Adobe Creative Cloud. It's been around forever and is the most well known across industries.
So, if you're doing straightforward DTC style creative, then the photography plan with Photoshop and Lightroom should be all you need. But if you need more tools, you'll be better off getting the entire Creative Cloud suite, as paying for individual apps doesn't make sense.
Again, the best tool will be the one that does what you need and are most comfortable with.
For me, I have the full Creative Suite as I often need to edit photos in Lightroom and Photoshop, edit videos in Premiere, and occasionally create logos in Illustrator. It's just easier for me to have tools that are a part of the same family and share a similar layout.
Alternative creative tools:
Connect every app with Zapier.
Lastly, most, if not all, of these tools will integrate with each other. But if they don't, Zapier will help you make those connections.
Zapier is a tool that links apps together and automates tasks, so you don't have to manually do a bunch of tedious work.
This may not sound like an essential tool, but it's one that will save you time and help you do more with less. So it's one to keep in mind for when you find yourself doing the same thing over and over again, Zapier may be able to help do it for you.
Alternative automation tools:
Focus on scalability.
Alright, this is the eCommerce tech stack I recommend you start with when launching your brand. But like I said, you might have different needs and could need more tools for whatever business you're in. The point is, you want whatever tools you choose to be scalable.
While you don't need to get the most advanced tools initially, you also don't want to get things you'll quickly outgrow. You want to get set up with straightforward tools that are simple to operate while still being able to grow with you.
The last thing you'll want to do is re-platform because you didn't think ahead.
That's why I use all of the tools I talk about above. They do everything I need them to do now, and I'm confident they'll continue working for me as my business grows.
Finally, I've learned that it's sometimes worth paying for tools that will make your life easier.
For too long I tried to save a few dollars and do things manually. But doing that meant I spent a lot of my time doing things that didn't grow the business.
So, if you find yourself doing a bunch of busy work instead of things that can grow your business, know it may be worth paying $5 a month for a tool that will simplify things or do something for you.
