eCommerce Tech Stack - [What, How to, Choose and More]

Introduction

Needless to say, technology has evolved the traditional eCommerce world. What once was tricky has now become more simple, advanced, and profit-centric - thanks to the modern eCommerce tech stack. 

An eCommerce technology stack is the backbone of a thriving online business. But building one from scratch is confusing. You’ll get different solutions from different sites that’ll leave you scratching your head. 

Thus, in this article, we’ll simplify what exactly you need in an eCommerce tech stack so you can grow your business to the next level. 

Let’s start!

What Is an eCommerce Tech Stack?

An eCommerce technology stack refers to a set of tools, platforms, frameworks, and technologies used to run and manage an eCommerce business.

This tech stack handles all the operations essential to establish an up-and-running and successful eCommerce business infrastructure. For example, a sophisticated eCommerce technology stack takes care of things like:

• Website Hosting
• Product Listing
• Sales & Marketing
• Payment processing
• Logistics & Shipping
• Analytics

And more.

As you can see, an eCommerce owner needs a tool/technology to support different workflows at every stage of the journey. Together, all the tools and platforms create an eCommerce tech stack.

Why Is Having the Right Tech Stack Critical for eCommerce?

Just like a well-designed ship with advanced navigation tools and a sturdy build is essential for a smooth and prosperous voyage, the right tech stack is crucial for a successful eCommerce business.

Though there are tens of thousands of benefits a well-chosen tech stack can provide, here we have listed the major ones:

1) Optimal Performance

According to a recent study by Unbounce (a well-known landing page builder), around 82% of customers say that a slow website affects their purchase decisions.

It means how your website performs in terms of loading speed, navigation, and responsiveness plays a significant role in your business's success. 

When you carefully select front-end frameworks, implement the proper caching mechanism, and use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), you build a solid foundation for a high-performing eCommerce website. 

2) Scalability

If you want to grow your business to the next level, the first thing you need to consider is whether or not your website is able to handle the expansion and increased demands or not.

The rightly chosen tech stack powers your business with a solid groundwork of scalability so it can adopt the growing requirements easily.

For example, a well-chosen tech stack might incorporate a relational database management system (RDBMS). It helps you add more servers to distribute the server loads as your business and product listing grow with time.  

3) Data protection

Data security is the number one priority of every internet user. Surfshark’s study says that 90% of US users consider online privacy the most important aspect of online shopping.

A well-chosen tech stack incorporates the right combination of security protocols, encryption, and advanced security methods. These may include SSL encryption, firewalls, 2-factor authentication, etc.

As a result, your eCommerce website remains end-to-end encrypted and safe against potential cyber-attacks.

4) Flexibility

Flexible workflow is another benefit you’ll enjoy with a proper eCommerce tech stack. An adaptable one is designed to stay competitive and meet growing customer needs.

This means you can seamlessly integrate various features, recommendation engines, and payment methods without any struggle. 

5) Enhanced User Experience (UX)

Last but certainly not least, all the above reasons boil down to one aspect, i.e., improved customer experience.

When you provide a shopping platform to your customers that is end-to-end secure, easy to navigate, and adaptable to their needs, it automatically improves their shopping experience. This further boosts the customer retention rate and brand loyalty. 

10 Key Components to Build a Top-notch eCommerce Tech Stack

Ideally, an eCommerce tech stack consists of two parts - the front end and the back end. While the front end manages the external-facing operations, the back end takes care of functionalities.

This means the front end includes the user interface, responsive design, and client-side scripting, and the back end manages servers, databases, and APIs. 

Every tool or platform in your tech stack must manage both the front-end and back-end sections efficiently. In this part, we’ll look at 10 major components you need to establish a winning technology stack. 

1) E-commerce Website Development 

The first and foremost thing you need to establish an eCommerce business is a website - a full-fledged website that is not only visually appealing but also highly functional and easy to navigate.

To build an eCommerce website from scratch, first, you need a website hosting and domain.

Hosting makes it possible for your customers to access your store, and a domain makes it easier for them to search for your store online. 

So, choose a domain name wisely since it’ll portray your brand identity among your customers. There are lots of well-known hosting companies available in the market. Some of them include:

• Hostgator
• Bluehost 
• GoDaddy
• SiteGround

Once you’ve secured a domain and hosting, then the process of setting up the actual online store starts. At this moment, you’ve to opt for an eCommerce platform to build your store. Again, you’ll find an ocean full of eCommerce platforms. However, here are some of the best ones:

• Shopify
• BigCommerce
• Woocommerce (If you already have a WordPress site)
• Magento

These platforms already come with various customization options, unlimited bandwidth, integrated tools, free SSL certificates, and other essential features.

As a result, you don’t need to worry about setting up everything from scratch since you’ll obtain all the required tools & functionalities with just a few clicks. 

2) Product Information management tools 

Product Information Management (PIM) tools work as a single repository where all the product-related data like product descriptions, images, and pricing information are stored.

Now, if you have a vast data catalog, these PIM tools make it easy to manage the product details and simplify the task of showcasing products across various sales & marketing channels.

To ease your search, here we have listed some of the best PIM tools that will fit your bill but, at the same time, won’t break the bank. 

• Plytix
• OneTimePIM
• AkeneoPIM
• Syndigo

3) Sales & Marketing tools 

Sales and marketing are two of the most crucial aspects that directly impact your eCommerce growth. Like other facets of your business, there are a number of tools that help optimize sales and marketing in the most effective way. 

For example, when you carefully choose these tools, they help you nurture potential customers, understand when to reach out to them for better response, automate manual tasks like data entry, streamline internal processes, and, most importantly, help understand which prospects are more likely to convert. 

However, there are tens of thousands of sales and marketing solutions in the market responsible for various tasks. We’ll mention here one or two excellent tools from each vertical so you can stay specific along the way. 

• Canva - Best for creating content and visuals
• Semrush, Ahrefs - Best for finding trending products to sell
• Adobe Premiere Pro -  Best for creating product videos
• Klaviyo - Best for optimizing email campaigns
• Hootsuite - Best for social media marketing
• Recart - Best for SMS marketing

4) Customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Be it for eCommerce businesses or any other businesses, CRM systems are an absolute necessity. Why? Maintaining good relationships with shoppers is the number 1 key to growing online business.

The CRM tools (more specifically, eCommerce CRM tools) help you manage all the customer-related data and provide insights into every interaction between your brand and past, present, and future customers.

And the results? Better personalization, accurate product recommendations, and improved customer retention rate.

Here are our top few suggestions for eCommerce CRM systems:

• Shopify’s built-in CRM system
• Salesforce
• Hubspot
• Zoho 
• Zendesk

5) Payment processing platforms

To be able to accept payment securely, you need some reliable payment processing platforms. In fact, if you consider Statista’s study, around 59% of customers expressed their concerns regarding online payment fraud.

This means payment gateways are not only there to streamline transactions but also are some great ways to win customer trust. Thus, ensure you integrate some well-known and trusted payment processing platforms. Some of them include:

• Stripe
• PayPal
• AmazonPay
• Cards

💡Pro Tip: Ensure you integrate all of the above payment gateways to provide better flexibility to customers.

6) Order and Warehouse management tools

It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting out with your eCommerce business or already getting a decent amount of orders; having an order management system (OMS) and a warehouse management system (WMS) is a must. 

An order management system takes care of the whole order lifecycle. For instance, with an OMS, you can track order ID, processing, and fulfillment services. Here are some of the best OMS systems:

• Order Desk
• Netsuite
• Zoho

On the other hand, warehouse management systems (WMS) help you manage daily warehouse activity - from stock quantity tracking to picking & packing to order processing.

Overall, a WMS system streamlines all the operations in a warehouse. Some best WMS systems include:

• Unicommerce
• Increff 
• Vinculum
• ShipHero
• ShipEdge

7) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 

An Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system optimizes major business processes in terms of inventory management, order management, financial tracking, and more. Simply put, an ERP solution centralizes various aspects of your retail business on a single platform. 

As a result, you can automate the most mundane tasks of your business, pull valuable information from various sources, and strategize future operations. 

Here are our top three recommendations for ERP systems:

• Sage Intacct
• Acumatica
• TallyPrime

8) Multi-carrier integration and shipping software

As of now, you’re all set to accept orders and manage all the operations. Next comes the most important aspect of your business- shipping. 98.1% of consumers say delivery experiences impact brand loyalty.

This simply means how you handle the shipping and post-purchase process will directly determine your business growth. And exactly here, shipping software takes center stage.

They seamlessly integrate with various carriers worldwide so that you can manage all the delivery operations in a single place. 

Apart from that, these solutions also help track all the orders and manage failed and fake deliveries. While there are numerous shipping software that promise seamless operations, not all of them are worth it. Some may have limited integrations and poor customer experiences. 

On the other hand, some may have limited features that may hinder you from meeting customer demands. However, after evaluating all the aspects, here are our top suggestions that'll meet your needs from all fronts. 

• ClickPost 
• AfterShip
• Metapack

9) Returns Management Systems

Your responsibility doesn’t end after just delivering the products to the customers.  Like shipping, return is another aspect of your eCommerce business that you need to take care of to build a loyal customer base. 

Shoppers usually return a product when it doesn’t meet their needs. And it makes them question your brand the next time they plan to purchase something.

Sure, you can’t avoid this situation, but a full-fledged returns management tool handles this issue and indirectly boosts their trust in your business. 

Starting from creating return labels, AWB numbers generation, and seamless pick-up to return tracking to on-time refund initiation, returns management solutions eliminate repetitive tasks and foster customer loyalty. 

So, if you want to add some best returns management software, you can try out the below-mentioned solutions:-

• ClickPost’s Return module
• Return Magic
• Happy Return
• Return Logic

10) Analytics tools 

If you aren’t familiar with how your business is performing, how will you remove the bottlenecks in the future? That’s why the last most important tool you need is analytics software.

These analytics tools provide accurate data and metrics on your performance to help you understand what’s working and what’s not. For example, they provide insights on website traffic, conversion rate, average order value, cart abandonment rate, email open rate, and more. 

As a result, you can better strategize your business growth. Among all the eCommerce analytics tools, here are our top choices that provide almost accurate results:

• Google Analytics
• Kissmetrics
• Optimizely 

3 Emerging Technologies for an Advanced eCommerce Tech Stack 

Now that you have got an overview of what the basic technologies and tools you need to have in your eCommerce tech stack, let’s move forward and check some of the trendy and useful technologies that can separate your brand in this competitive world:

1) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

No doubt, AI and ML technologies are transforming every sector in the market - and eCommerce is not an exception. Think of receiving those personalized product recommendations every time you visit an online store. 

That’s just a sneak peek!

There are a lot of cases in this eCommerce sector that are heavily influenced by AI and ML. Below, we have mentioned some of them:

• Personalized customer support powered by chatbot AI (Solutions: IBM Watsonx assistant, Amazon Lex, Ada)
• Price optimization
• Fraud Detection
• Visual search 
• Customer sentiment analysis

Apart from these, AI and ML also help in supply chain management. The perfect example of it is ClickPost. Its ML-based carrier allocation engine fetches the most appropriate logistics company as per your requirement and shipment type.

Plus, it has the capability to identify potential issues in the shipment journey so you can mitigate them way before your customers know. At the same time, it also uses automation to streamline communication with the delivery agent if any failed and fake deliveries occur.

2) Internet of Things(IoT)

Like AI & ML, IoT is another trend that’s changing years-old eCommerce activities, and it can be a great addition to your tech stack. There are a number of ways IoT can help you. For example:

• You can place IoT sensors on products to monitor inventory levels.
• It provides real-time data on the conditions of the goods.
• IoT devices personalize customer experiences.
• It can sense customer behavior. 

3) Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

AR and VR are other immersive technologies that directly impact customer’s shopping experience. A recent study shows that the global AR/VR market is going to touch $58.1 billion by 2028.

So, you can imagine the craze of augmented reality and virtual reality - and for good reasons. These technologies will help your business in multiple ways. They are:

• Virtual try-on
• Product visualization in a real-world environment
• Interactive product catalogs
•  Virtual showrooms 

Final Thoughts!

As you saw, how you’ll build an eCommerce tech stack will completely depend on your goals and budget. If you are just starting out and have limited resources, you can invest in the necessary tools and technologies like an eCommerce platform, payment processing tools, shipping software, and other required things. 

But at the same time, if you want to stand out from the crowd and provide a top-notch experience to the customers, you must go for those immersive technologies like AI, AR & VR, etc.

So, first, decide on your goals, assess your budget, and choose the best ones for your business. And if you need a solution that’ll make the delivery process a breeze, book a demo for ClickPost. 

FAQs

1) What tools and technologies should you consider in your eCommerce tech stack when you’re a beginner?

If you are just starting, we’d recommend you go for the basic tools and platforms. These include, but are not limited to, an eCommerce platform, a PIM solution, payment processing platforms, analytics tools, basic marketing solutions, and shipping software. 

2) What factors should you consider when selecting a tech stack for eCommerce?

Check the below-mentioned criteria when selecting a tech stack for your eCommerce business:

• Budget: Consider your marketing budget. 
• Ease of use: Make sure the tools and platforms are easy to navigate. 
• Performance: Verify if the selected tools are contributing to the website’s optimal performance.