Ecommerce platforms like Shopify can help manage customer relationships for a while, but most ecommerce stores will quickly outgrow these features.
To get comprehensive CRM capabilities, you should integrate your ecommerce store with a dedicated CRM for ecommerce. These systems provide advanced tools like marketing automation, AI-driven personalization, and pipeline management to help you manage the chaos.
In this article, we’ll explore the top ecommerce CRM platforms available today and guide you on how to select the one that best fits your business needs.
What Is an Ecommerce CRM?
An ecommerce CRM is a type of customer relationship management software specifically designed to meet the unique needs of online stores. While all CRMs manage contacts and customer interactions, an ecommerce CRM includes features tailored for online retail, including:
- Order and transaction tracking
- Product and catalog integration
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Customer segmentation for shoppers
- Loyalty and rewards tracking
- Ecommerce analytics
An ecommerce CRM does everything a standard CRM does, but it also integrates deeply with online store operations and provides additional tools that ecommerce stores need.
7 Best CRMs for Ecommerce
The best CRM for ecommerce isn’t necessarily the one with the most features; it’s the one that has the right features at the right price. We tested and evaluated more than 35 CRMs to find out which platforms work best for ecommerce stores. This shortlist includes a variety of options for different businesses, budgets, and skill levels. No matter what you need, this list has something for you.
HubSpot CRM
Best for: Small shops testing CRM for the first time and growing ecommerce businesses looking for deeper automation.
HubSpot CRM
HubSpot stands out in the CRM market with its all-in-one marketing suite, integrating CRM, sales, and other tools seamlessly. Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, it focuses on inbound marketing strategies to attract, engage, and delight customers.
In top 3 for
Pros
Very comprehensive suite of features
Works well together with other HubSpot products
Offers a high level of security
Cons
Expensive beyond the starter plan
Advanced features require an upgrade to the higher plans
HubSpot is well-suited for online stores that rely heavily on marketing to drive sales. It includes built-in tools for email campaigns, customer segmentation, abandoned cart recovery, and lead nurturing. HubSpot also offers one of the strongest free plans on the market and easily integrates with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce.
The downside is that HubSpot has fewer options for customizing workflows and data structures to very specific ecommerce needs. It also requires third-party tools to handle core ecommerce functions like inventory tracking, order fulfillment, or product management. Overall, HubSpot works well for newer or growing businesses. Larger companies can also benefit from HubSpot, but its biggest strength is helping smaller teams.
The free plan makes it accessible for small businesses and startups.
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Works with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and other ecommerce platforms.
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Marketing automation supports personalized email flows, abandoned cart reminders, and loyalty campaigns.
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Highly scalable and grows with your business.
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Pros
Many ecommerce-critical features are locked behind more expensive plans.
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Costs increase rapidly as you scale.
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HubSpot’s native payment processing solution is U.S.-only and doesn't cover all regions.
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Limits, such as the number of associations between products and deals, may be restrictive for high-volume stores.
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Cons
Zoho CRM
Best for: Ecommerce businesses that want more control over their workflows without paying enterprise-level prices.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM offers a budget-friendly solution, ideal for small to mid-sized businesses seeking an effective way to manage customer relationships. It stands out with its strong integration capabilities, connecting seamlessly with a wide array of apps and services, and providing a highly customizable platform.
In top 3 for
Cons
Weak customer support
Advanced features require an upgrade to the higher plans
Zoho CRM emphasizes flexibility and customization at a lower cost than most competitors. It's well-suited for stores that want to go beyond basic sales tracking and build unique sales funnels and detailed customer segmentation. Zoho CRM integrates seamlessly with popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. Zoho also has its own ecommerce platform, Zoho Commerce, which provides the most seamless integration for merchants who prefer to stay entirely within the Zoho ecosystem.
Most users will say that Zoho comes with a steeper learning curve than other CRMs like HubSpot. It can feel complex for beginners, so it's most valuable for teams that have the time or resources to handle setup and customization.
Syncs with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Zoho Commerce to track orders, customers, and purchase history in one place.
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Comes with pipelines, automation, and campaign tools built for driving repeat sales.
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Build custom customer lists, loyalty programs, or abandoned-cart follow-ups using CRM data.
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Works seamlessly with Zoho Inventory, Zoho Commerce, and Zoho Campaigns for a unified backend.
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Pros
Syncing orders, SKUs, and inventory can require custom work.
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Nested categories, advanced SKU mapping, or unique product attributes may not map cleanly without custom work.
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Real-time data syncs, automation workflows, or cross-app features may only be available on higher Zoho CRM or Zoho Commerce tiers.
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While tightly integrated, Zoho Commerce lacks the depth of platforms like Shopify or Magento.
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May need to use Zoho CRM alongside Zoho Commerce, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Campaigns for a full ecommerce soluiton.
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Cons
Pipedrive
Best for: Stores that care more about sales performance than all-in-one features.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive distinguishes itself in the CRM arena with its sales-focused approach, designed to streamline and optimize the sales pipeline for small to medium-sized businesses. Its user-friendly interface, coupled with robust analytics and a strong focus on activity-based selling, makes it a top choice for sales teams prioritizing efficiency and clear progress tracking.
In top 3 for
Pros
Offers many convenient integrations and secondary functions
Wide range of plans and add-ons available
Cons
Very limited base plan
Limited number of contacts
Pipedrive makes a good CRM for ecommerce because it’s built to simplify sales management while keeping customer interactions organized. While platforms like HubSpot or Zoho bundle in marketing, service, and operations tools, Pipedrive stays laser-focused on sales pipeline management. It’s not trying to be an all-in-one business suite.
Users often find that Pipedrive is easier to use than some feature-heavy CRMs that can overwhelm smaller teams. It also connects with popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, so order data and customer details are synced into the sales pipeline. Overall, Pipedrive is best suited for small and mid-sized ecommerce businesses that don’t need overly complex software.
Pipedrive's intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to learn and use.
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Pipedrive tends to be simpler to adopt and requires less configuration than enterprise CRMs.
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The “Products” module lets you associate products and SKUs with deals.
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Integrates with more than 400 applications, including popular ecommerce platforms and marketing tools.
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Pros
Things like abandoned cart triggers and product recommendations require third-party tools or custom integration.
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The built-in marketing/email campaign features are relatively basic.
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Doesn't offer a free plan beyond the 14-day trial period.
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Best used as an internal tool for tracking sales. Customer-facing features like order history, returns, and customer portals require a custom build.
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Cons
Capsule CRM
Best for: Ecommerce stores that want a lightweight but capable CRM solution.
Capsule
Capsule CRM offers a straightforward yet effective solution, focusing on simplicity and ease of use. It's particularly suited for small businesses and teams that require essential CRM functionalities like contact management, sales pipeline tracking, and task organization without the complexity of larger systems.
Pros
Good customer support
Ability to manage contracts
Offers email templates for quick email formulations
Cons
Cannot process payments
Cannot track document opening
Does not support audit logs
Does not support lead scoring and A/B testing
Cannot manage and track quotes, invoices and sales orders
Capsule CRM sets itself apart from other ecommerce CRMs because it emphasizes simplicity and ease of use over feature bloat. Its main focus is on tracking customers, deals, and follow-ups.
Unlike full-suite platforms such as HubSpot or Zoho, Capsule doesn't try to combine marketing automation, customer service, and inventory into one platform. This lighter approach makes it less overwhelming, quicker to set up, and easier for small teams to adopt.
Connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce via no-code tools like Zapier.
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User-friendly interface helps you get started faster.
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The free plan means small shops or those just starting can try Capsule without a big investment.
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Pros
Abandoned cart emails and personalized product recommendations will require external tools.
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Customer portals (order history, returns, saved payment methods) are generally not part of Capsule.
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Many users rely on Zapier or similar tools to get full ecommerce data in Capsule.
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The free plan is very limited.
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Cons
Brevo
Best for: Small to medium-sized ecommerce businesses with one or a few stores.
Brevo
Brevo offers a unique combination of CRM, email marketing, and automation tools, designed to cater to the needs of growing businesses. Their platform is great for advanced segmentation and personalization, making it great for businesses looking to streamline their marketing and CRM in one place.
In top 3 for
Pros
Beginner-friendly
Great integration with its email marketing platform
Cons
Lacks advanced features
Unlike some CRMs that focus mainly on sales pipelines or email marketing, Brevo lets ecommerce stores see all their customer data in one place. Users get a birds-eye-view of customer purchase history and engagement, which helps when building customer segments and targeted campaigns. Brevo also integrates directly with platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce.
What really sets Brevo apart is its unique pricing model, which is based on the volume of emails you send, not the number of contacts you store. That means you don’t have to pay for contacts you aren’t sending emails to. Brevo also stands out for its inclusion of WhatsApp marketing campaigns, a valuable feature in regions where WhatsApp is popular for communication and marketing.
Offers an ecommerce dashboard for tracking key metrics like product performance and customer retention.
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Provides a broader range of communication channels, including live chat, SMS, and WhatsApp.
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You can use segmentation based on custom data, purchase history, etc.
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You can try many core features on the free plan without a large immediate investment.
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Pros
The free plan has a 300 email/day limit, which can be restrictive for high-volume stores.
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The free plan also comes with limitations on how many contacts can enter an automation.
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The ecommerce dashboard only supports one connected store per account, which can be a limitation if you have multiple stores.
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Advanced features or custom data mapping may need developer work.
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Cons
Freshsales
Best for: Small-to-medium-sized stores with moderate order volume.
Freshsales
Freshsales caters to dynamic sales environments, offering AI-powered analytics and a suite of automation tools. Its blend of advanced lead scoring, integrated communication systems, and intuitive usability positions it as a go-to CRM for businesses aiming to use smart technology.
In top 3 for
Pros
Well composed starter plan
Works well together with other Freshworks products
Cons
Limited team management and reporting capabilities on the first plan
Freshsales is an ecommerce CRM focused on sales automation and AI-driven insights. Unlike many CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines or email marketing, Freshsales uses its AI assistant, Freddy, for predictive lead scoring and deal insights that help you prioritize customers and forecast sales. It integrates directly with platforms like Shopify, automatically syncing customer, order, and product data.
Supports multiple communication channels, including email, phone, chat, and WhatsApp.
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The AI assistant, “Freddy AI,” gives helpful features like lead scoring, predictive analytics, and suggestions for next steps.
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Multi-currency and multi-language support help with international ecommerce.
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Pros
Features like abandoned cart tracking or cart recovery workflows may require external tools or developer work.
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Behavior-triggered emails may also require external tools or developer work.
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Multiple storefronts or sales across marketplaces like Amazon or eBay will require additional integrations.
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Cons
Salesforce
Best for: Large or rapidly growing ecommerce businesses.
Salesforce
Salesforce revolutionized the CRM landscape with its cloud-based platform, offering customization and scalability. Today, it's rather a solution for bigger companies that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for sales, customer service, marketing automation, and analytics.
In top 3 for
Pros
Ease of design and implementation at speed with high ROI
Connect sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT, personalize experiences
Unlimited leads
One can manage contracts, sales orders and quotes and invoices
One can collect payments
One can find email templates to quickly formulate the emails
Cons
Support is very strict that follows only Salesforce protocols and doesn't help with the customer queries until the customer follow their standard process
Salesforce is built for large-scale, complex business needs. If you have multiple product lines, regions, or sales channels, Salesforce may be a good fit for your business. It comes with a large ecosystem of integrations, including popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce.
Salesforce also stands out for its AI capabilities, which are considered more powerful than those of other CRMs like HubSpot or Freshsales. While other CRMs on this list tend to emphasize usability or marketing-sales alignment, Salesforce is more about handling scale, customization, and complexity.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud allows organizations to run multiple storefronts from one platform.
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Built to support global ecommerce. It supports localization for different regions.
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You can launch a store directly through Salesforce with its Ecommerce Storefronts feature.
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Provides robust tools for managing orders, inventory, and fulfillment processes.
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Pros
Pricing can be expensive for small to mid-sized businesses.
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Many storefronts will require customization, which can be complex and expensive.
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The pricing structure means your fees may scale significantly as your sales volume increases.
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The learning curve is steep and may require outside help or specialized skills.
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Cons
What to Look for When Shopping for an Ecommerce CRM
When shopping for an ecommerce CRM, there are several key factors to consider to ensure the platform aligns with your business needs and growth goals. Here’s a detailed breakdown:
Ecommerce Integrations
Make sure your CRM can integrate with the ecommerce platform you are using, either natively or through a third-party tool like Zapier. And if you're using a payment processor like Stripe, it should integrate with that tool too.
Most CRMs will easily connect to popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. This is important because it'll help you avoid major headaches like data not syncing properly, outdated contact records, and broken automations.
AI Capabilities
Look for a CRM that offers AI features like personalized product recommendations, customer segmentation automation, and AI-powered chatbots, at a bare minimum. Instead of simply tracking purchases and interactions, an AI-powered CRM can analyze patterns and deliver more relevant, efficient, and profitable customer interactions.
Segmentation Capabilities
Look at how a CRM segments data, whether it works in real time, uses predictive analytics, or offers AI-driven insights. You should also keep an eye out for ease of use. Some CRMs offer pre-built segments you can use for more basic segmentation like high-value customers or one-time buyers.
All ecommerce CRMs allow you to group customers based on factors like purchase history, browsing behavior, or engagement level. But the degree and type of segmentation offered can be a differentiating factor when it comes to choosing the right CRM for you.
Customer Data Unification
Customer data unification combines all information about a customer into a single profile. This ensures that everyone has the same, up-to-date view of each customer, and that reporting and forecasting are more reliable. It can also lead to a better customer experience, as it'll allow company representatives to see all the ways the person has interacted with the company across different channels. These can include purchase history, website behavior, email interactions, customer service requests, and social media engagement.
Automation Capabilities
An ecommerce CRM that comes with automation can save you time and improve customer relationships. At a bare minimum, your CRM should allow you to set up abandoned cart reminders, send welcome emails and order confirmations, and assign customers to segments.
Ease of Use
You probably don’t have the time or resources to deal with a bloated CRM. Look for one that is easy to use and has a minimal learning curve. This will help your team get up to speed faster while minimizing roadblocks and human error along the way.
Key indicators that a CRM is easy to use will include drag and drop editors, no-code integrations, no-code automations, visual dashboards, and accessible customer support.
Cost vs. Value
It’s easy to get hung up on the initial cost of your ecommerce CRM, but you need to be thinking about long-term value. A free or low-cost CRM may satisfy your needs right now, but think about where you want to be in two or three years. The best ecommerce CRM is one that will grow with you and will allow you to add new features and upgrades over time.
You should also consider the pricing structure. Some CRMs will offer a generous free package, but will charge you an arm and a leg when you’re ready to upgrade or add more users. Make sure you understand how the pricing structure works so you don’t put your future self in a tough spot.
When You Need a CRM for Ecommerce
Ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce include basic features like contact storage, order tracking, and simple email campaigns. These features may be enough to get you started if your business is brand-new and has a small customer base.
But as your customer base grows and your operations become more complex, a proper CRM is worth its weight in gold. Here are some key triggers that may indicate you are ready to invest in a CRM for ecommerce:
- You have hundreds or thousands of customers to manage and basic platform tools are no longer efficient.
- You need stronger personalization and want to build campaigns around customer behavior, preferences, or purchase history.
- You want to build more complex automations for abandoned carts, re-engagement, loyalty programs, or multi-channel campaigns.
- Customer information is scattered across different systems and it’s hard to track purchase history, engagement, and preferences.
- Your business is growing and basic platform tools can’t handle the volume.
Basically, once your business moves past simple, transactional relationships and you start thinking about long-term plans, it’s time to consider a CRM for ecommerce. New businesses may operate just fine without a CRM. But the moment you shift from survival mode to big picture thinking, investing in a CRM pays off.
Final Thoughts
Finding the best ecommerce CRM isn’t so much about finding the “best” tool as it is about finding the one that best meets your needs. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to start, we can help. We’ve tested and reviewed dozens of the best CRM software out there to help you find the tools that will work best for you.
Or, try our Finder Tool. It makes it easy to compare software by finding most of the answers for you. All you have to do is answer a few key questions, and the Finder Tool will quickly provide a recommendation specific to your needs.
FAQ
What CRM is best for Shopify?
What CRM is best for Shopify?
The best CRM for Shopify depends on your business size and needs, but HubSpot is often recommended. Zoho CRM is also a strong choice for businesses seeking affordable customization and workflow flexibility. For simpler, sales-focused needs, Pipedrive or Capsule can also integrate with Shopify to help manage customer interactions and track sales effectively.
Which type of CRM technique is best for ecommerce companies?
Which type of CRM technique is best for ecommerce companies?
For ecommerce companies, the most effective CRM techniques are operational and analytical.
Operational CRM is the automation side. It handles the everyday processes that keep customers engaged, things like sending abandoned cart reminders, order updates, loyalty emails, and routing support requests. This saves time and ensures shoppers get timely, consistent communication.
Analytical CRM is the insight side. It uses customer data (purchases, browsing behavior, campaign results) to spot trends, segment customers, and forecast demand. For example, it can help identify your highest-value customers or figure out which products are often bought together.
When ecommerce brands combine both, they can automate personalized interactions (operational) while also making smarter, data-driven decisions (analytical). That’s what drives growth and customer loyalty.
Can I use Google Sheets as a CRM?
Can I use Google Sheets as a CRM?
Yes, you can use Google Sheets as a basic CRM for capturing contact info, lead details, and sales data. You can even use Zapier or Make for some automation. It’s a low-cost and flexible solution for small businesses or startups, but it lacks advanced features like reporting dashboards and integrations that dedicated CRMs offer. While useful for simple tracking, you'll need a more robust CRM to handle complex workflows and multi-channel customer interactions.
Is there a 100% free CRM?
Is there a 100% free CRM?
Yes! There are CRMs that are completely free and offer essential features without requiring payment or a subscription. HubSpot CRM and Zoho CRM both provide free plans suitable for small businesses, including contact management, deal tracking, and basic reporting. While these free CRMs are sufficient for simple needs, larger or rapidly growing businesses may eventually need paid plans to access advanced features and integrations.
