How to automate your Shopify store in 2024: tips and apps

The better things are at a Shopify store, the more work there is that requires immediate attention. The key to managing this workload is Shopify automation. Read on to explore 6 steps to automate your online store and 3 apps for quick and effective automation.

Why automate your Shopify store?

The long-term gains of Shopify automation greatly outweigh the efforts invested in it. Automation enables building effective workflows for different scenarios bringing several benefits to merchants.

• Efficiency

  Custom automations effectively handle time-consuming processes such as customer communication, support, or status updates. Freeing up their time, merchants can focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth.

• Rapid scaling

  With automation tools, merchants can quickly scale their sales and marketing departments and enhance their performance.

• Better conversion

  Shopify automations improve sales by offering personalized product suggestions, sending reminders for abandoned carts, and optimizing the checkout process.

• Lower operational costs

  Merchants can cut operational costs by eliminating manual tasks through automated order processing, inventory management, customer support, and other Shopify flows.

• Better data collection & analytics

  Automating data collection and organization enables merchants to gain real-time insights, identify opportunities quickly, personalize marketing campaigns, and adapt strategies to meet customer needs.

5 ways to automate a Shopify store

1. Enable ChatGPT-driven customer service

Communicating with customers is time-consuming. You can automate it with a ChatGPT-powered chatbot to save a significant amount of time. A chatbot can answer frequently asked questions, provide order and shipping updates, gather feedback, and do many other things. It also contributes to the better buyer journey by enabling instant support.

2. Set up abandoned cart recovery

On average, 7 out of 10 carts are abandoned. This happens for a variety of reasons, but the main thing is that with the help of Shopify automations, some potential buyers can still be brought to payment. For example, with the help of re-engagement messages reminding about a forgotten purchase.

3. Offer personalized product recommendations

You can increase the average check and upsell with automated personalized recommendations. Here's how it happens: AI analyzes the items viewed, added to the cart, or purchased by a customer. It also analyses time spent on product pages. Based on this data, it suggests products that the customer might like.

4. Connect CRM

Integrating a CRM (customer relationship management) tool into your Shopify store will streamline your management of both existing and potential customers. Ultimately, it will contribute to increased sales and enhance the overall buyer's experience. A CRM will also save you time by optimizing communication processes.

5. Track sales

Automatic data export to Google Sheets or other tables allows for purchase analysis. It will help you quickly identify patterns and trends and better understand your audience. With actionable insights at hand, you can make data-driven decisions on business development.

Apps for Shopify automation

1. Chatfuel

Chatfuel is an end-to-end solution for conversational commerce. It allows for adding a WhatsApp button with ChatGPT built-in to Shopify stores. This way, you can create Shopify automations for various scenarios: send cart recovery and other reminders, offer related products, provide order and shipping updates, enable AI-powered customer service, and more. And all without writing a single line of code. You can use ready-made eCommerce templates, modify them, or build custom ones.

Chatfuel integrates with Google Sheets allowing for seamless and instant data export. The app also syncs with other tools for effective data transfer and operations management. This is possible due to integration with Zapier.

Claim your 7-day free trial to explore Chatfuel's capabilities firsthand.

Features:

• automated product recommendations and sales with ChatGPT built-in

• abandoned carts recovery

• order confirmations and shipping updates

• live chat with multiple agent support

• AI agents tailored to their specific roles — support agent, sales representative, and others

Pricing:

• free 7-day trial

• starts from $59 per month with 1,000 conversations included

• $0.04 per extra conversation

2. Cheerlink

Cheerlink is a marketing and customer service platform for Shopify merchants. It automates customer support, lets customers check their order status, sends product recommendations, and more. Cheerlink also supports sending marketing emails.

Features:

• AI chatbot with zero setup

• marketing automations

• product recommendations

• customizable widget

Pricing:

• free 14-day trial

• starter plan — from $26 per month with 200 conversations included

• advanced plan — from $39 per month with 300 conversations and 500 emails included

• pro plan — from $132 per month with unlimited conversations and 2,000 emails included

3. Parabola

Parabola is a tool for automating various tasks your Shopify admin performs daily. This includes data exporting and cleaning, marketing reports creation, and order processing. Parabola also allows to automate inventory management and sync data across multiple stores and provides updates through email, Slack, or FTP.

Features:

• recurring flows

• data sharing across various tools, databases, and APIs

• inventory management

• custom reports

Pricing:

• free 14-day trial

• free plan — 1 user, 3 flows, 25 steps per Flow, 45 integrations included

• plus plan — 2 users, 3 daily scheduled flows, 75 steps per flow, 45 integrations, Shopify, ShipStation, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, email support included

Wrapping up

By establishing efficient automation workflows, you can increase sales, improve buyer experience, and eliminate repetitive tasks to focus on strategic growth initiatives. Claim your free 7-day trial at Chatfuel to start automating your Shopify store today.