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Any of you who run an online business know that there's never a finish line in that line of work, and that you're tirelessly on the go every day. Even drop-shipping businesses still require marketing management, new product sourcing, order tracking, analytic monitoring, financial management and so much more.
Related: 4 Innovative Mobile Apps That Will Make Your Business Processes More Efficient
Ecommerce gives you the freedom to work from wherever you want, rather than being locked into a physical storefront during your operating hours. But you still need to be in tune with your business even when you're away. With more than 50 percent of consumers doing their shopping online nowadays, it's more important than ever to keep a close eye on your store's operations and customer-engagement strategies.
Thankfully, it's gotten a lot easier to run online businesses when you're mobile, using desktop and web-based applications like Shopify, Rewardstream, Stripe and Intuit's suite of accounting tools. There's even a sizable collection of tools that make it easy to manage your online store right from your smartphone. Here are 11 of them:
1. MailChimp
While you may not be drafting emails and adjusting templates while you're waiting at a restaurant, or catching an Uber ride to a meeting, it's still nice to know that you can monitor and manage your campaigns from your mobile device. MailChimp is a standard email marketing platform commonly used by ecommerce stores, and it can seamlessly integrate with sites like Shopify.
Whether you're checking up on the open and click-through rates of your latest promotional email, or wanting to see how your list segments are responding, this app is perfect for keeping you in touch with your contacts.
2. Shopify's ecommerce platform app
One of the most important apps for managing your ecommerce business is Shopify's mobile ecommerce app, which provides you all the tracking and reporting information you need to gauge traffic, conversions, cart additions and more. You'll even receive notifications when an order processes. This app puts your ecommerce store in your pocket so that no matter where you are, you can stay on top of your business's operations.
3. Buffer
Buffer is great for making sure you always have awesome content in the pipeline for your social channels. Either curate great content or create your own, then schedule it with Buffer to have it submitted to your social channels on the day and at the time you designate for publication.
4. Mention
Mention helps entrepreneurs keep tabs on their businesses, industries and even competitors right from their smartphones. Simply research which keywords or brand phrases you want to track, and Mention will monitor them in real time. You'll receive a notification whenever someone uses the keywords you selected, so you can stay on top of trending topics and track every instance of people talking about your brand and products.
Related: 5 Mobile Apps Every Entrepreneur Should Use
5. Mint
Keep track of all your finances in one place with this highly-rated mobile app. Mint pulls information from credit cards, investments, savings and checking accounts. Once you've connected your financial accounts to the Mint app, you can then monitor all transactions to see where funds are coming in, when your bills are due and when payments post to your business account.
6. Expensify
Online businesses have quite a few expenses to keep track of, from shopping materials to promo items, to marketing collateral and more. Fortunately, there's an easy way to organize your expenses without cluttering your desk with paper receipts. Scan your paper receipts into Expensify by taking a picture, then choose how you want to classify the expense. Once the receipt is uploaded, the information will be organized in your expense report.
7. IFTTT
"If This Then That" lets you sync a variety of activities to streamline your daily processes, thereby reducing the list of tedious tasks you need to tackle for marketing and managing your online store. You can choose from pre-existing "recipes" or create your own.
For example, you can create a recipe, so when you share a photo on Instagram, a tweet containing the image is also published to Twitter automatically. There are dozens of recipes to connect your online activities; all you need is a smartphone and a few marketing flavors you want to test out.
8. Wanelo
Wanelo (short for Want, Need, Love) is like an online shopping mall for ecommerce stores. It brings product feeds together in one place, which makes it a great way to promote both your ecommerce store and the products you sell. Manage your Wanelo account from your mobile to stay on top of promotions for your ecommerce store and source new ideas for your business.
9. Google Analytics
Monitor your site traffic, conversions, goals and campaigns with the mobile version of Google Analytics. This lets you access the data at your fingertips, which is especially helpful when you're running multiple campaigns and need to consistently track each one's performance while you're away from your desk.
10. Facebook
You probably already have the Facebook app on your mobile device, but make sure you have the business page manager as well. Not only can you stay on top of user engagement and direct messages, but you can also efficiently monitor insights and data for any ad campaigns you're running between Facebook and Instagram.
Related: Why Your Small Business Needs a Mobile App
11. Hootsuite
Some ecommerce owners choose one or two social channels for their primary marketing efforts. Whether your brand only has a couple of social profiles, or you're connecting with customers on a multitude of social media platforms, Hootsuite helps you manage all of your social accounts from a single dashboard. It's also a great way to bounce between work and personal accounts without logging in and out several times.
