A customer relationship management system, or CRM, refers to the tools and technology that allow you to connect with your clients and prospects efficiently and effectively. It helps you organize their information in a way that enables you to easily manage customer interactions and tailor your marketing efforts.

When you run a Shopify store, you are dealing with high-frequency purchases and repeat consumers. A retail CRM aims to make managing data like customer lifetime spend, and average order value, simple and convenient – so you can make strategic decisions to grow your business.  

Top customer relationship management tools like Endear even offer omnichannel order history, so your sales reps can maximize outreach and focus on the right customers at the right time.

So, why do Shopify merchants need a CRM? The short answer is clienteling.

Clienteling is how your business utilizes customer data to develop relationships, build brand loyalty, and boost retention. If you only have a handful of customers you can manage this pretty easily, but as your Shopify app begins to scale, this can get complicated – and that's where CRM comes in!

In other words, we can breakdown the benefits of a CRM platform into three basic categories: personalization, data management, and automation.

When it comes to the best CRM for Shopify, the best choice is Endear. It is the only omnichannel CRM system built with retail businesses in mind. Endear’s platform can help your retail team accurately track data and connect with your customers to boost their sales efforts.

Whether you want to interact with your clients through text or email, Endear’s flexible CRM is the best solution. Endear understands that face-to-face interactions are not the only way to build relationships with your customers – especially these days.

Another useful Shopify CRM is Hubspot. This option is probably one of the most well-known in the industry, and it has a broad range of features for tracking and managing your customer data. Hubspot can integrate with e-commerce platforms to monitor things like purchase history, but the capabilities are more limited for conversion reporting and sales attribution compared to Endear, and is usually meant to be used by corporate teams or marketing teams rather than retail associates.  

This CRM also gives you the tools needed to create workflow pipelines that mirror your Shopify orders. Similarly, it combines lead generation and email tracking with a robust sales process management framework.

Metrilo is a customer relationship management system that includes e-commerce analytics and an email marketing platform. The primary benefit of this option is the detailed data tracking it provides. You can manage everything from who visited your website and what they viewed, to revenue, orders, and segmentation.

This CRM lets you upload historical data too - so you can start enhancing your customer outreach as soon as you get started. The goal is to identify loyal customers and those who need a nudge or two to make their next purchase.

Salesforce is a popular CRM tool for all types of business, and it does include a few options for connecting to your Shopify store. Although the Salesforce CRM will always remain separate from your online store, you can use solutions in the Shopify app store to link them together. 

An example of these integrations is the Zopim live chat app, which connects your conversations to the Salesforce customer relationship management platform. Likewise, the TradeGecko app gives you complete control of your inventory management and can be fully integrated.

Another top CRM tool for Shopify merchants is Zendesk. They are often recognized as the top competitor to Salesforce, and large companies like Uber use their platform.

This customer relationship management system emphasizes automation, and it allows you to adjust functionality as your business scales. However, this tool is best suited for massive companies that need to build an online community to answer questions and offer other service support.

If you are looking for a CRM that combines sales management and tools that automate your marketing efforts, SharpSpring may be the right choice. This platform offers a landing page builder, features for web forms and blogging, and multi-device tracking capabilities.

This CRM works for Shopify stores of all sizes and can be completely rebranded if necessary.

Number 7 on our list of top CRMs is Airtable. This platform is customizable and a great option for businesses just getting started. It includes templates and existing formats so you can get an idea of what a CRM system can do – for free.

The Keap CRM system is a good solution for scaling your outreach to customers. Its best features include message triggers and automated contact plans that can help you stay in touch with your customers and eliminate the risk of human error associated with follow-up. This CRM works with calling and texting, so it is mobile-friendly.

Copper is a CRM tool that works well with Gmail for managing email communication. It allows you to continue communicating with your customers the same way while relying on the Copper platform for organizing your contacts and generating reports.

The last platform on our top list of CRMs for Shopify merchants is Pipeliner. This option is not as well-known, but it can still be a useful tool for your Shopify store. Pipeliner handles the integration for you, so you do not have to download a Shopify app or look through other libraries – and you will see everything right on your dashboard.

This software is installed locally on both Windows systems and Macs, and it gives you the ability to create sales reports, track opportunities and contacts, and leverage social selling.

Most CRM's today are still designed for corporate teams or b2b salespeople. Endear is the first CRM solution uniquely designed for retail stores and the associates who power them. Even if you are a retailer who already has a traditional CRM, ask yourself what technology your stores are using - Endear may be just what they need.