10 SaaS Products That Will Grow Your 2021 eCommerce Business

The speed at which Software as a Service (or commonly known as SaaS) is dominating online businesses is amazing. Numerous organizations have participated in a survey provided by BetterCloud, a large part of the respondents have indicated that 80% of their platform will be SaaS.

SaaS is now paving the way for organizations to better their service. Companies can host software and offer IT assistance 24/7 as SaaS products disperse data online and are accessed from the browser on any device. This gives it stronger network security, better and wider collaboration, room for more features, and prices that are direct and don’t beat around the bush.

What are SaaS Products?
In its most basic form, SaaS products are cloud-based services that you can use without having to download anything to your computer or mobile devices. They are very convenient tools that are ready to use anywhere and anytime as it can be accessed as long as there is an available internet connection.

SaaS products are available to make sure you achieve the goals you have set for your business and for your customers. They will assist in almost all areas of your digital business depending on which tools you employ or integrate with your business model.

10 SaaS Tools that Will Kickstart Your 2021 eCommerce Business
As 2020 marches on, SaaS companies are becoming more and more popular. They would trump old school software packages that are usually expensive, time-consuming, and starting to grow outdated as time goes by. SaaS pushes away those issues by being more flexible, easy, ready to use, and updates in real-time. 

Despite the growing numbers of new players, many SaaS companies have established themselves as ones that are reliable and able to cater to many business needs. The companies below are regarded as some of the best SaaS companies to partner up with and kickstart your 2021 eCommerce business.

1. Shopify
If you have a business that you want to grow but not sure how to go about it, the best platform you can rely on for setting an online shop is Shopify. Retailers from 175 countries can attest to Shopify’s effectiveness. According to Style Factory, over one million people use the website. The platform is used by small to midsize retailers who own a physical location while also trying to vamp their online presence.

One thing that makes Shopify very popular among users is its price- especially for the option to have an “abandoned cart” functionality. This feature would cost a pretty penny from other platforms. 

2. Salesforce
Salesforce is one of the most used CRM (customer resource management) programs. Since its nature is based on customer service, a big part of its service is how you communicate and maintain your relationship with your customers.

They provide a platform that is easy to track and follow through cases and tasks within the company. Their customer portal gives its customers the ability to track their issues with the company from first communication up to resolution.

3. Adobe Creative Cloud
One of the more well-known names from this list, Adobe has a SaaS-based solution for the artist on the go. It offers access to different programs for creativity-driven projects - photography, graphic design, video editing, web development, app and software development. You pay an annual fee to be able to use them.

Here are examples of programs one can access: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Animate, Adobe Audition, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Alfresco (for iPad users), and many more.

4. Removal.AI
Before the advent of background removers, you needed access to programs like Adobe Photoshop and its powerful magic wand tool. However, using the magic wand tool is a very tedious process where a user has to carefully trace the outline of their subjects.

Removal.AI is among the best solutions for automated background removal. Through Artificial Intelligence, it can detect and remove background from images. It solves and reduces the tedious and repetitive tasks that keep business owners away from reaching their full creative capabilities. By changing the background to white, you can focus on the product you wish to display. This style is preferred by huge and popular eCommerce platforms eBay, Amazon, Shopify, etc.

The creation of Removal.AI was developed as a way to remove backgrounds automatically. No need to pour on one photo for hours. You will only need to upload the needed photos on the website and it will remove the background for you.

5. Slack
Another popular SaaS-based company used by millions of people, Slack is a communication platform for your employees, especially remote teams. It can be used to communicate one-on-one or with other people in groups. It’s accessible on different devices and is very easy to use.

It has bested tech giants like Microsoft in terms of developing a communication platform dedicated to the workplace. One of the useful tools Slack has is the capacity to create subheadings as a way to bookmark different conversations. You can easily look up the points you needed at a later time.

Integration is an important aspect of Slack that sets it apart from its competition. If your work is heavily reliant on accessing Google Drive or GitHub, you can share links with your coworkers without the hassle of actually opening the application.

6. Hubspot
HubSpot is another SaaS program that has been used since the late 2000s. Specific services offered by the company are included but not limited to: meeting schedulers, social media tools, email trackers, Ads Software, Search Engine Optimization, email marketing software, lead management software, and many more.

HubSpot does its best to make working with technology easier and a painless process. According to their website, they are there for businesses that are worried about the following:

Getting ramped up with new software
Training your team on new software
Figuring out how your existing tech stack integrates with HubSpot
Hitting your business goals fast enough

7. Twilio
Twilio is a communication-based SaaS company that is popular among businesses. They offer the following services: Twilio Flex, Marketing campaigns, Twilio Frontlines, Twilio Conversations, Authy, and many more. Twilio sets itself apart by not only offering messaging software but video and call capabilities. Collaborations are so much easier with Twilio. Big companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Reddit are some of its big clients

8. Mailchimp
Mailchimp remains a popular SaaS company due to its free email marketing service plan (with a limitation of 2000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month). Its software focuses on creating and managing email campaigns, and newsletters.

The user interface of MailChimp is very easy on the eyes and uncomplicated. The platform was designed for non-technical people who still have issues with how to go about things. It has multiple features that will make your life so much easier like the following:

Scheduling: The ability to time when you can send your email to different groups of people
List segmentation: this feature makes sure that people get the information they need, as opposed to mass sending certain campaigns to people who may not be interested in that product/service.
Integration: MailChimp has good integration with different apps, with WordPress and Zoom being the most popular.
Reporting: When you send an email, you have the ability to check if the receiver has seen it, how many times they have checked it, and where they are from.

9. Buffer
Buffer is a social media service that helps businesses create thoughtful and unique content for their different SocMed platforms. It has the ability to share posts on multiple places at the same time so you can time your posts perfectly.

A popular offering from Buffer is Pablo, a free tool for creating images; it helps users create cute pictures to be used as part of their promotions. They offer analytics on different posts so you’ll know which content is performing well versus posts that are not doing well at all.   Buffer works with the following social networks: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

10. Zoom
Zoom blew up over the pandemic and for good reason. It’s a cloud-based communication tool that can be used to meet with others. Terms like Zoom Meeting (a video conference hosted in the platform) and Zoom Room (physical setup for ease of use) have been thrown around during the past few months. Although Zoom is largely free to use, there are some extra features available if you pay the premium price.

There are four pricing tiers in Zoom:
Zoom Free: This is widely used by everyone and typically has all the features needed by most people. The only issue you’ll be meeting is the 40-minute cap in between long meetings.
Zoom Pro: Priced at $14/month, this gives the hosts the ability to create personal IDs for users for repeated meetings. However, meetings can be capped at 24 hours.
Zoom Business: Priced at $19.99/month. You are given the ability to merge company branding and make use of vanity URLs. Dedicated to customer support is always available.  
Zoom Enterprise: Priced at $19.99/month. One of the perks is the ability to create Zoom Meetings with 1000+ people. You are also provided with unlimited cloud storage for transcripts, recordings, a manager, and numerous discounts.

Your turn…
In the changing world of commerce and marketing, one needs to be flexible with adaptability. The great thing the times offer us is the availability of tools to help us realize adaptability.

Everything or almost everything is online, shopping, communication, business, etc. Those who refuse this change will be the cause of their own shortcomings in the years to come.

It is understandable that there is a lot to consider, the past hasn’t exactly been helpful with all its scandals regarding technology, especially in terms of security. The beauty of technology is that it evolves with each passing moment. You can rest assured that the issues we read about SaaS are a thing of the past. The future is bright and full of possibilities, whether you want to enjoy these benefits is up to you.