The Ecomm Analyst

I get asked all the time what tools I use to run my Shopify store and manage campaigns for clients. After years of testing (and canceling) software, I’ve landed on a stack that actually earns its keep. Here’s exactly what I’m paying for, what I love about each tool, and where each one still has room to grow.

A quick note before we dive in: none of these links are affiliate links. This is just my honest take.

E-commerce Platform

Shopify (big surprise there)

Price: $299/month for the Grow plan (there are 4 different plans to choose from depending on your stage).

What I like: The app ecosystem is massive, and checkout conversion rates consistently beat what I’ve seen on other platforms. Shopify Payments keeps transaction fees reasonable, and the theme editor has come a long way. I can get a store looking respectable without touching Liquid.

What could be improved: The cost of add-on apps adds up fast. By the time you’ve layered on a review app, a bundling app, a loyalty app, and a subscription app, your “simple” Shopify setup is costing more than a mid-tier Klaviyo plan. I also wish the native reporting were stronger, which is part of why ThoughtMetric earned a spot in this stack.

Marketing Automation / Email

Klaviyo

Price: I’m currently on a plan that runs me around $150/month, but this varies wildly depending on how big your list is and how aggressive you are with SMS (view pricing here – it is a little complec).

What I like: The segmentation is the best in the business. I can build a flow that fires when someone browses a specific collection, hasn’t purchased in 60 days, and lives in a state where I’m running a regional promo, and it just works. 

What could be improved: Their support can be slow to dig in, but overall I am happy!

Analytics / Reporting / Attribution

ThoughtMetric

Price: I pay $399/month (pricing is based on pageviews, so it will be different for everyone. They have clear pricing listed here).

What I like: It is easy to use. Both clients and I can navigate it seamlessly. Great customer support. I also love the AI connector and the custom reports feature. Saves me a lot of time on reporting.

What could be improved: Honestly, it’s a pretty strong tool to begin with. There’s no free plan, so if you’re looking for a free option, go with GA4.

Customer Support & Loyalty

Gorgias

Price: I’m on the basic plan, I pay $60 per month (view pricing here)

What I like: The Shopify integration is the killer feature. Every ticket shows me the customer’s order history, lifetime value, and tracking info without me clicking anywhere. My response times dropped by about 40% when I switched from a generic helpdesk. The macros and automation rules handle the repetitive “where is my order” tickets so my team can focus on the tickets that actually need a human.

What could be improved: Better in-app alerts before you blow through your ticket allotment. 

AI Assistant

Claude

Price: $100/month for the Max 5x plan.

What I like: Claude is genuinely the tool I use most day-to-day. I use it for drafting email copy, brainstorming campaign angles, writing product descriptions in a consistent brand voice, and talking through strategy when I don’t have a human sounding board handy. The Max plan gives me enough usage headroom that I’m not rationing my prompts, which matters when I’m deep in a client project.

What could be improved: I’d love a more robust way to keep brand voice guidelines persistent across conversations without having to re-paste a style guide every time.

What’s in your stack?