SaaS Stack for E-commerce Brands: Store, Email, Analytics, CRM, and Automation
E-commerce brands need a store platform, email marketing, analytics, customer management, and automation glue. Here's the exact stack from $0 to full-scale e-commerce operations — with verified pricing and honest trade-offs at every tier.
Recommended Stack
| Need | Tool | Plan | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store Platform | Shopify | Basic | $39/mo |
| Email Marketing | Brevo | Starter | $9/mo (5,000 emails/mo) |
| Analytics | PostHog | Free | $0 (1M events/mo) |
| Customer CRM | HubSpot CRM | Free Tools | $0 |
| Automation | Make | Core | $10.59/mo (10,000 ops) |
| Customer Support | Freshdesk | Free | $0 (2 agents) |
| Total | $58.59/mo | ||
Why These Tools
Shopify Basic ($39/mo) for Your Store
Shopify Basic gives you 2 staff accounts, basic reports, and up to 77% shipping discounts. It handles product management, checkout, payments, and inventory out of the box. Transaction fees: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction with Shopify Payments (2% additional if using a third-party gateway). For digital products only, consider Lemon Squeezy ($0/mo + 5% + $0.50 per transaction) or Gumroad. Alternative: WooCommerce (free plugin, but requires hosting at $7–$40+/mo).
Brevo Starter ($9/mo) for Email Marketing
Brevo charges by emails sent, not contacts stored — critical for e-commerce brands with large customer lists. Starter gives 5,000 emails/mo with no daily send limit. Free tier supports 100,000 contacts with 300 emails/day. For comparison, Mailchimp Standard at $20/mo limits you to 500 contacts and 6,000 sends. At 10,000 contacts, Mailchimp charges significantly more while Brevo stays at $9/mo.
PostHog Free ($0) for Analytics
PostHog gives 1M analytics events/mo, 5K session replays, and feature flags — all free. For e-commerce, session replays show where customers drop off. It's more powerful than Google Analytics for understanding customer behavior. Alternative: Plausible at $9/mo for simple, privacy-friendly web analytics.
Make Core ($10.59/mo) for Automation
Connect Shopify to your email, CRM, and support tools. Key automations: new order → add to Brevo segment, abandoned cart → trigger email sequence, support ticket created → notify Slack. Make Core gives 10,000 operations/month. For simpler needs, Make Free offers 1,000 ops/mo. Zapier Professional at $29.99/mo is an alternative with more pre-built templates.
Budget Tiers
| Tier | Stack | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Products Only | Lemon Squeezy Free + Brevo Free + PostHog Free + HubSpot Free + Make Free | $0/mo (+ transaction fees) |
| Starting Out | Shopify Basic ($39) + all free tools | $39/mo |
| Growing Brand | Full recommended stack above | $58.59/mo |
| Scaling (10K+ orders/mo) | Shopify ($105) + Brevo Standard ($18) + PostHog + HubSpot Starter ($20/seat) + Make Pro ($18.82) + Freshdesk Growth ($15/agent) | ~$177/mo |
Key Automations to Set Up First
- New customer → CRM + welcome email. Shopify new order → Make → create HubSpot contact + trigger Brevo welcome sequence.
- Abandoned cart recovery. Shopify has built-in abandoned cart emails on all plans. For more advanced sequences, connect to Brevo via Make.
- Support ticket from order issues. Shopify order tag "issue" → Make → create Freshdesk ticket with order details.
- Review request post-purchase. 7 days after delivery → Make delay → Brevo review request email.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Brevo instead of Mailchimp for e-commerce?
Mailchimp charges by contacts stored. E-commerce stores accumulate large customer lists fast. At 10,000 contacts, Mailchimp Standard is $100+/mo while Brevo Starter stays at $9/mo (5,000 emails/mo) regardless of list size. Brevo's pricing model is fundamentally better for e-commerce.
Should I use Shopify Email instead of Brevo?
Shopify Email gives 10,000 free emails/mo, then $1 per 1,000 after that. For basic campaigns, it works. But Brevo offers better automation sequences, A/B testing, and SMS marketing. For serious email marketing, Brevo is worth the $9/mo.
Do I need a separate CRM for e-commerce?
Not initially. Shopify tracks customer data, and HubSpot CRM Free gives you a pipeline for wholesale, B2B, or partnership leads. Add a dedicated CRM when you have B2B relationships or complex customer segments that Shopify's built-in tools can't handle.
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