Introduction
Customer relationship management (CRM) is essential to running a successful ecommerce or mail-order business. For merchants on Shopify in particular, a CRM that integrates with the platform turns customer data into marketing tailored to each individual — and that is what drives revenue and growth.
This article covers the basics of CRM, how integrating one with Shopify sharpens your marketing strategy, and what that looks like in practice. It also covers the benefits of running CRM on Shopify, which apps are worth considering, and how to choose between them. Shopify's flexibility and its app ecosystem make CRM surprisingly easy to adopt, so use what follows to improve how you run your store.
Related pages
How to manage customers over LINE: 10 recommended CRM tools
8 CRMs for Shopify compared, and what an app gets you
What is CRM?
CRM — customer relationship management — refers to the systems and the thinking a company uses to build and maintain good relationships with customers and prospects. The aim is to understand customers deeply, offer services that match what they need, raise satisfaction, and build a relationship that lasts. That in turn grows revenue and maximises customer lifetime value (LTV).
A CRM tool holds customer information and transaction data in one place and uses it to deliver a service tailored to each customer. It can recommend products based on purchase history and preferences, or send a birthday message — the kind of personal touch that makes a customer feel valued, which builds trust in and loyalty to the brand.
Customer data used to live in spreadsheets or bespoke in-house systems. Modern CRM tools automate that work and make marketing far more efficient. Shopify supports customer segmentation from the Basic plan upwards, and with the right app on top you get a genuinely capable CRM. That puts data-driven marketing within easy reach and supports the growth of the business.
CRM is what "putting the customer first" looks like when expressed through data and technology, and it is now an indispensable part of business strategy.
The benefits of connecting a CRM to Shopify
Managing customer data
Connecting a CRM to Shopify brings every kind of data — purchase history, personal details and more — into one place. Linking Shopify customers to the IDs of your LINE Official Account contacts also ties accounts on different platforms together. The result is consistent data that every team can work from.
Analysing customers
A CRM connected to Shopify uses the data it accumulates to give you a detailed picture of purchase patterns, preferences and LTV.
Growing revenue and maximising LTV
With Shopify and a CRM connected, personalised marketing automation becomes straightforward. Automated email sequences that encourage repeat purchases, or checkout abandonment emails, can lift average order value. A CRM app makes those campaigns easy to configure and manage, which translates into more revenue and higher LTV.
How to choose a CRM
The integrations and features on offer
Not every CRM offers the same features. Most CRM apps for Shopify are built around marketing automation for email, often combined with SMS and push notifications. StoreCRM adds automated email to LINE integration — indispensable for marketing in Japan — including automated LINE campaigns.
Language and support
Most CRM services for Shopify are built outside Japan and many are unavailable in Japanese. With a service as configurable and wide-ranging as a CRM, it is not unusual to end up configuring the app in English while working through dense English documentation. Support in English only adds further friction.
StoreCRM is a CRM for Shopify built by a Japanese company and fully localised into Japanese. Support is provided by Japanese staff, and help with initial setup is free.
Security
Almost every CRM syncs the personal data your Shopify store holds about its customers. As noted above, most CRM services for Shopify are built overseas, and their handling of personal data and security is not necessarily aligned with Japanese standards.
Groovy Media Inc., which builds StoreCRM, holds Japan's PrivacyMark certification, so personal data and security are handled to Japanese standards.
