What is CRM?
CRM (customer relationship management) is a category of tool that holds customer records, purchase history, support enquiries and email or LINE open and click history in one place, and puts them to work in sales, marketing and support. Bringing that data together deepens your understanding of each customer and makes well-judged recommendations and personalisation possible. Companies that adopt CRM report substantial results. It also improves the quality and speed of support, cutting hours worked and easing the load on staff. Cloud-based, mobile-ready and AI-equipped CRMs are now the norm, adopted by companies of every size.
Related pages
8 CRMs for Shopify compared, and what an app gets you
How to manage customers over LINE: 10 recommended CRM tools
One place for all your customer data
One of the main benefits of a CRM is that your data lives in one place. Basic customer details, purchase history, wishlist items, support enquiries, email and LINE click and open history all come together, replacing fragments with a single picture — and a much better understanding of the customer. Consolidating data that was scattered across separate tools also cuts the time spent looking for it, which speeds up marketing analysis and sales decisions. One study found that companies using a CRM save five to ten hours a week and improve sales productivity by up to 40%, easing the load on staff and raising output. A CRM cuts effort and raises productivity at the same time.
Better personalisation
A CRM's analytics let you recommend products and send coupons tailored to each customer, which makes email and LINE campaigns far more effective. Companies that adopted a CRM improved customer retention by 27% and raised satisfaction by 75% — a substantial improvement in customer experience. Used well, a CRM can also improve lead conversion by up to 300%, making customer acquisition more efficient. Personalisation in particular outperforms broadcasting, with email click rates rising 14% in one study. Personalisation through a CRM is therefore not just a way to grow revenue but a strategy for building long-term trust and encouraging repeat purchases.
More efficient customer success
Adopting a CRM improves both the quality and the speed of support. With previous enquiries and purchase history in one view, your team grasps a customer's situation instantly and responds appropriately. That builds trust, which in turn leads to renewals and upsell opportunities. In practice, 47% of companies report that a CRM made their customer success work more efficient and reduced the burden on staff. Accumulating and sharing case histories and resolutions spreads knowledge across the organisation and strengthens the whole team. The result is not only higher customer satisfaction but fewer hours spent and a more energised customer success function.
The benefits of connecting a CRM to Shopify
Shopify has basic customer management, but as of September 2025 it does not include a full CRM as standard. You can manage purchase history and customer records and build simple segments, but that is not enough for advanced analysis or marketing automation. Which is why so many companies combine Shopify with a dedicated CRM app or an external CRM tool.
For the Japanese market, StoreCRM is the leading app, covering back-in-stock notifications, wishlists and LINE integration to improve the customer experience and drive repeat purchases. Among external CRMs, HubSpot, Salesforce and Zoho are widely used; syncing them with Shopify data enables advanced customer analysis and sales support. Extending Shopify with a CRM to improve customer experience and run marketing automation is, in short, the standard approach.
The impact of adopting a CRM
Bars shown relative to the highest value (300%)
Lead conversion rate (maximum)
300%
Improvement in customer satisfaction
75%
More efficient customer success
47%
Improvement in sales productivity (maximum)
40%
Revenue growth
29%
Improvement in customer retention
27%
Increase in email clicks
14%
Source: Kixie, "CRM Statistics and Market Insights for 2025"
StoreCRM installs with no code
CRM has a reputation for being difficult, but StoreCRM, the CRM app for Shopify, installs straight from the Shopify App Store. No programming knowledge is required and your current Shopify theme works as it is. Once installed you can immediately start sending LINE and email campaigns matched to the customer: checkout abandonment notices, back-in-stock alerts, price-drop alerts on wishlist items, coupons, reminders to people who saved a product, and birthday messages. The bundled templates only need their images and copy swapped out, so running them is simple. That cuts the effort of running your store considerably while improving the customer experience and driving repeat purchases and revenue.
At the same time, there are plenty of CRMs outside the Shopify app ecosystem that can be integrated. Each has its own character: some offer advanced enterprise functionality, some let you build your own landing pages and forms, some embed into an ordinary website, some are built around chat. External CRMs offer a great deal, but you have to configure the Shopify integration yourself, which makes them somewhat more advanced than a Shopify app.
Fully automated LINE and email notifications
As your store grows and your customer count rises, sending LINE messages and emails by hand becomes a burden — and the risk of sending the wrong thing rises with it. Automation is the answer. Prepare messages in advance for abandoned carts, back-in-stock alerts, price drops, coupons, reminders to people who saved a product and birthday messages. Configure the customer name, product name and coupon code to be filled in automatically, and every message is personalised. Then set up the automations, and those messages go out on their own, triggered by a specific action or moment. LINE and email notifications become entirely automatic, and your customer communication becomes both efficient and accurate.
Extensions for birthdays, back-in-stock, wishlists and LINE
An app adds a wide range of functionality that Shopify does not have as standard. You can nudge a purchase along with an abandoned cart notice, avoid losing sales with a back-in-stock alert, or push sales with price drops and coupons. Reminders to customers who saved a product, birthday messages and timely communication over LINE all become possible. Which of these you add is entirely up to you, according to your store's size, your products and your customers. Used well, these extensions make your CRM efficient and your customers more likely to buy again.
Five Shopify CRM apps
Every Shopify CRM app installs easily from the App Store and is configured without code, which makes them very approachable. Whether the admin and the support are available in Japanese is essential to running one smoothly. StoreCRM, for instance, is available in Japanese and easy for beginners, with strengths in LINE integration, wishlists and back-in-stock notifications. ECPower specialises in customer analysis and segmentation, and pairs with StoreCRM to get the most out of both. CRM PLUS on LINE sends over LINE only, which suits campaigns designed for the Japanese market. Choosing the app that matches your store's size and how your team works is what makes the difference.
Key: ◎ = strong / ◯ = supported / △ = limited or needs another app / × = not supported
| App | Free plan | Beginners | Japanese admin / support | Abandoned cart | Birthday | Back in stock | Wishlist | LINE | Strengths | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| StoreCRM | ◯ (30-day trial) | ◎ (easy setup) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | Works from small to large stores, built for Japan, LINE and ecommerce campaigns in one place | Wishlists, back-in-stock and price-drop alerts, LINE and email campaigns, coupons, birthdays, anniversaries, rich menus, abandoned cart recovery |
| Klaviyo | ◎ (free plan available) | △ (English UI, some difficulty) | △ (no Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | △ (needs another app) | △ (possible via an integration app) | Advanced analytics and automation for mid to large stores | Email and SMS, abandoned cart, birthday campaigns, personalisation, automation workflows, detailed analytics |
| Omnisend | ◎ (free plan available) | ◯ (intuitive to use) | △ (no Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | △ | △ (email and SMS focused) | Email and SMS in one tool, strong automation | Email and SMS, abandoned cart, birthdays, coupons, landing pages and popups, A/B testing, measurement |
| ECPower | ◎ (free plan available) | ◎ (simple to use) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | △ (notifications need an integration) | △ | △ | △ | △ (possible in combination with StoreCRM) | Strong on customer analysis and segmentation | Segment CRM, LTV and purchase frequency analysis, dashboards, StoreCRM integration, reporting |
| CRM PLUS on LINE | ◎ (free plan available) | ◎ (LINE-centred and easy to handle) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | △ (weak on wishlists) | ◎ (LINE specialist) | Specialises in LINE Official Account integration; strong in Japan | Abandoned cart, back-in-stock and shipping notifications, segmented sending, rich menus, LINE Login (Shopify Plus only) |
StoreCRM
A Japanese-built, full-featured CRM that sends both email and LINE
StoreCRM is a Japanese-built CRM and marketing automation app that works for stores from small to large. The admin and the help documentation are fully localised into Japanese, so Japanese-language stores can adopt it with confidence. Connecting Shopify's customer records and purchase history puts that data to work in personalised marketing.
The app on its own adds back-in-stock notifications and a wishlist, and covers everything built on top of them — back-in-stock alerts and price-drop alerts for saved products, end to end. The wishlist works for logged-in and logged-out customers alike, and you can restrict it to logged-in customers if you want to push signups.
Every automation can reach the customer through two channels, LINE and email, which raises conversion. Reminders about unused coupons, restocks and price changes on saved products, and anniversary campaigns for birthdays and purchase anniversaries are all available as ready-made automations, which makes it excellent for growing repeat business. Integration with Shopify Flow gives you flexible connections to other apps, such as points apps.
Running LINE and email together reaches a wide range of customers, and with templates you only need to swap the images and the copy, so you can put it to work the day you install it. It also adds LINE Login to your store and delivers tabbed LINE rich menus.
Klaviyo
A capable email and SMS marketing app from outside Japan that pairs beautifully with Shopify
Klaviyo has no Japanese admin or support, but it integrates smoothly with Shopify as a dedicated email and SMS marketing app. It collects purchase history and on-site behaviour automatically and uses them to send personalised messages.
A large template library and a drag-and-drop editor let you produce attractive, on-brand emails quickly without specialist knowledge. SMS is supported as well (though not for sending within Japan), so you can combine email and SMS for an omnichannel approach that reaches a broader audience.
Because it is built outside Japan it is less suitable for stores that need a Japanese admin and Japanese support, but it has a strong track record with ecommerce businesses worldwide and is a serious option for anyone looking to grow repeat customers efficiently and raise lifetime value.
Omnisend
An email and SMS marketing app from outside Japan, with a free plan
Omnisend is a CRM and marketing automation app with no Japanese admin or support, but it stands out for having a free plan. Its Shopify integration is excellent, so you can start automating email and SMS marketing from your customer and purchase data very quickly.
With a large template library and a drag-and-drop editor, you can produce on-brand emails immediately without specialist knowledge. Ready-made automations for abandoned carts, welcome flows and birthday campaigns help build repeat business.
Initial setup is simple — install it on your Shopify store and you are away — which makes it a good fit for ecommerce businesses that want serious CRM and marketing automation at low cost. As with Klaviyo, it is less suitable if you need a Japanese admin and Japanese support, but it is a strong option for growing repeat customers efficiently and raising lifetime value.
ECPower
A Japanese-built segmentation CRM that integrates with StoreCRM
ECPower is a Japanese segmentation CRM and customer analytics tool built for Shopify, with a free plan available. Every screen and all support are in Japanese, which is a considerable advantage. It integrates with StoreCRM, syncing customer lists built from segment conditions automatically, so your email and LINE campaigns always work from the latest data.
ECPower builds fine-grained segments from purchase count, total spend, frequency, coupon usage, subscription status and tags. Metrics such as LTV, average order value, purchase frequency and repurchase interval are visualised in real time in charts and dashboards, making analysis that feeds directly into repeat rate and LTV straightforward.
More than 50 "insight" reports help you understand purchasing patterns and customer characteristics and make decisions from data. It has been adopted by stores in Japan and abroad, and is a dependable tool.
CRM PLUS on LINE
A Japanese-built, LINE-focused CRM with a free plan
CRM PLUS on LINE is a Japanese-language, LINE-focused CRM and marketing automation app with a free plan. It connects Shopify's customer data and purchase history to your LINE Official Account and sends each customer a message optimised for them. It is strong on LINE-led campaigns, and combining it with StoreCRM gives you a broader CRM strategy still.
Its main features include automated LINE messages for abandoned carts, back-in-stock alerts and shipping notifications, segmented sending by customer attributes and purchase status, and tabbed rich menus. LINE Login (Shopify Plus only) makes signup and login seamless, improving the customer experience directly.
The admin and support are in Japanese and initial setup support is free, so it is an app that stores focused on LINE can adopt with confidence.
Three external CRMs for Shopify
Compared with a Shopify app, an external CRM takes rather more work to adopt and integrate, but offers deeper and more extensible functionality. HubSpot is an all-in-one platform for small and mid-sized businesses, starting from a free plan and covering forms, landing pages, email and SMS, and automation. Salesforce targets the enterprise, with extensive functionality, advanced automation and analytics, and it excels at scale. Channel Talk is strong on customer service, raising the quality of the experience through live chat, internal collaboration and bots. All three offer more than a Shopify app, but defining requirements and designing the implementation can take time. Weigh the implementation effort against the benefit and choose according to your products, the size of your company and how your team works.
Key: ◎ = strong / ◯ = supported / △ = limited or needs another app / × = not supported
| Service | Free plan | Beginners | Japanese admin / support | Abandoned cart | Birthday | Back in stock | Wishlist | LINE | Strengths | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | ◎ (free plan available) | ◎ (intuitive UI) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | △ (needs an integration) | △ (via the LINE Official app integration) | An all-in-one platform for small and mid-sized businesses that scales as you grow | Forms, landing pages, popups, email, automation workflows, unified CRM |
| Salesforce | × (no free plan) | △ (adoption requires expertise) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | △ (not a standard feature) | △ (via an external app) | Comprehensive extensibility and reliability for the enterprise | Marketing Cloud, email, landing pages and forms, AI personalisation, automation, Data Cloud integration |
| Channel Talk | ◎ (free plan available) | ◎ (easy setup) | ◎ (fully Japanese) | ◯ (some notifications) | △ (weak as standard) | △ (weak as standard) | △ (weak as standard) | ◎ (strong LINE Official integration) | Specialises in customer service, combining chat with CRM | Live chat, team chat, AI bots, workflow automation, order sync, support management |
HubSpot
An all-in-one CRM for small and mid-sized businesses, in Japanese, with a free plan
HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform aimed at small and mid-sized businesses, with a Japanese admin and Japanese support and a free plan to start from. Connected to Shopify, it syncs customer, order and cart data automatically and manages your marketing in one place.
Form building, landing pages with embedded forms and popup cards are standard features, all configured intuitively by drag and drop. A workflow feature automates emails and actions based on conditions, so you can market effectively with less manual work.
Even the free plan covers basic forms, email, popups and landing pages, and you can move up to a paid plan as you grow. For an ecommerce business it is a powerful tool covering everything from lead capture through nurture to lifetime value.
Note that the HubSpot Shopify app makes the basics — forms, landing pages, popups and automation — easy to adopt, but for serious use we recommend working in the main platform.
Salesforce
Extremely capable, but priced for large enterprises
Salesforce is a comprehensive enterprise CRM and marketing automation platform with a fully localised Japanese admin and support. There is no free plan and licences are expensive, but the functionality is correspondingly deep.
With Marketing Cloud at its centre it covers email marketing and newsletters, form building, landing pages with embedded forms and popup cards. Automation with workflows and conditional branches, and AI-driven personalisation, give it the capability that large ecommerce operations and brands need.
Overall, Salesforce excels in breadth of functionality, reliability and extensibility, and enables marketing to a global standard — at a price above the other options here. It is the right solution for large ecommerce businesses and for companies running comprehensive marketing across several channels.
There are two ways to connect Shopify and Salesforce. One is the Salesforce Sync app (English only), which handles simple data transfer from Shopify to Salesforce. The other, more enterprise-oriented, is a connector through Data Cloud, which syncs customer, order and cart data in real time and supports advanced analysis and LTV work built on your ecommerce data.
Channel Talk
An AI-equipped CRM built around customer service
Channel Talk is a customer-service-focused CRM from South Korea with a Japanese admin and Japanese support. There is a free plan, and it offers live chat, team chat, an AI chatbot (ALF) and workflow automation, making enquiry handling more efficient and customers happier at the same time.
Connected to Shopify, it syncs customer and order data into the chat so your team can confirm orders and answer delivery questions immediately, strengthening your support operation. It also includes internal team chat, so customer conversations and internal coordination live in the same place. It is capable and extensible enough for anything from a small store to a large enterprise, though the higher plans are expensive.
The Shopify app version of Channel Talk focuses mainly on live chat and basic chatbot functionality; its scope is narrower than the full Channel.io product, which includes the advanced AI and CRM automation.
Summary
There are two broad ways to bring CRM to Shopify: a Shopify app or an external CRM. The five Shopify apps here (StoreCRM, Klaviyo, Omnisend, ECPower and CRM PLUS on LINE) install easily, ask little of you up front, and let you start using your customer data straight away. Japanese-language support, LINE integration and other characteristics mean you can pick one to suit your store's size and needs. The three external CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce and Channel Talk) take a little more work to connect to Shopify, but offer deeper functionality and more advanced automation, which suits larger companies and anyone taking a long view of customer strategy. Choose based on the size of your store, how your team works and the features that matter most to you.
