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7 apps for better eCommerce 👀 

Sometimes, we focus on the wrong things early on (e.g. website design over functionality).

All good, happens to everyone..

Still, every mistake is costly so I thought it’d be useful to let you know:

You can get your store off the ground with just a $1k stack.

If I was just starting out, here’s how I’d do it.

🏎️ Your $1k setup

Paint a few fences and you’ve got this.

💼 1. The Core Stack

→ Shopify Basic – $39/mo
There’s no reason to complicate this. Shopify is fast, trusted, and designed for people who aren’t technical.

→ PageFly Landing Builder – FREE
You don’t need a fancy theme. Just one clear, persuasive landing page that sells. PageFly gives you that — no cost for your first page.

⚡ Pro Tip: Copywriting and offer clarity will make you more money than a premium template ever will.

✍️ 2. Email, SMS & Survey Stack

→ Klaviyo (Free under 500 contacts)
Enterprise-level features for early-stage brands. Doesn’t cost much when your list is small, and it grows with you. Start with one flow: cart abandonment.

→ Knocommerce – $19/mo
The best $19 you’ll spend. It shows you where customers came from and why they bought — helping you understand where your sales are actually coming from.

→ Hextom Free Shipping Bar – FREE
Nudges people to increase cart value to unlock free shipping. Remember how to do your free shipping math and why it’s so powerful here .

🌟 3. Reviews + Social Proof

→ Judge.me – Free to start, $15 later
Robust review platform that plugs right into Shopify. Social proof is critical early on — people trust people, not brands. If your Shopify site only has ONE app, it should be a reviews app.

→ PixC Photo Resizer – FREE
Helps you clean up your product image library without hiring a designer. Fast page load = more conversions. 

🚞 4. Fulfillment & Product Dev

→ Pirate Ship – FREE
Free tool for shipping labels and discounted USPS rates. You’ll have to think about inventory management and a warehouse solution down the road, but for now, this gets it done.

→ Supliful – $0 to start
Launching a consumable or CPG product? This is a cheat code. They’ll source, brand, and ship products for you — no upfront inventory or fulfillment headaches. Bonus: test SKUs without eating MOQ risk.

🎨 5. Creative, UGC & Content

→ Canva Pro – $13/mo
No designer? No problem. Canva lets you build product shots, email graphics, social content, and mockups. It’s flexible, intuitive, and cheaper than Adobe.

→ CapCut – Free to start
CapCut lets you edit UGC and mash up clips without needing to take a course.

→ UGC Seeding – start with a $150 budget
Send your product to 3–5 niche creators or early fans. Don’t ask for a promo — ask for feedback and permission to use the content. Then repurpose it for ads and PDPs.

✏️ We gained traction early with influencer seeding and community engagement. The best creators drive sales, give feedback, and generate content worth reusing.

→ Meta Ads Library – FREE
Spy on what your competitors are running. Get inspiration, angles, and frameworks without paying for anything.

→ TikTok Top Ads - FREE

Same, but for TikTok.

→ Shopify Burst – FREE
High-quality, license-free images you can use for blogs, PDPs, or ad tests. A solid stopgap while building your asset library.

🧰 6. Analytics + Attribution

→ Triple Whale Free Plan – $0
Skip the expensive dashboards. This gives you first/last click data, Shopify performance, and post-purchase survey tools — good enough until you scale.

🤖 7. Copy & Ideation

→ ChatGPT Pro or Claude Pro – $20–25/mo
Replaces your strategist, copywriter, and brainstorm buddy — if you feed it the right inputs.

⚠️ Don’t subscribe to 5 AI tools. Master one well.

📚 8. Bonus: Build Organic Demand (SEO Stack)

Because renting traffic forever is a trap.

Most brands pour money into Meta and TikTok, then wonder why growth stalls when budgets dry up.

A few extra hours a week on SEO builds a long-term flywheel.

→ Semrush Free Plan – $0

• Find easy-win keywords (high intent, low competition)
  → Use: Keyword Magic Tool

• See what’s working for competitors
  → Use: Organic Research → Pages → Filter by traffic

• Fix your site’s SEO issues in 10 mins/week
  → Use: Site Audit (shows broken links, missing tags, slow pages, etc.)

→ ContentShake AI (Free)

• Plug in a keyword → get a blog outline

• Auto-optimize posts for ranking

• Write comparison pages, “best of” lists, and how-tos (the kind that drive buyers)

⚡ Let your competitors spend 5 figures testing what works.
You just need to spy, tweak, and publish.

🚫 Section 2: The Trap List — What Not to Spend On (Yet)

It’s easy to overspend early.

You feel behind. You want to “look legit.” You see $30K shoots and agency stacks and think: am I already too late?

You’re not. You’re just in the danger zone where spending feels like progress.

This section saves you from that trap:

🎨 1. Branding Agencies + Custom Themes

Looks great. Doesn’t sell.

We didn’t pay for a custom site or brand package until SnapPad hit $10K/month — and that was a favor. You don’t need a “visual identity” — you need customers.

❌ Don’t: Drop $3K+ on logos, fonts, or custom dev work
✅ Do: Use Shopify’s default theme + build your LP with PageFly + Canva
💡 Your logo won’t save a weak offer.

🧑‍💼 2. Agencies and Retainers

Agencies are amazing — later.

If you’re under $100K/year, you don’t know your customer well enough to brief them. And you can’t afford to learn through their process.

❌ Don’t: Spend $2K–$5K/month to “fix” a skill gap
✅ Do: Run your own ads, emails, and outreach. Buy a course if needed.
💡 Learn enough to hire better later.

🧠 3. Fancy Analytics & Attribution Tools

Doing 3 orders/day? Triple Whale won’t tell you anything new. Neither will Lifetimely or Northbeam.

You don’t need attribution until you’re scaling across multiple channels.

❌ Don’t: Pay $500+ for advanced dashboards early
✅ Do: Use Triple Whale Free or Shopify + UTMs
💡 Insights only matter once you have real data.

🎥 4. Polished Photo/Video Shoots

You’ll want pro content. Resist it.

Our best-performing early ad was a pile of SnapPads in a warehouse. Your phone can do more than you think.

Authenticity > aesthetics.

❌ Don’t: Spend $1,500+ on shoots
✅ Do: Seed your product to creators and use their content
💡 The best UGC often looks “ugly” — because it’s real.

Final Word on Traps

Most mistakes aren’t bad tools, they’re bad timing. You’ll eventually want pro branding, attribution tools, and agencies. Just not yet.

Traction isn’t built on polish. It’s built on truth.

Get your hands dirty. Talk to customers. Ship ugly. Learn fast.

That’s how you earn the right to upgrade.

💾 Wrapping Up: You Don’t Need a Stack — You Need a System

If I had to launch a brand tomorrow with just $1,000, I wouldn’t spend it trying to look like a brand.

I’d spend it trying to become one.

If you take away one thing, make it this:

Your early investments should teach you about your market, your customers, and your product. Save the polish and time savers for later. 

Until next time,

—Kent

PS — I occasionally work with founders/operators on strategy, growth, and ops. If you think I might be able to help, tell me a bit about your business here. 

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