Shopify CRM?

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1

Hi

I think CRM is the wrong acronym but I am at a loss to know what I am actually asking for.

I looked up CRM and they seem to be about sending SMS, emails, phone calls and lead generation. What I want is a sytem that can:

Track customer’s viewing across the site

Make recommendations based on their visits

Say Welcome Back xxxxx when they login

Show something like You bought xxxxxx last month, do you want to buy again

You haven’t used your discount code - probably via email rather than onsite.

Hopefully you get the idea. I want to build a picture of customers use of our ecommerce site. I don’t really want to generate leads or make or receive phone calls.

Any ideas welcome

2

You can do all that with Klaviyo. It is a paid 3rd party app, although it has a free plan.

You’ll be able to set up all kinds of email and SMS automations.

They’ve got easy to use templates or you could create your own from scratch.

3

Hi @RobbyC

Actually, Shopify doesn’t have built-in tools for deep customer tracking, but apps like Customer Fields, Klaviyo, and Lifetimely can help gather insights and personalize experiences.

For tracking website activity, Shopify’s built-in reports, Google Analytics, and Hotjar (for heatmaps) can be helpful. For welcome messages and personalized suggestions, apps like LimeSpot, ReConvert, or Nosto can make dynamic product suggestions based on previous interactions and browsing history. Klaviyo or Omnisend would handle automatic emails like abandoned discount reminders or “Welcome Back” messages.

If you want a seamless, automated process, having Klaviyo for emails, LimeSpot for store recommendations, and Shopify Flow for automation might be the way to go

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4

Hello @RobbyC ,

I hope you are doing well!

You’re actually describing more of a customer behavior and personalization system rather than a traditional CRM. What you want is a way to understand how customers interact with your store and then use that data to personalize their experience.

AiTrillion can help with exactly this because it tracks customer behavior and connects it with marketing automation and on-site personalization.

For example, AiTrillion can track customer activity across your store, including products viewed, pages visited, purchases, and browsing behavior. This helps build a profile of each customer so you can understand their interests and engagement over time.

Based on that behavior, you can also show product recommendations or send targeted emails. For instance, if someone browses certain products but doesn’t buy, you could send a reminder email or recommend similar items.

For returning customers, AiTrillion allows personalized engagement, such as recognizing them when they come back and showing relevant offers or rewards through pop-ups or loyalty notifications.

You can also create automation based on purchase history. So if a customer bought something last month, you could trigger an email like “You purchased this last month — would you like to reorder?” which works well for consumable or repeat-purchase products.

Another useful feature is behavior-based reminders. For example, if someone received a discount code but didn’t use it, the system can automatically send a follow-up email reminding them about it.

Overall, AiTrillion helps create that “picture of the customer” you mentioned — combining browsing behavior, purchase data, engagement, and automation so you can personalize both onsite experiences and follow-up communication.

So instead of a traditional CRM focused on leads and calls, you get a customer engagement and retention system designed specifically for e-commerce.

5

If you’re just getting started, I’d be a little careful about jumping straight into Klaviyo. It’s powerful, but it can get expensive quickly as your subscriber list grows and a lot of early-stage stores don’t actually use most of the advanced features.

A few lower-cost options that still work really well with Shopify:

• Shopify Email – honestly a good starting point. It’s built into Shopify and includes about 10k emails/month before you start paying, so you can test basic campaigns like welcome emails or promos without adding another app cost.

• Omnisend – very Shopify-focused and easier to set up than Klaviyo. It has a free plan for small lists and cheaper paid tiers if you want automations like abandoned cart or SMS later.

• MailerLite or Brevo – both are solid low-cost email tools that charge less than Klaviyo and are simpler if you mainly want newsletters + basic automations.

One thing I see a lot of new stores do is install a bunch of apps early and suddenly they’re paying $200–$400/month before they even have meaningful revenue. I’d start with the simplest stack possible (Shopify Email + maybe one automation tool), get some traction, then upgrade to something like Klaviyo later if you actually need the deeper segmentation and analytics.

For early stores, the biggest wins usually come from just setting up 3 basic flows:

  • welcome email

  • abandoned cart

  • post-purchase follow-up

You can do all of those with cheaper tools and upgrade later once your list and revenue justify it.

6

Hey there @RobbyC
You’re not really looking for a “CRM” as most people use the term. What you’re describing is more like customer behavior tracking + personalization + marketing automation.

Here’s how Shopify typically covers each piece:

  • Track what customers view / behavior on site: Shopify itself is limited here unless you’re on Shopify Plus (with more advanced customer/event tools). Most stores use analytics tools or personalization apps for true browse tracking.
  • Product recommendations (“based on visits/buys”): Shopify has some built-in recommendation blocks you can add to themes, and there are also dedicated recommendation/personalization apps that go further.
  • “Welcome back, Name” on login: This is usually a theme customization (Liquid) once a customer is logged in.
  • “You bought X last month, reorder?” + “you didn’t use your discount” via email: That’s classic email automation (flows triggered by purchase history, coupon usage, etc.)—apps like Klaviyo/Shopify Email-style automation are commonly used for this.

If your goal is also to build a clear picture of what customers are doing and buying, you’ll likely want reporting on top of the tracking/automation. Shopify’s built-in Analytics/Reports can help with purchase behavior, returning customer rate, etc., and if you want more flexible “who bought what and when / repeat purchase / cohorts” style reporting, Mipler reports is great for that: Mipler ‑ Advanced Reports - Custom reports and 100+ Reports of Sales, Tax, Inventory, COGS | Shopify App Store .

If you tell me your plan (Basic/Shopify/Advanced/Plus) and whether you want this mostly onsite personalization or mostly email flows, I can point you in the right direction more specifically.