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The Best Option for Online Stores

Published

4 months ago

April 28, 2024

Want to know the differences between Amazon FBA vs. dropshipping so that you can start your own online store?

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and dropshipping are two different options for delivering goods that your customers order online. Whether you are starting an online store from scratch, expanding your retail operations onto the internet, or having inventory management and shipping problems, using a fulfillment service could be helpful.

In this article, we will cover the major difference between Amazon FBA and dropshipping so that you can learn the best option for selling products.

Why Do You Need Amazon FBA or Dropshipping?

Whenever you sell products online, it’s important to think about your fulfillment strategy, which means how you will deliver orders to customers.

That includes everything like:

Sourcing: You’ll need to decide where to source products. As a retailer, you might manufacture your own product and handle everything in-house. But in other cases, you’ll work with a supplier and license the right to sell their products under your brand name.
Storage: Next, you’ll need to hold those products in a designated warehouse to prep for delivery.
Processing: When orders are received and processed, items are sorted and packaged accordingly. Then, they are sent to customers based on the selected shipping method and carrier.
Returns: If customers return a product, you’ll need to ensure it can be returned to the storage facility.

Your fulfillment strategy affects how products are stored, handled, and delivered to customers.

That said, if you fall into any of these camps, then having a solid fulfillment strategy can streamline your order delivery:

You are a one-person business that holds all of your products in a separate spare room and want to scale your business.
You often have inventory lost or mismanaged due to a lack of space and need a simpler fulfillment process.
You manufacture everything on your own, but your warehouse and inventory costs are a huge expense.
Your orders are delayed, or customers complain that products take too long to be delivered, causing poor customer satisfaction.
You are new to selling online and want to know the best way to fulfill orders.

Wherever you stand, it’s important to have a fulfillment strategy that fits your business needs.

To get started, you’ll need to learn the most popular fulfillment methods: Amazon FBA and dropshipping.

What Is Amazon FBA?

Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, is a service offered by Amazon that handles the inventory management and fulfillment side of things.

That means you won’t be stuck having to:

Keep a bunch of boxes in your home office or storage space.
Pack, label, and ship products to customers.
Handle returns.
Or even deal with some kinds of customer service.

Amazon handles the fulfillment for you, which makes life much easier as a seller. When you choose Amazon FBA, customers are entitled to get your product within one to two days via Prime shipping.

All you have to do is ship your products to Amazon warehouses, and they’ll do the rest.

To become an Amazon FBA seller, you need to create a seller account and then enroll in the FBA program. This involves providing additional information about your products and inventory.

As an FBA seller, you are not only limited to selling on the Amazon platform. You can sell your products from other platforms through Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF).

For example, you can connect your WooCommerce store to Amazon’s MCF fulfillment service through WooCommerce extensions. So everytime an order comes from WooCommerce, Amazon automatically ships orders to your customers.

What Is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is when you sell products online without holding inventory.

When you receive an order, you will send that to the supplier, who then ships the products directly to the customer’s location. As the seller, you act as an intermediary between the customer and the supplier of the product.

This streamlined approach to order fulfillment means you can start your e-commerce business without needing to lease warehouse space, manage inventory, or juggle supply chains.

You can dropship from anywhere that allows you to do so. The most common dropshipping suppliers and companies include AliExpress, Spocket, SaleHoo, US Direct, Printify, and Alibaba. So, if you order from one of these sites, there’s a good chance the seller is not actually fulfilling the orders themselves.

That said, you could technically dropship from retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. However, some stores like Target have strict eligibility requirements before you can dropship using their products.

For more information, you may want to check out our full dropshipping guide, where you’ll learn how to build a dropshipping store on WordPress.

The Best Option to Build Your Online Store

Both fulfillment models have their pros and cons. No matter where you source and sell your products, you are going to want to create an online brand.

A strong brand presence allows you to outperform your competition. When you sell solely on marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, or other e-commerce marketplaces, you are limited to their rules. Breaking those rules can result in your store being removed or suspended, which can be catastrophic.

Additionally, you have little to no customization since all stores must remain on brand with the site. Beyond that, you have very little control over the customer experience, meaning you can’t offer one-click upsells, provide different payment options, or even send abandoned cart emails.

If you choose Amazon FBA as your fulfillment method, then you will not be able to control your own storefront. You will be an Amazon seller with your own store page, but you won’t control your site outside of that—at least for the products you use FBA for.

That’s why the best option for differentiating yourself from competitors is to build your own online store with WooCommerce. Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce, or similar eCommerce sites, WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform that is housed directly on WordPress.

That means you can easily start a blog, drive traffic, collect emails, or even connect it to a retail store without hassle. WooCommerce has a wide range of apps on the Woo marketplace, and you can install WordPress plugins to customize your site.

With so many dropshipping plugins for WooCommerce, you can instantly sell important products, fulfill orders from your site, and much more. You can also create an eBay-like eCommerce marketplace, allowing other vendors to sell on your website.

Even if you run an Amazon store using FBA, it’s still good to have a website separate from Amazon. That way, you can control customer data and continue marketing to them to gain repeat purchases and build loyalty.

To get started, just follow our step-by-step WooCommerce tutorial.

Key Differences Between Amazon FBA and Dropshipping

Before you dive into choosing your fulfillment method, it’s a good idea to understand the major differences between Amazon FBA and dropshipping.

1. Upfront Investment and Overhead Costs

The biggest advantage of dropshipping is the low initial investment. Since you don’t hold inventory costs, you have no overhead costs except web hosting, marketing and advertising expenses, and any other software you use.

Dropshipping allows you to wait until sales roll in before you place an order with the supplier.

On the other hand, Amazon FBA has high upfront costs. You need to buy the products upfront and send them to Amazon warehouses.

For example, if you purchase some of your stock from a site like Alibaba, then the seller you buy from might have a minimum order quantity of 500 units. So, you would need the capital to buy 500 units in advance to shop at Amazon.

In addition, there are shipping costs involved with sending your products to their warehouses.

Through their ‘Send to Amazon‘ feature, you do get discounted shipping rates, especially when using Amazon-partnered carriers. You would need to complete certain steps, like telling them which inventory you are sending and the quantity.

From a macro perspective, here are a few costs associated with Amazon FBA:

Minimum order quantity: $500 to $2000 in product costs
Monthly inventory storage (per cubic foot): $0.56 to $3.34, depending on the size, category of item, and season
FBA fulfillment fees for standard-size products (per unit): Starting from $3.06 and increasing based on weight
FBA fulfillment fees for oversized products (per unit): Starting from $9.61 + $0.38/lb and increasing depending on weight and dimensions
Inventory storage overage fee: $10 per cubic foot monthly
Inventory removal disposal fees: Starting from $0.97 per unit and increasing based on shipment weight
Aged inventory surcharge: $.50 to $6.90+ per cubic foot, depending on how many days stored

On top of that, Amazon charges referral fees, which usually are about 15% of the product’s selling price on each product sold. Outside the seller fee, Amazon FBA charges the inventory storage fees and fulfillment fees, as shown above.

You may want to keep a product catalog along with inventory for each item, ensuring that you’re never out-of-stock.

Beyond that, there’s also an Amazon Professional Sellers fee of $39.99 per month.

This subscription gives you all the benefits of becoming a professional seller on Amazon, such as the ability to use Amazon ads, offer free shipping promotions, and sell in multiple categories.

Winner: Dropshipping has no upfront costs. You only pay once orders are placed, drastically reducing the overhead expenses.

2. Profit Margins

As you might have guessed, dropshipping has better margins. You won’t have to pay the referral and storage fees that come with Amazon FBA.

So, if your goal is to maximize profits item-for-item, dropshipping could be the better option.

That said, Amazon gets 2.27 billion web visits per month. That means just by being a seller on the platform, you get free traffic to your product listings.

While you don’t have fees for dropshipping, you are in charge of driving traffic to your product pages. In most cases, that means spending more money on advertising.

The profit margins for both fulfillment models vary depending on your product category, how you mark up prices, and the overall perceived value of your item.

To boost profit margins, you may want to leverage pop-ups to increase sales and increase the average order value.

Winner: Dropshipping has better profit margins because the Amazon FBA service comes with referral and storage fees. These fees eat into your profits, so it’s important to price your products accordingly.

3. Customer Service

Dropshipping your products means you will most likely have to handle all customer support queries.

You’ll need to promptly respond to all customer support emails. Depending on how many orders you have daily, this can quickly become a growing pain for large stores.

That’s why it’s best to install help desk and live chat plugins. As a result, customers can easily get their questions answered. Beyond that, you’ll want to have a frequently asked questions section to help reduce the number of queries you get.

You’ll want to answer questions such as:

What are the expected shipping times?
What are the shipping rates to different locations?
What is the return or refund policy?
How do you install or use the product?

If you have a WordPress website for your online store, then it’s reasonably easy to set up an FAQ section. Here’s an example of one created using the Heroic FAQs plugin:

By contrast, when you choose FBA, you get to tap into Amazon’s existing customer service. You don’t need to hire virtual assistants or customer service representatives to handle all of your return or refund requests.

Amazon also has a no-questions-asked return policy. Customers are confident that they can always return their items anytime and get their money back. When customers have an issue with an order or delivery, they’ll just need to contact Amazon’s service reps through live chat.

Winner: FBA gives you access to Amazon’s built-in support system. Customers have peace of mind that they can always contact Amazon’s trusted support team for any issues and return their products within 30 days.

4. Shipping Times

Depending on where you source the products, dropshipping can have very slow shipping times. If you source from American suppliers, then your customers may only wait a week for their order.

However, in many cases, dropshipping from overseas can take anywhere between two to four weeks for the shipment to arrive.

The AliExpress delivery times range from 15 to 30 days.

If you do have long shipping times, make sure to always offer shipment tracking so that customers aren’t left wondering when their package will arrive.

Note: If you are adding shipping costs based on location for dropshipping, then it’s a good idea to add a shipping calculator. Amazon automatically does this for customers at checkout, but for dropshipping sites, you’ll need to add this on your own.

Shipping discount calculator form preview

By contrast, when you choose FBA, you get to leverage all of Amazon’s shipping and logistic services.

Since they handle the entire fulfillment process, they will use their network of carriers to ensure a two-day delivery time.

Winner: Amazon has warehouses worldwide. When you enroll in the FBA program, Prime users can have their orders delivered within days.

5. Level of Control

One of the biggest downsides to dropshipping is the lack of control. Since you don’t hold inventory, you have no say over how the packaging looks or the product quality.

Plus, because you are dropshipping, you don’t get to customize the product to fit your branding.

For example, if a customer receives a poorly packaged product with Chinese printed labels, it might not reflect well on your brand, especially if it doesn’t match what your website portrays.

With Amazon FBA, you are essentially developing your own private-label brand like you would if you were using a storefront through WooCommerce or Shopify.

Since you are buying items in bulk, you can work with your suppliers to customize the products to fit your needs. Plus, you are able to send Amazon any printed packaging labels, postcards, or special gifts to personalize the customer experience.

As you scale your online business, you will want more control over the shipping process.

Winner: Amazon FBA allows you to customize your packages and labels and add branding elements before you ship inventory to their warehouses. With dropshipping, you have no control over how the company ships, packs, or handles your products.

6. Competition

Both fulfillment methods have high competition, depending on your product niche.

The competition for dropshipping depends on where you sell your products. If you sell on Etsy, eBay, or other third-party platforms, you’ll have direct competition with other sellers selling similar products.

However, if you sell in your own store through WooCommerce or Shopify, you can use ads to drive traffic to your product page. In that case, your audience probably won’t be directly comparing your products to other sellers.

On the other hand, Amazon has more head-to-head competition. Customers can visibly see all your competitors, their products, and prices.

For example, if you are searching for a product like a ‘pet grooming kit,’ you’ll get to see all the sellers in one place. It’s easy for customers to price shop on a marketplace like Amazon.

Amazon competition pet grooming kit example

With reviews and rating systems in place, Amazon FBA can be seen as more competitive than dropshipping through a storefront you control.

Winner: Both can have high competition. But if you have your own online store that you drive traffic to, then dropshipping has less direct competition since competitors won’t also show in sitewide search results.

7. Trust and Credibility

Dropshipping doesn’t provide anywhere near the credibility that Amazon does. If you sell on your WordPress site, then first-time customers don’t know what to expect. It can take time to establish a brand reputation, which isn’t as necessary if you are an Amazon seller.

Unless you are a big brand, customers might be worried that the product quality is bad or, even worse, that the product never arrives. Sure, they can go to their banks or payment gateway and request a refund or chargeback, but the process is a much bigger hassle.

While you won’t be able to emulate Amazon’s credibility with dropshipping, you can still use a social proof plugin like TrustPulse on your website to help build trust with visitors.

It will show real-time notifications of customers buying your products, which can convince visitors that your brand can be trusted.

Amazon is the market leader in e-commerce and is widely recognized for its outstanding customer satisfaction. Due to Amazon’s iron-clad return policy, buyers are confident they can always return items easily.

Plus, generally, most products sold on the platform have a high satisfaction rating of 4+ stars.

When you choose Amazon FBA, customers aren’t worried about fraud, which can help boost sales.

Winner: Amazon has a built-in trust factor. Customers know they’ll receive their products on time and without many issues.

8. Multi-Channel Selling

As a seller, you may not want to be limited to one traffic source. That’s one of the big advantages of dropshipping. You can choose to take your store anywhere.

You can dropship items listed on eBay, Amazon, Etsy, your own site, or even using print-on-demand services like Printify.

Plus, you can choose to use any form of advertising you’d like to drive traffic to your dropshipping store, including Facebook ads, Google PPC campaigns, social media posts, and even blog content.

With FBA, you are primarily limited to selling only on the Amazon platform unless you enroll in their MCF program. As mentioned, you’ll be in direct competition with other sellers. That means a competitor can easily swoop in to undercut your prices and take away your sales.

Even if you choose FBA, you can still build a separate e-commerce store outside of Amazon. This will allow you to sell your products elsewhere and control your customer data.

Winner: When you dropship products, you can sell them anywhere online. With FBA, you can’t sell on other platforms. Instead, you need to enroll in their MCF program.

Amazon FBA vs. Dropshipping: Which Is Better for Small Businesses?

Both fulfillment methods can work for small businesses. Overall, dropshipping is best for new sellers who are just getting started. It allows you to test products without first buying inventory in bulk.

Plus, you can do dropshipping from your own online store. This will give you the freedom to control your store’s customizations and branding without having to follow the rules of third-party marketplaces.

That said, if your products are already selling well, it might be a better option to transition to Amazon FBA. FBA streamlines the fulfillment process so you can take advantage of faster shipping times and professional delivery services.

We hope this article helped you understand the major differences between Amazon FBA vs. dropshipping so you can pick the best option for your online store. You may also want to check out our curated list of the best WooCommerce plugins for your store and the best WooCommerce WordPress themes.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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John Kostak of Web Dev USA – WordPress.com News

Published

1 day ago

September 6, 2024

Max

John Kostak of Web Dev USA – WordPress.com News

“We can really be dangerous if we want, without being too afraid of it.”

John Kostak has been building websites for longer than most social media networks have even been around. So splashy features don’t interest him much—he’s far more into performance, reliability, and compatibility. Which is why he and his company, Web Development USA, have been using WordPress.com from the start.

In this fun Q&A, John shares more about his WordPress journey, what matters most to him as a developer, and a few of his favorite sites (in spite of the fact that it was like making him pick his favorite child). Note: The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

If John’s love for WordPress.com has you reconsidering your current hosting environment, you can learn more about our specs and get started at WordPress.com/hosting.

Jeremy: How long have you been using WordPress and WordPress.com?

John: I have been building websites for about 15 or 16 years and started in a corporate environment for a large company. We never had an internal digital team and we basically created our own digital agency within this big corporate company. And that was pretty innovative back then.

Then out of that, I spun off and started Web Development USA. That began in 2015, and so next year will be our 10th year, which is crazy to think about. But it went quickly because we really do enjoy this. And we look for people who find this to be a passion, as we do.

Jeremy: Have you been using WordPress.com the entire time?

John: Yes we have. We started doing some testing with SiteGround and Elementor hosting, but we still like WordPress.com the best. You know you can go through a McDonald’s three miles away or 10,000 miles away on the other side of the planet and your lunch is going to be reasonably what you expect. That’s what WordPress.com feels like with its consistency and the familiarity of the UI and getting around.

Jeremy: What do you like most about WordPress.com? Is it about ease of use on your side as a builder? Convenience for the customer? Both?

John: Resiliency. With Jetpack at the core and all the updates that it does, we just don’t have that much of a risk of things exploding, especially when we bring contractors in and out. We can always fall back to a previous state, and we have an exact record of it. We can get into PHP code. We can get into the very, very back end if we want. We can really be dangerous if we want, without being too afraid of it.

Overall, it is certainly the all-around performance, security, and cadence that you use for backing up sites.

Jeremy: What are some of your favorite features when building sites on WordPress? Do you have go-to themes, blocks, plugins, etc.?

John: Well, it’s changed over the years. We used to use standard old-school wireframe and theme templates that were very basic. And then we went into more “custom designer” mode, I would say, with templates and flashy designs. We graduated from Walmart t-shirts to Gucci t-shirts. And, you know, we enjoyed that for a while.

Now we’re going back to robust wireframes and doing more from scratch. What’s more important now is really the entire stack, including performance and compatibility. You know, we just don’t have time to troubleshoot when we have some whizzy feature on the site. We don’t have time to go in and look for why the thing is down. So, we are sort of simplifying certain things and then standardizing on a certain stack.

Jeremy: What excites you about the future of WordPress.com? Are there any new features you’re especially excited to try out and use?

John: Honestly, we just don’t have time to get into a lot of that. We don’t look much to experimental features or anything like that. We’re trusting that by the time the feature or tool makes its way into being a standard of WordPress, it will be tried and true. We’re not looking for early adopter types of things anymore.

The reality is that our value add is more about custom coding for integrations—maybe for a particular reservation system that has to shake hands and stay for a while on the site before it goes out to a third-party point of sale. It takes some custom coding there. That’s where our focus has really been—managed services and then a lot more programming. We’ve been onboarding more programmers in the last 18 months than we did the first eight years of the company.

Jeremy: Do you have a few favorite client sites that you can share?

John: Well, Jeremy, it’s like asking you who’s your favorite child.

Jeremy: Depending on the week, I can give you a pretty good answer. 😊

John: Yeah, that’s a good point! Sure, I have a few:

TuckMusic.com

appalachian-air.com

kdmconsults.com

Get started at WordPress.com today

Even though WordPress.com provides the freedom and tools to create stunningly beautiful and innovative websites, that’s not why developers choose us. Folks like John Kostak rely on WordPress.com because we have the most performant, secure, and compatible infrastructure out there. If you made it this far, you already know that you don’t have to take our word for it.

Learn more about our top-notch hosting and get started:

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Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience

Published

2 days ago

September 5, 2024

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Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience

When I started building my website with WordPress, I stumbled upon Elementor’s plugin. This powerful website builder, known for its drag-and-drop interface, has been my go-to tool, thanks to its user-friendly interface and wide array of design options.

Since then, Elementor decided to take things up a notch by expanding into the hosting space.

Elementor Hosting is a hosting service tailor-made for WordPress users, seamlessly integrated with Elementor’s page builder and WooCommerce. With Elementor hosting, you get a streamlined experience from site creation to publication, all within the Elementor platform.

This article will dive into Elementor’s hosting service, examining its features, pricing, and overall value, providing an in-depth Elementor Hosting review.

What is Elementor Hosting

Elementor Hosting is a managed web hosting service provided by Elementor, the industry-leading WordPress website builder.

I’ve found that Elementor Hosting is designed to seamlessly merge web hosting services with the advanced capabilities of the Elementor page builder. This unique integration creates an all-in-one platform that empowers you with everything you might need for website creation, hosting, and management.

In a single package, you gain access to the Elementor Pro website builder, valued at $99 per year, alongside the freedom to install preferred plugins.

Keep reading this full hands-on Elementor Hosting review to decide if this is the right option for you.

Who is Elementor Hosting for?

Elementor Hosting is designed for users who want to create, manage, and host WordPress websites using the Elementor website builder.

Here’s a closer look at who might find Elementor Hosting particularly beneficial:

Web developers and designers: Elementor is a great choice for people who regularly build websites for clients and appreciate its versatility and extensive design capabilities.
Small- and medium-sized businesses: Ideal for entrepreneurs looking to establish or enhance their online presence with a polished web design without shelling out hefty design fees.
Bloggers and content creators: Elementor Hosting is suitable for individuals seeking a user-friendly platform that enables them to concentrate on content creation.
E-commerce store owners: Elementor Hosting comes with WooCommerce, which is great for people with an online store.
Marketing and SEO professionals: Perfect for marketing professionals requiring quickly editable and optimized web assets.

Core Features of Elementor Hosting

Elementor Hosting is tailored to offer a seamless experience for users who wish to design, manage, and host websites easily. You get everything under one roof — editor, theme, and hosting.

Before we get into how you can easily build a website with Elementor Hosting, let’s have a look at the features.

Below are the core features that make Elementor Hosting stand out.

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14+ Best Email Automation Tools For Your Business (Expert Pick)

Published

3 days ago

September 4, 2024

Max

14+ Best Email Automation Tools For Your Business (Expert Pick)

We’ve run online businesses and websites for years, so we know how long it can take to write emails to customers, leads, and subscribers.

As a business owner, your time is valuable. You need to focus on growing your business, not just writing emails. Luckily, email automation tools can help you do that.

That being said, there are so many tools out there that it’s hard to know which one to choose. That’s why we’ve tested many of them and looked at how easy they are to use, how much they cost, and how well they can personalize your emails.

Although we personally use Drip on WPBeginner, we have also done a deep dive into other options for small business owners.

And in this article, we will share the best email automation tools we have found. These tools will help you save time and still send emails that feel personal to each recipient.

email-automation-tools-for-your-business-og

Top 3 Email Marketing Automation Tools

In a hurry? Here are our top 3 picks for the best email marketing tools.

How We Test and Review Email Automation Tools

When we review tools, we don’t just look at fancy features. We focus on whether the tool can actually help your business grow.

Marketing expert Neil Patel perfectly sums up what’s most important:

The big things I look for in email marketing are:

1. Segmentation: The goal is to create email campaigns that are personal and relevant to each recipient.
2. Personalization: When you personalize your email content, you make a connection with your contacts on a human level—which can lead to improved click-through rates, higher open rates, and more conversions.
3. Valuable: Make sure the content of your email provides value that’s relevant to your audience’s interests, and more importantly, that doesn’t come across as a sales pitch.

Neil Patel – Digital Marketing Expert and Entrepreneur

With that in mind, we’ve been using some of the tools featured here every day for our own websites, so we know firsthand how they work. We use them to send welcome emails to new customers, remind people about items they left in their cart, and share special offers.

Other options are super popular tools that we tested to see if they lived up to the hype. We dug into online reviews to see how they perform in the real world. We want to make sure we recommend tools that are reliable, easy to use, and offer good value for the price.

Why Trust WPBeginner?

We’ve been helping people with WordPress, online marketing, and website design for over 16 years. We are a team of WordPress experts who carefully review and test every tool and plugin we recommend, not just on demo sites but on real, live websites.

To learn more, check out our entire editorial process.

1. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is the best all-around email marketing automation tool, trusted by over 600,000 businesses. We have tested it extensively, which you can read about in our Constant Contact review.

Constant Contact segments your audience into four categories: most engaged, somewhat engaged, least engaged, and everyone else.

This segmentation isn’t as targeted as some other tools, but it’s helpful for beginners wanting to separate their most loyal customers from the rest.

It has one of the most user-friendly interfaces we’ve tested. From the moment you start the free trial, it guides you through a super-simple setup process.

You can also choose from hundreds of customizable templates and layouts. Whether you need an eye-catching email for newsletters or a simple announcement, there’s a template to fit your needs.

Pros of Constant Contact:

Automatic list segmentation helps you target your audience efficiently.
Hundreds of customizable templates to match your branding.
Comprehensive analytics tools to measure the performance of your campaigns.

Cons of Constant Contact:

They don’t offer unlimited sends.

Pricing: Constant Contact starts from $12 to $80 per month, with pricing based on the number of contacts. They also offer a 30-day free trial period. You can use our Constant Contact coupon code to get 20% off of your purchase.

Why we chose Constant Contact: We like Constant Contact for beginners because it covers the email marketing basics well. The service helps with list building, automating campaigns, and designing mobile-friendly emails, making it perfect for new users.

To learn more about the tool, check out our Constant Contact review.

2. Brevo

Brevo is an email marketing app that gives you access to an unlimited number of contacts on any plan. We tried it out to test all the features, which you can check out in our complete Brevo review.

The tool comes with contact segmentation features so you can target smaller groups of subscribers. You can engage them with relevant content by filtering contacts by previous engagement, declared interests, purchase history, and other options.

Creating a segmented email list using Brevo

It’s our second choice because it’s one of the only platforms that offers unlimited contacts right off the bat, which is great for growing your list.

One downside of Brevo is that multi-user access is only available for higher-tier users, which can limit collaboration for people on lower-tier plans.

Pros of Brevo:

Unlimited contacts on all plans.
Marketing automation to send emails to specific segments at the right moments in their user journey.
Predictive sending feature to send emails at the best time for each individual.

Cons of Brevo:

Multi-user access is unavailable in lower-tier plans.

Pricing: Brevo is free to start with unlimited contacts and up to 300 email sends per day. The paid plans start from $9 to $18 per month.

Why we chose Brevo: We chose Brevo because it offers unlimited contacts on all plans, which is ideal for growing businesses. Its segmentation and predictive sending features help you target the right audience at the best times.

If you want more information, feel free to read our Brevo review.

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is one of the most affordable and diverse marketing automation tools, making it into our top three. We made a HubSpot account for this roundup and went through all the features, which you can see in our HubSpot review.

With HubSpot, you can send automated emails after someone fills out a pop-up or embedded form, which helps you start nurturing leads right away. You can also segment your contacts and personalize your emails to ensure they reach the right people.

Designing a beautiful email blast using HubSpot

Starting at $15 per user per month, you can get up to 1,000 marketing contacts to kickstart your campaigns.

One drawback is that HubSpot only allows 10 automated actions in its lower-tier plans, which might be enough initially but limiting as you grow. To access more, you need to upgrade to the Marketing Hub Professional plan.

Pros of HubSpot:

1,000 marketing contacts, offering plenty of room to grow.
The email tool syncs with CRM contacts for seamless data integration.
Automation features for nurturing leads via email and engaging users who submitted their information using a form.

Cons of HubSpot:

Only 10 automated actions in lower-tier plans, with a high price jump to the next higher-level plan.

Pricing: HubSpot offers a free plan to get started. The Marketing Hub Starter plan costs $15 per user per month. For more marketing contacts and unlimited automated actions, you can opt for the Marketing Hub Professional plan at $800 per month.

Why chose HubSpot: We chose HubSpot for its affordability and versatility. With robust automation features and seamless CRM integration, it provides powerful tools for building customer relationships.

You can read our HubSpot review for more details.

4. Drip

Drip is one of the best email automation tools on the market due to its advanced feature set. It goes beyond just addressing the recipient by name, as it uses liquid tags to personalize emails based on specific behavior, location, or other attributes.

That’s one of the biggest reasons why we switched from Mailchimp to Drip at WPBeginner, as it allowed us to send more customized content to our valued readers.

One thing to consider is that Drip is more expensive than other solutions, starting at $39 per month for 2,500 subscribers. However, we think it’s worth it for businesses looking for more powerful features.

Pros of Drip:

Smart segmentation can automatically segment your audience.
Liquid tags allow you to create dynamic content based on various attributes.
Drip syncs all product data from your WooCommerce store so you can make product recommendations or send upsell emails.

Cons of Drip:

Can be more expensive compared to other solutions on the list.

Pricing: Drip starts at $39 per month for up to 2,500 subscribers, with pricing increasing as your subscriber count grows. You can also use our Drip coupon code to get a 14-day free trial.

Why chose Drip: We chose Drip for its advanced personalization features that make email content dynamic and highly relevant. Its smart segmentation makes it an excellent choice for businesses seeking powerful automation tools.

5. Groove

Groove review: Is it the right help desk for your WordPress website?

If you need a collaborative email platform with powerful automation features, then Groove is a top choice. We use Groove across our partner companies to efficiently handle support emails from our customers.

For more details, see our extensive Groove review.

Groove’s AI features make it a standout for businesses. With Instant Replies, you can turn a specific response into a reusable, automated one with a few clicks. Plus, the automation templates make it easy to route, categorize, and organize customer conversations.

Keep in mind that Groove is designed for customer service emails, not marketing. It doesn’t have email marketing templates or a drag-and-drop email builder.

Pros of Groove:

Instant replies to save time on repetitive questions.
Over 50 automation templates to streamline processes.
Collision detection to avoid double replies and ensure smooth team communication.

Cons of Groove:

No feature for email marketing templates or a drag-and-drop email marketing builder.

Pricing: Groove’s pricing ranges from $16 to $56 per user per month. A free 7-day trial is available without requiring a credit card, allowing you to try it out before committing.

Why we chose Groove: We chose Groove because its AI and automation features save a lot of time on repetitive emails. This makes Groove ideal for small businesses wanting to improve their customer support.

Learn more about this email service in our Groove review.

6. FunnelKit Automations

If you use WooCommerce and want to boost your store’s performance with emails, then FunnelKit Automations is for you. We’ve tested it across a bunch of WooCommerce stores – just read our FunnelKit review for more details.

What we like about this tool is that you can run automated email campaigns right inside WordPress.

Here, you can easily import pre-built sequences for abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase follow-ups, win-back campaigns, and lead nurturing. All emails are pre-written and customizable with the visual builder. Plus, you can also create audiences based on items bought or average order value.

One downside is that setup can be more complicated because you may have to use an SMTP service to ensure email deliverability. FunnelKit also doesn’t recommend using Gmail or Outlook as email service providers, so you may have to switch to a different one.

Pros of FunnelKit:

Integrates with WordPress, WooCommerce, and popular tools like WPForms and Slack.
Comes with many email sequence templates, from abandoned cart recovery to welcome sequences and newsletters.
The visual builder makes it easy to customize your automation to your exact preferences.

Cons of FunnelKit:

Setup can be more complicated compared to other options.

Pricing: Starts at $99.50 per year for FunnelKit Automations alone and $249.50 per year for FunnelKit Automations and FunnelKit Funnel Builder. The second includes a sales funnel builder to optimize your website for more conversions.

Why we chose FunnelKit Automations: We chose FunnelKit Automations for its seamless integration with WordPress and WooCommerce. Plus, it offers many email templates and a visual builder for creating effective campaigns, even if you have no experience.

Get more information about the platform in our FunnelKit Automations review.

7. Omnisend

Omnisend is arguably the best eCommerce marketing automation tool around. We signed up for an account and tried out all the features, which you can learn about in our Omnisend review.

It helps you improve targeting, drive sales on autopilot, and remain consistent with your brand messaging. Plus, it works across many channels, from emails and SMS to web push notifications.

One unique feature that we don’t see elsewhere is the smart campaign booster feature. It automatically resends your email campaigns that haven’t been opened or clicked. That allows you to reach subscribers who missed out on the opportunity the first time easily.

However, Omnisend has a limited number of contacts. Even the highest plan only allows up to 2,500 contacts, whereas alternatives like Brevo offer more contacts at a lower price.

Pros of Omnisend:

Campaign Booster helps boost engagement by automatically sending the same message to people who haven’t opened it.
Pre-built workflows for email communication with customers and re-engaging them to make a purchase.
Unlimited custom events to assign as triggers for email workflows.

Cons of Omnisend:

Limited number of contacts compared to other options on the list.

Pricing: Omnisend is free to start for up to 250 contacts. The paid plans range from $16 to $59 per month.

Why we chose Omnisend: We chose Omnisend for its smart campaign booster and strong multi-channel capabilities. Its pre-built workflows will make it easy for eCommerce businesses to automate and improve their marketing.

If you want to learn more, head to our Omnisend review for more details.

8. AWeber

AWeber is an email marketing service that covers all the essential features you need to send automated campaigns and email blasts. We’ve experimented a lot with AWeber, and we’ve written about it in our AWeber review.

What we enjoyed about AWeber is its behavioral automation, making it easy to track and engage your most active subscribers.

For example, you can trigger special campaigns based on email opens and link clicks. This lets you send targeted content to those who interact with your messages.

One downside is that the user interface feels a bit outdated and clunky. However, AWeber does have a Canva integration to make designing easier.

Pros of AWeber:

Behavioral automation to engage with subscribers based on their actions.
Email tagging lets you categorize your subscribers into different segments based on their interactions.
Design email templates in Canva without leaving AWeber.

Cons of AWeber:

The software has an outdated interface that feels clunky.

Pricing: You can get started for free. Paid plans start from $12.50 per month to $899 per month.

You can also use our AWeber coupon code to get 33% off of your purchase.

Why we chose AWeber: If you like using Canva to design emails, then AWeber is a great choice. Its behavioral automation and email tagging can help you create highly targeted and engaging campaigns.

9. MailerLite

MailerLite is one of the most beginner-friendly email marketing services available. We did a deep dive into its email marketing features, which you can see in our MailerLite review.

The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create emails using pre-built design blocks or dynamic content blocks for personalization.

You can build automated workflows to reach the right people at the right time. For advanced functionality, MailerLite offers multi-trigger automation, allowing up to three triggers in one automation, which creates multiple entry points.

However, live chat support is only available for Advanced plan users, which can be a downside for people on lower-tier plans.

Pros of MailerLite:

The drag-and-drop block editor with dynamic content blocks makes email creation easy and personalized.
Built-in email verification tool to clean and optimize your list.
Multivariate testing allows you to test up to 8 variations of the same campaign to see what works best.

Cons of MailerLite:

Live chat support is only available for Advanced plan users.

Pricing: MailerLite is free to start for up to 12,000 monthly emails. Paid plans range from $9 to $18 per month, offering unlimited monthly emails.

Why we chose MailerLite: We chose MailerLite for its user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, dynamic content blocks, and multivariate testing. These features make it ideal for beginners looking to create effective email marketing campaigns with ease.

10. ConvertKit

With ConvertKit, there’s no need to build a new email list for each project launch or sale. It offers segments and unique tags to group subscribers based on custom form fields, location, or other tags. This way, you can easily manage and target specific audiences.

ConvertKit also has a lead-scoring capability to assess the quality of your leads. For example, if a customer doesn’t open your last five emails, then you can deduct points. If they visit your pricing page or click a link, you can add points. This helps you focus on your most engaged leads.

However, we found its analytics to be limiting. Detailed analytics like open and click rates are only available in the highest-tier Creator Pro plan.

Pros of ConvertKit:

Lead-scoring capability to identify and engage your most active leads.
Group subscribers automatically using custom form fields, making segmentation easy.
Unlimited landing pages, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts in all plans.

Cons of ConvertKit:

Helpful analytics are only available for higher-tier users.

Pricing: ConvertKit is free to start for up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans range from $25 to $50 per month, with pricing increasing as you get more subscribers.

You can also use our ConvertKit coupon to get a discount.

Why we chose ConvertKit: If you’re a content creator or an online business owner, then ConvertKit’s features can help you effectively manage and engage your subscribers.

11. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign comes with an automation builder and map, which we found to be easy to use. To initiate events, simply assign triggers (conditions) and actions. This visual overview makes it easy to manage and optimize your automation workflows.

ActiveCampaign also offers conditional content, which lets you personalize email sections based on specific attributes. This means you can target messages to the right people, like showing event details only to local subscribers or tailoring content by sales stage.

One thing to consider is that ActiveCampaign has no refund policy, so make sure to use the 14-day trial to see if it suits your needs.

Pros of ActiveCampaign:

Easy-to-use automation builder with various triggers, such as actions related to eCommerce, emails, and sales.
Conditional content to personalize emails based on specific attributes.
AI content generation tool to save time writing emails.

Cons of ActiveCampaign:

No refund policy, so try the free trial before committing.

Pricing: Pricing ranges from $15 to $145 per month, with a 14-day free trial available.

Why we chose ActiveCampaign: We like how ActiveCampaign strikes a good balance between ease of use and advanced personalization features. This makes it great for businesses of all sizes.

Looking for tools similar to ActiveCampaign? Check out our list of the best ActiveCampaign alternatives.

12. GetResponse

GetResponse comes with template autoresponders, allowing you to use proven workflows like welcome series, post-purchase, abandoned cart, webinars, events, and sales promotions. These workflow templates save you time by removing the need to tinker with sequences.

You can also set up A/B tests to experiment with different subject lines and email content. Simply create two versions of your email, and GetResponse will test both to see which one performs best.

One downside is that not all automation templates are available in all plans. Higher-tier plans have exclusive features like drip campaigns.

Pros of GetResponse:

Wide range of automated email templates, from follow-ups to post-purchase emails.
Besides emails, you can create lead magnets, opt-in forms, sales pages, and webinar funnels.
Google Analytics integration for tracking campaign performance.

Cons of GetResponse:

Some automation templates are only available in higher-tier plans.

Pricing: GetResponse offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $13.20 per month and go up to $82.90 per month.

Why we chose GetResponse: We chose GetResponse for its variety of email templates and easy A/B testing. It’s perfect for businesses wanting to simplify their email marketing and improve performance with minimal effort.

13. EngageBay

EngageBay is an all-in-one automation platform that integrates sales, marketing, and support team operations into a single platform.

It offers a variety of tools like template builders, email workflows, and marketing automation. Its email autoresponder allows users to pull information from their built-in CRM, so you can send more personalized messages based on previous interactions with your business.

If you want to use EngageBay, we recommend opting for the two higher-tier plans, as the free and lower-tier options don’t include automation features.

Pros of EngageBay:

All-in-one CRM and email automation tool that eliminates the need to pay for these features separately.
Email automation syncs with CRM to ensure a seamless customer journey.
Predictive lead scoring to find and engage qualified leads.

Cons of EngageBay:

Automation features are only available in higher-tier plans.

Pricing: EngageBay offers a free plan for up to 250 contacts. The paid plans start from $12.74 to $101.99 per user per month.

Why we chose EngageBay: EngageBay’s all-in-one solution is great for businesses that want to streamline operations and manage everything from one platform.

14. Moosend

Moosend is one of the most affordable email marketing services, making it perfect for businesses on a tight budget.

When testing Moosend, one feature that stood out was its ability to show how many people on each list bounced off your email. This helps you clean your list to boost open rates and improve your sender score.

One thing you should consider is that transactional emails, like order confirmations and shipping notifications, are only included in the Enterprise plan. This means if you run a business site but can only use the Pro version, you cannot send these transactional emails.

Pros of Moosend:

Free 30-day trial and affordable pricing, including pre-built automation templates and an automation workflow designer.
List optimization to improve email deliverability.
Email heatmap analytics to see how users interact with your emails.

Cons of Moosend:

Transactional emails are not available in non-Enterprise plans.

Pricing: Moosend offers a 30-day free trial. The Pro plan starts at $7 per month for up to 500 contacts, with Moosend+ (Pro with add-ons) and Enterprise plans available at custom pricing.

Why we chose Moosend: Moosend’s affordability and comprehensive features make it ideal for businesses on a budget. Its list optimization and email heatmap analytics are also great for improving email performance.

Bonus: OptinMonster

An email automation strategy wouldn’t be complete without a tool to bring in leads. For this, we recommend OptinMonster.

OptinMonster is the best lead-generation WordPress plugin, helping you automatically collect and segment email addresses. It’s what we use to increase our email subscribers by 600%. You can segment new subscribers based on attributes like cookies, user activity, location, and more.

It offers a visual builder to create high-converting opt-in forms, along with exit-intent technology. This prevents visitors from leaving your site without taking action by showing a targeted campaign just before they leave.

To learn more, check out our OptinMonster review.

Pros of OptinMonster:

Create spin-to-win coupon wheels to boost engagement.
Integrates with all the popular email marketing software.
You can A/B test various opt-in campaigns to maximize conversions.

Cons of OptinMonster:

No free version is available.

Pricing: OptinMonster ranges from $9.97 per month to $49.97 per month. All plans include unlimited campaigns, unlimited subscribers, and no transaction fees.

Why we chose OptinMonster: OptinMonster’s ease of use and powerful targeting and segmentation features are ideal for businesses looking to maximize conversions and build their email list efficiently.

Bonus: WP Mail SMTP

Here’s the thing: By default, WordPress sends email through the PHP mail function, which often causes your messages to go to spam. This is because PHP mail lacks proper authentication, leading to deliverability issues.

WP Mail SMTP is the best SMTP plugin for WordPress users. Essentially, it is ideal for people who want to make sure that their emails land in users’ inboxes and not in the spam folder.

We use WP Mail SMTP across our websites, so check out our complete WP Mail SMTP review for more details.

It uses an SMTP server to properly authenticate the sender, improving email deliverability and ensuring your messages are seen.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to fix the WordPress not sending email issue.

Pros of WP Mail SMTP:

Integrates with many email marketing services like Brevo and SendLayer.
Offers open-and-click tracking to see which recipients opened your emails.
Smart email routing lets you send emails through different providers based on factors like message and subject.

Cons of WP Mail SMTP:

Pricing: A free version is available. The Pro version starts at $49 per year and goes up to $399 per year, with higher plans allowing use on more sites.

Why we chose WP Mail SMTP: WP Mail SMTP is essential for any small business with a WordPress site. It ensures all your important emails, like password resets or shipping notifications, reach your users’ inboxes.

What Is the Best Email Automation Tool for Small Businesses?

If you’re looking for the best all-around email marketing automation tool, then Constant Contact is our top recommendation.

Trusted by over 600,000 businesses, it’s user-friendly and perfect for beginners. With hundreds of customizable templates and easy audience segmentation, it helps with list-building and automating campaigns. That said, it doesn’t offer unlimited sends.

For people needing unlimited contacts from the start, Brevo is an excellent choice. Ideal for growing businesses, it offers segmentation and predictive sending capabilities. These features allow you to target your audience effectively. Note that multi-user access is only available in higher-tier plans.

HubSpot is another great fit. Starting at $15 per user per month, it provides powerful email automation, segmentation, and CRM integration. While lower-tier plans limit automated actions, upgrading unlocks more advanced features.

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Automation

Now that you know the best email automation tools, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about email automation:

How do I set up automated email for my business?

All you need is automated email software like Constant Contact or Brevo. From there, you can add your email list, build workflows, and craft your messages. The tool will send bulk messages based on the conditions you’ve set.

What is the difference between email automation and autoresponder?

Email automation is a broad term that relates to any task related to emails, such as sending cold outreach, customer responses, or inbound messages. Autoresponders are automated emails triggered by a specific event, like a customer opting into your email list or making a purchase.

How much does an automated email system cost?

The price varies depending on the software’s feature set. That said, you can expect to pay under $100 for 5,000 email contacts or less. For lists that are 10,000 or more, expect to pay a few hundred dollars.

Ultimate Guides to Email Marketing

We hope this article helped you find the best email automation tool for your small business. You may also want to check out our list of tested and easy ways to grow your email list faster or our comprehensive guide on how to build an email list in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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