As a new Shopify store owner, building an online store for the first time can feel somewhat overwhelming.
That said, the most useful Shopify apps not only aid your website’s design and functionality but also bring you the best results in terms of clicks, subscribers, and sales.
How do you know which ones to select? So, we’ve looked at different options, analyzied a number of apps and want to provide this list of the best apps to have on Shopify.
All must try 21 app options have been curated because they strike the right balance between popularity, features, and pricing.
First of all, we decided to break down these apps by specific categories representing the different parts of running an online store.
The Must-Have Shopify Apps for CRO Marketing
Let’s start with marketing Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), which refers to the methods you can use as an online business owner to convert website visitors into buyers.
Product Reviews
Product Reviews is the most basic Shopify app for a product review for a Shopify business. This app was developed by Shopify and is considered as a must-try app, especially if you want to start providing product reviews for the first time. It allows you to add a customer review feature to your website that can be seen on each product page — for free!
And, given that 76% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, having this plugin serves as an effective referral program. Why? Well, it builds trust with potential customers, which then has a positive impact on your
sales.
Privy
The most popular pop-ups app for small and large eCommerce businesses alike, Privy allows you to increase your conversion rate in the following ways:
- Grow an email list with pop-ups that encourage people to subscribe to your list
- Reduce cart abandonment with focused emails that aim to recover more sales
- Send emails to your list automatically after they’ve ordered and when they first sign up to drive sales
And a bonus? There’s also a free plan available.
Growave
If you are looking for an all-in-one marketing app for your Shopify store, then Growave is the best choice for you. Growave is the most cost-effective app for Shopify brands, including loyalty and rewards, reviews, wishlists, Instagram, and many more features under one dashboard.
Their loyalty program has VIP tiers as well as a points-based program. With Growave, you can reward your customers for on-site activities and even send them nudges and reminders to redeem points. Also, their loyalty program is fully customizable, so you can make it match your website and overall color scheme.
Growave also offers referral programs to engage your customers and build a loyal customer base. It is the best app for small and medium-sized Shopify stores that want to scale up and increase sales.
The Best Email Marketing Apps for Shopify
Managing and creating email lists is an essential part of success as an online Shopify business owner. After all, if a subscriber doesn’t buy one of your products immediately, email marketing creates more opportunities for a sale later on down the line. The following Shopify apps can help you produce compelling and clickable emails to send to your list and build better relationships with your customers.
Shopify Email
Shopify Email is a simple email marketing app for your Shopify online store. Again it is another app by Shopify, which makes it ideal for beginners.
As well as being free to install, it walks you through the email campaign process, from creation to management. You can choose from the ready-made templates that feature your online store logo, product information, and URLs directly from your
store.
Klaviyo
If you want to take your email marketing to the next level, Klaviyo might be the Shopify app for you. It aims to help Shopify merchants deliver memorable experiences for their
customers across various marketing channels, such as email, web, SMS, and in-app notifications.
You can:
- Recapture lost sales from abandoned carts and win-back emails
- Sync data with Shopify and other apps to send personalized email campaigns
- See analytics so you can alter your messages based on what’s working and what isn’t
As a result, Klaviyo is still the most popular email marketing app for Shopify.
The Shopify Apps You Must Have for SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of optimizing your store for search engines — and it’s instrumental to the growth of any online business.
Why? Well, when you have the best app to help you do it correctly, you can substantially increase your website traffic. More targeted traffic increases the likelihood of more page views, clicks, and sales.
Plug-In SEO
Incredibly easy to set up and use, Plug-In SEO helps its users to improve their Shopify store rankings by communicating any issues in terms of:
- Missing meta descriptions and ALT tags
- Duplicate page titles and descriptions
- 404 errors
- Broken links
It will then tell you how to fix these issues to drive more (free) traffic.
SEO Image Optimiser – Auto SEO
SEO Image Optimiser – Auto SEO is trusted by over 224,000 Shopify stores around the globe. How come, you ask? Well, it’s one-click install allows you to set this Shopify app up in just a few minutes and then forget all about SEO. This app will automate this process for you.
Its basic features are also available on the free plan.
Useful Shopify Apps to Have for Inventory Management
If you need help ordering and organizing your inventory, look no further than the below Shopify plugins.
Excelify
Currently, this Shopify app is the most commonly used tool for importing, exporting, and migration from other eCommerce platforms. Excelify allows you to take control of your store
data, inventory, and much more.
Its features include:
- Migration from another platform
- The ability to update your existing store data by individual fields
- The use of an Excel or zip file to copy data to other stores or marketplaces
- Back-ups of your entire Shopify store. And much more!
Google Shopping
Google Shopping enables you to reach millions of shoppers across Google’s network through paid Smart Shopping campaigns. Not exactly an inventory management app but it allows your products to get a space in the biggest search engine on the plant. You can also track the results of these campaigns and effortlessly
adjust your budget if necessary.
Are you on a budget and based in the U.S.? Good news — you can also list products for free on Google’s Shopping tab using this plugin. If you’re not based in the U.S., don’t worry — Google aims to roll out this feature to international stores soon.
Bestsellers Resort
Managing large inventory on Shopify is a challenge, especially if you have to sort and organize product s manually. Bestsellers Resort allows you to delegate this time-consuming task to the app. There are so many sorting options, it might feel overwhelming at first, but as soon as you get how it works, Bestsellers Resort becomes a lifesaver.
And if you’re looking for an app to manage and push sold-out products to the bottom of collections, you might want to check Out-Of-Stock Police.
The Most Used Shopify Apps for Shipping Management
The following applications help streamline the shipping process once a customer orders a product from your online store. Shipping is an integral part of the shopping experience, so getting it right is one of the priorities for any Shopify store merchant.
AfterShip
The great thing about the AfterShip app is that you can track and trace shipments through 670+ carriers around the globe — all in one place. And the fact that it allows free users to track 50
shipments per month make it a perfect plugin for beginners!
You can even use the order tracking platform to tell your customers where their order is at any point in their product’s journey, from purchase to doorstep.
AfterShip Returns Centre
Also, under the AfterShip umbrella, the AfterShip Returns Center Shopify app targets another significant part of the online selling process — returns.
Its self-service branded returns and automated push notification features will ensure a seamless and happy experience so that you can successfully maintain trust with your customers.
Handy Order Management Shopify Plugins
Managing the orders of your Shopify online store is arguably the most critical part of the selling process. After all, if this is complex and causes delays, it might reduce the likelihood of the customer ever shopping with you again. Luckily, these must-have apps are on hand to help.
PreOrder
Trusted by 5,500+ Shopify merchants worldwide, PreOrder is the most popular app for managing pre-orders professionally. Free and easy to install, the “Pre-Order” button will show on
your product pages, homepage, AJAX carts, and quick-view pop-ups.
It will also automatically change the “Add to Cart” button to “Pre-Order” for out-of-stock products for buyers convenience.
Order Printer
Order Printer is the most basic, free order printer plugin available from the Shopify app store. It can be used on its own or with Shopify shipping to quickly and efficiently print the
following items:
- Packing slips
- Invoices
- Labels
- Receipts
And you can even customize each of these templates to align with your branding.
The Must-Have Shopify Plugins for Analytics and Reporting
As a new Shopify store owner, you’ll struggle to grow if you don’t regularly analyze your metrics to determine which products are selling and which aren’t. Fundamentally, the following apps can help you adjust your marketing strategy accordingly to make more sales.
Better Reports
With a plan starting from $19.90 per month with a free 14-day trial, Better Reports is the most comprehensive Shopify app for reporting. In addition to allowing you to track your sales,
affiliates, channels, and inventory, you can build custom reports and share these by email, Google Drive, or CSV.
Goodbye, spreadsheets!
Conversific
Conversific is a relatively new Shopify app for analytics and reporting — but this doesn’t mean that it’s not up to a standard. With a free plan available, the Conversific app allows you to sync data
from Google Analytics so you can see all your reports in one place.
It also allows you to benchmark these numbers against your competitors to determine which areas you need to improve. (And which areas you’re triumphing over them!)
Must-Have Shopify Apps for Customer Support
Supporting your customers through the online ordering process is integral if you want to build long-lasting relationships. The following Shopify apps will help you do this effectively.
Easy Contact Form
Want to impress potential customers with a stylishly responsive contact form on your website? Look no further than the Easy Contact Form. Even though this app will cost you $12.99
per month, it’s worth it to have a functional and professional way that your customers can get in touch with you — and you can also customize it according to your branding.
If you’re not sure about the price point, the 30-day free trial allows you to try it without any obligation to purchase.
Tidio Live Chat
As a loyal customer, you want to know that you can contact a brand quickly and easily if there’s an issue with your experience. Right? That’s why the Tidio Live Chat free Shopify app is so
handy. It provides instant communication channels: live chat, email, and Messenger. You can manage all channels from the same place, which makes Tidio app easy to use.
Feel free to try this Shopify app if your business is ready for real-time conversations with customers.
Store Design Must-Have Apps Shopify
In an incredibly visual world, it’s not enough just to have a functional online store. It also needs to be well-designed and aesthetically-pleasing to attract the attention of your target audience. Excellent online store design sells these
days.
Instafeed
If your eCommerce business focuses on Instagram as a crucial part of their online marketing strategy, you might want to include an Instagram feed on your storefront page and/or product pages. In this case, you can use the free Instafeed app to create social proof and turn your store visitors to customers.
Instagram became an essential acqisition channel in the last years for any ecommerce online store.
Photo Resize
Photo Resize is a popular app to keep your product photos looking sharp by automatically resizing and replacing them. The benefits are:
- The continuity looks more professional
- The bulk image resizer saves you time
- You can choose the ratio and background
- The plugin will analyze all your photos, let you know which ones need updating and then replace them automatically
And yes, this is as simple as it sounds!
The Most Popular Automation Apps
New owners of Shopify online stores are forced to wear many hats on a daily basis. Therefore, sometimes you need a bit of a helping hand when it comes to managing the various aspects. That’s why Shopify automation apps can be a life-saver.
Kit
The great thing about Kit is that it acts as your free virtual employee. It provides real-time recommendations based on the marketing activities that are likely to boost sales. To break it down for
you, Kit can assist you with:
- Running Facebook ads
- Finding your Instagram audience and creating ads for them
- Sending “thank you emails” to encourage cross-selling and repeat purchases
- Creating discount codes to acquire new custom
- Generating reports to provide intel on sales and marketing performance
The benefits are endless!
Facebook & Instagram Autopost
Lastly, promoting your products on social media as an eCommerce store is a full-time job in itself. Fortunately, the Facebook & Instagram Autopost app is a very
popular time-saver for Shopify users. Why? Well, it doesn’t require manual work. All you have to do is use the app’s pre-built, high-converting templates, and press play.
Consequently, your products will post to your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest pages automatically each day.
Must-have Shopify Apps Takeaway
Even though there are many Shopify apps available, the trick is to think about which ones will be the most beneficial for your store. For example, the Instagram Feed plugin is going to be pretty useless for a store that doesn’t focus on this channel in its core social media marketing strategy.
We recommend experimenting with different options until you find the apps that deliver the best results for your customers and, ultimately, your business.
