25 Best Shopify Apps to Increase Sales
Written by Kseniia Burilova
Ecommerce merchants face competition from all sides. On one front, big retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and The Home Depot (to name just a few examples) offer extensive value propositions and rock-bottom prices.
On another, an ever-growing contingent of indie merchants – at the beginning of 2021, Shopify alone hosted 1.75 million stores (source: backlinko.com) – are seeking to capture the attention of a finite market with innovative product ranges, long-term customer benefits, and compelling, ethical branding.
Add to this the fact that new brands are emerging almost daily, aided by easy-to-use ecommerce platforms and accessible wholesale and logistics networks, and the challenges are obvious.
Merchants need to find advantages wherever they can. And apps often provide significant benefits. In this post, we’re going to look at a range of the best Shopify apps. They’ll help you understand your market, improve the customer experience, drive sales, and foster long-term loyalty.
Why Should Shopify Stores Use These Apps?
Merchants that want to thrive in the modern era need to be 100% on their A-game. No stone can be left unturned when it comes to leveraging marketing opportunities and refining the customer journey.
This might sound like a daunting task. Fortunately for Shopify merchants, however, there are simple tools that can save a veritable warehouse-full of resources and staff time. In fact, there are thousands of the little godsends: apps.
Shopify apps enable merchants to streamline and optimize pretty much every aspect of their ecommerce operation with a minimum of investment, from email marketing to payment plans. What’s more, no technical expertise is required.
Finding Your Perfect Shopify “App Mix”
You don’t need to install every available app to streamline and improve your customer journey. In fact, installing more apps than necessary is likely to be counterproductive when it comes to sales and revenue. Instead, you should build an “app mix” that meets the unique needs of your business.
Generally speaking, Shopify apps fall into one of the following categories, all of which you should account for:
- Marketing – Marketing apps help you reach new customers and engage with your existing ones. There are dedicated apps for search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, marketing analytics, and more.
- On-Site Optimization – On-site optimization is about increasing conversions and overall order value. Generally, apps in this category are used by merchants to add widgets to product and checkout pages and offer attractive up-sells and cross-sells.
- Analytics – Analytics tools provide insights into the behavior of site visitors. Shopify already offers native analytics features. Third-party apps add extra layers of functionality.
- Customer Service – Customer service apps enable merchants to communicate with customers to solve issues and respond to product queries.
- Inventory Management and Other Logistics – Inventory management and logistics apps streamline and automate key parts of the fulfillment process.
- Additional Site Features – Other apps allow retailers to extend the functionality of their websites. Apps for building forums, adding social reviews, creating membership areas, and so on all fall into this category.
How to Pick the Best Shopify Apps for Your Store
Lots of apps on the Shopify App Store have almost identical feature sets and differentiating between similar alternatives can be difficult.
Consider the following factors when deciding which Shopify apps are a good fit for your business:
- Price – Most Shopify apps are priced on a monthly subscription basis. Many also have long-term free plans that might be perfectly suitable for your needs.
- Usability – Always give apps a trial run and check the user interface. Some are more intuitive and easy to use than others.
- Features – Feature sets can vary, and even minor differences can impact your ecommerce store. Features are usually described in full on app store pages.
- Customer support – Many apps include ongoing customer support in the monthly subscription cost, which can be useful if you encounter any issues.
- Developer reputation – Opting for apps from reputable developers will ensure regular updates and reliable customer support.
Best Shopify Apps for Customer Loyalty and Engagement
Community building provides a host of tangible benefits to Shopify merchants, including increased engagement, greater customer loyalty, marketing opportunities, the ability to gather data and feedback, and, in the case of support forums, a member-driven way to help customers solve problems. Over the long term, all of these factors contribute to higher sales and revenue, along with fewer product returns.
PeerBoard is a forum app that integrates directly with your Shopify store. Set-up is straightforward and can be completed in seconds. Even better, no technical expertise is required.
Once you’ve activated the app, you’ll have access to an extensive suite of forum features, including rich user profiles, categories, threaded forum posts, and an algorithmically sorted homepage feed. In addition, ready-to-go search engine optimization settings give posts and user-generated content the best possible chance of ranking on search pages, which can lead to organic traffic to your store.
PeerBoard’s neutral design also fits seamlessly with existing site themes, and merchants won’t have any issues incorporating it into their stores. All plans, even the “forever free” one, allow for unlimited users, admins, and posts.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Starter: $29/month; Professional: $79/month. Enterprise plans are also available.
Top Features: Out-of-the-box forum, built-in SEO features, unlimited users.
Customer Support: Support is available via email.
Merchants can use Loyalty, Rewards, and Referrals to set up comprehensive loyalty programs on their Shopify stores. Loyalty programs have been shown to drive repeat sales, foster customer satisfaction, and lead to referrals.
The app works on a points-based system, and customers earn credit which can be redeemed for rewards (like discounts and free products) for actions like making purchases, sharing products on social media, referring new customers, and so on.
Loyalty, Rewards and Referrals is a Shopify Plus Certified App (meaning that it integrates with Shopify Plus features) and also syncs with a range of other apps.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Small Business: $159/month; Classic: $399/month; Advanced: $699/month.
Top Features: Points and rewards loyalty program, notifications, unlimited members.
Customer Support: Support is through email and phone.
Yotpo Loyalty & Rewards is similar to Loyalty, Rewards and Referrals (mentioned above) but works on a slightly different pricing model. Yotpo includes an initial amount of monthly orders on every plan, after which fees are charged for additional sales.
It offers everything you would expect from a loyalty program, including a points and rewards engine, email marketing, and dedicated member areas. Notably, Yotpo allows for the creation of an Amazon Prime-style membership area.
Yotpo is an established developer with a track record of excellent ecommerce tools, so it’s likely that this app will be kept up-to-date with new features.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Silver: $29/month; Gold $249/month. Additional fees apply based on order amounts.
Top Features: Rewards program, email marketing, email integrations.
Customer Support: 24/7 customer support is available through live chat and email.
Smile: Rewards & Loyalty is Shopify’s top loyalty program app and, as such, is worth considering in conjunction with the other two entries in this section.
It offers a range of easy-to-use features, including customizable pop-ups, a rewards and points system, email marketing, and integrations with other Shopify apps. It’s also available in several languages.
Perhaps best of all, Smile works on a straightforward subscription model with a set monthly fee, and pricing is not based on monthly orders.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Starter: $49/month; Growth: $199/month; Pro: $599 Month. Enterprise plans are also available.
Top Features: Points system with rewards, design customization, email marketing.
Customer Support: Support is through phone and email. Pro users have access to a dedicated account manager.
Bold Memberships enables you to create member-only areas on your site. You can hide blog posts, product pages, category pages, and so on from non-members.
If you want to create a “gated” store that’s not open to the general public, or you want to publish exclusive content for a select segment of your customers, then Bold Memberships will allow you to do so.
You can also set up recurring subscriptions for access to private areas. At $9.99/month, Bold Memberships is relatively inexpensive as far as Shopify apps go.
Free version? No. A 14-day free trial is available.
Price: Plans start at $9.99/month. The price increases based on the number of members.
Top Features: Gated content, recurring subscriptions, integrations with other apps.
Customer Support: Support is available via email.
Best Shopify Apps for Email Marketing
Firepush is an email, web push, and SMS marketing app. Use it to send email, browser, and SMS messages to customers for marketing purposes. And while it’s suitable for sending more generic marketing emails, like wish list reminders, sales announcements, and newsletters, it can also be leveraged for retargeting.
Firepush has automated features for sending cart abandonment messages, delivery updates, order confirmations, “back in stock” notifications, and more. You will, however, need to subscribe to the premium plan to access features like segmentation and the full set of automations.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Basic: $15/month; Pro: $29/month.
Top Features: Automation features, cart abandonment messages, and access to a dedicated customer success manager.
Customer Support: 24/7 customer support on paid plans.
Avada is an SMS and email marketing app with an intuitive dashboard and a solid selection of features. It’s great for building a multi-faceted, comprehensive email marketing strategy and also includes a range of automation features.
At the time of writing, web push notifications are not available, but they are reported as “coming soon” on the app’s Shopify page. There are several plans available, along with a long-term free package that includes email support and automation features. The entry-level paid plan includes unlimited emails and automation workflows.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Pro: $9/month; Advanced: $49/month; Enterprise: Custom Pricing.
Top Features: Automation flows, integrates with Google Ads and Facebook Ads, email templates.
Customer Support: Email support on the free plan, email and chat support on the paid plans; dedicated account manager on the “Advanced” plan.
ONE+ Pop Ups & Email Marketing brands itself as “twelve apps in one.” It’s the third email marketing app in this list and is worth considering in conjunction with the previous entries.
One+ has a few additional bells and whistles – in conjunction with its core email marketing features – that will make it attractive to many retailers. These include a discount manager, A/B testing functionality, and gamified opt-in pop-ups like spinning wheels.
The one downside is that payment plans are based on monthly visitors to your site and you’ll need to purchase a premium plan if you have more than 10,000 unique visitors per month.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Kick Starter: $15/month; Small Business: $29/month; High Traffic Shop: $79/month; Enterprise Traffic: $79/month.
Top Features: Opt-in “fortune wheel,” A/B testing, social proof features.
Customer Support: 24/7 live chat support (even on the free version). On all of the paid plans, users have access to a support manager.
Privy is one of the most popular marketing apps on the Shopify store. It combines an email and SMS platform (which includes retargeting functionality), email opt-in pop-ups, and conversion features like cross-sell and up-sell widgets, a shipping bar, A/B testing, and more.
If you’re planning on using Privy to run your email campaigns, you should be aware that pricing is dependent on the number of subscribers you have, increasing by $15 for every 1000 contacts. Over time, this may prove financially untenable.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Conversion + Email: $15/month; Privy Text (SMS): $10/month.
Top Features: Email and SMS messaging, conversion features, A/B testing.
Customer Support: Users can submit support tickets if they need assistance
Best Shopify Apps for Marketing
Shogun Landing Page Builder is an intuitive page editor that gives you full control over the design of your product, collection, landing, and blog post pages (among others). It’s useful from a marketing perspective because it enables store owners to build mobile and SEO-optimized pages according to their exact specifications, including the placement of Add to Cart buttons, visual media, and copy.
It also includes drag-and-drop conversion boosters like timers and discount notifications. Styles can be saved for quick use on other pages.
Free version? No.
Price: Build: $39/month; Measure: $99/month; Optimize: $149/month; Team: $299/month.
Top Features: Intuitive page builder, conversion tools, A/B testing, integrations.
Customer Support: All plans have email support. Higher-tier plans also include live chat support.
PageFly is one of the most popular site builder apps on the Shopify store. It can be used to build a host of pages – product pages, collections pages, sales landing pages, and so on – and also includes an assortment of conversion-boosting tools like countdown timers and review star ratings.
One of the big selling points of PageFly is the fact that it offers 24/7 live chat support on all of its plans, including the free version. It integrates with over twenty other Shopify apps.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Silver: $19/month, Gold: $39/month; Platinum: $99/month.
Top Features: Page builder, conversion tools, robust set of integrations.
Customer Support: 24/7 live chat support on all plans.
Yotpo is a must-have app for merchants that want to get the most out of their customer reviews.
You can use it to collect and showcase reviews while also measuring performance and optimizing your placement strategy.
Yotpo supports visual user content and integrates directly with social media, where reviews can be published to attract new customers. Automated email requests, which can be tied to incentives like discount codes, are useful for gathering high-quality reviews.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Growth 50: $19/month; Growth 100: $29/month.
Top Features: Automated review request emails, rich media reviews, social media integrations.
Customer Support: 24/7 customer support is available through live chat and email.
Best Shopify Apps for Sales Channels
Ultimate Sales Boost is a package of conversion optimization tools for merchants that want to build greater levels of urgency and social proof on their product, cart, and collection pages. It also offers cross-sell and up-sell features.
Sales tools include countdown timers, upsell notifications, low stock warnings, and trust badges, among others. It’s an incredibly useful tool for retailers that want to boost conversions, although support is limited even on paid plans.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Basic Plan: $9.99/month; Professional Plan: $29.99/month.
Top Features: Inventory countdown, countdown timer, up-sell and cross-sell tools.
Customer Support: Email support.
Frequently Bought Together enables merchants to add cross-sell and up-sell recommendations to product and checkout pages.
The app consists of three core features: product recommendation widgets, an algorithm that determines which products to show to customers, and an analytics dashboard.
You can also customize widgets to ensure the look-and-feel fits with your existing site design. 24/7 email support is also provided.
Free version? Yes (for stores created three months prior to installation of the app).
Price: Professional: $9.99 a month.
Top Features: Product recommendation widgets, analytics, “smart” recommendation algorithm.
Customer Support: 24/7 support via email.
Shop Channel is an easy-to-use app that allows you to manage your storefront in the Shop app, a popular shopping platform. It integrates with your Shopify store to make your catalog available to Shop users.
You’ll also have access to marketing tools for maximizing customer loyalty and revenue, and a built-in analytics dashboard for tracking the performance of Shop against other channels.
Shop Pay, Shop’s dedicated payment engine, is one of the most widely-used and trusted checkout services on the web.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Shop Channel is a free Shopify app.
Top Features: Shop storefront management, marketing tools, channel analytics.
Customer Support: Support is limited. Support is through Shopify, the app developer.
Search engine optimization is essential in ecommerce. A well-optimized site has a higher chance of ranking on search engine results pages (SERPS) and, as a result, of receiving more organic traffic.
SEO Booster is an all-in-one SEO toolkit. Many of its features run on autopilot, ensuring that your site is fully optimized and that common errors are avoided. Where your input is required, instructions are given in clear, non-technical language.
Among other things, SEO Booster will take care of alt tags, meta tags, duplicate content, new page indexing, and accelerated mobile pages. The app also generates regular site health reports.
Free version? No.
Price: Pro Plan: $29.99/month; Unlimited Plan: $79.99/month.
Top Features: Automated SEO features, site health reports, 24/7 live chat support.
Customer Support: 24/7 live chat support.
Live Chat + Customer Service streamlines the process of replying to direct messages on Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and email. It’s also possible to add WhatsApp to the mix by integrating with SuperLemon.
It’s a useful, time-saving app that allows you to access all your messages from a single dashboard. You can also automate standard replies to customer questions, such as those related to order tracking.
The templates feature gives you the ability to pre-write answers to common questions and populate individual responses with variables like item IDs and tracking links.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Startup: $29/month; Scale: $99/month; Growth: $249/month.
Top Features: Consolidated direct messaging, automated responses, performance tracking.
Customer Support: Support is available through email, phone, and Whatsapp.
Tidio is a live chat tool for adding chatbot and automation functionality to your customer support channels, including Facebook messenger and email.
The app is easy to install and will provide answers to clients when you cannot respond immediately. Automated marketing features, such as cart abandonment alerts, also help drive sales.
The app supports multiple languages, includes numerous bot templates, and integrates with a wide selection of Shopify apps.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Communicator Plan: $15/month; Chatbots Plan: $39/month; Mailing: $25/month (email only).
Top Features: Chatbots, support for multiple languages, performance analytics.
Customer Support: 24/7 support via phone and email.
Do you want to create dedicated, branded pages where your customers can track the delivery status of their orders? If the answer is yes, then AfterShip Order Tracking & SMS is a must-have app.
The app enables you to import tracking numbers from over seven hundred couriers, track delivery statuses from a single dashboard, automate SMS and email updates, and create branded pages where customers can check the status of their orders in detail. The analytics tools are also useful for generating insights about your fulfillment processes.
Each plan comes with a monthly order cap and you’ll be charged fees for additional orders, so this is something to be aware of.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Essentials: $11/month; Essentials Plus: $35/month; Pro: $119/month.
Top Features: Order tracking, automated SMS and email notifications, analytics.
Customer Support: 24/7 live chat support (even on the free plan).
Handshake is a curated marketplace that showcases products from independent creators. If you’re thinking about adding new items to your Shopify store, then Handshake’s handpicked selection of goods, all of which are offered at wholesale prices with low minimum order amounts, is well worth checking out.
The app itself essentially allows you to track the delivery status of Handshake orders from your Shopify store. You’ll still need to log into the Handshake site to make purchases. For those retailers that already use the marketplace, it’s a useful, time-saving add-on.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Handshake is completely free.
Top Features: Order tracking from within your Shopify dashboard.
Customer Support: Email support.
Realtime Stock Sync & Bundling is a lifesaver of an app for merchants that sell across multiple sales channels.
It tracks SKUs (stock-keeping units) to sync stock across different platforms, including Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and others, so that your inventory levels remain up-to-date. Bundles, kits, and product variations are supported.
Pricing is tiered based on the number of orders you process a month, so take a look at plan details before taking out a subscription to the app.
Free version? No. A free trial is offered.
Price: Essential: $35/month; Pro: $39/month.
Top Features: Inventory syncing, stock level alerts, large set of marketplace integrations.
Customer Support: Live chat and email support.
Back In Stock: Customer Alerts is a simple app for alerting customers when out-of-stock products become available. While this functionality is relatively straightforward, it can have a significant impact on sales.
After installing the app, a button will appear on relevant product pages offering to send an alert when a product is back in stock. When the button is clicked, a pop-up prompting customers to enter contact details appears.
You can use the app to send both email and SMS messages automatically. It also includes analytics tools for tracking performance.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Startup: $19/month; Small Business: $39/month; Medium Store: $59/month.
Top Features: Back in stock notifications, unlimited customer lists, analytics.
Customer Support: Support via email and phone.
QuickBooks is one of the most widely-known accounting platforms in the world. If you use QuickBooks to manage your finances, this simple connector can streamline your workflow by reducing manual data entry.
QuickBooks Online will automatically register changes in stock levels, product updates, and changes to sales invoices. The app is completely free and, assuming that your QuickBooks account is already set up, integration is a seamless process.
Free version? Yes.
Price: QuickBooks Online is free. You will need to subscribe to a Quickbooks plan.
Top Features: Automated data transfer between Shopify and QuickBooks.
Customer Support: Support is available via email.
PayWhirl is an app with the potential to significantly increase store revenues, particularly for retailers that offer products that are bought on a repeat basis.
PayWhirl enables you to offer subscriptions on your product and checkout pages. It also includes a suite of tools for managing subscription plans, including automated payment notifications, member areas where customers can change personal details and subscription options, secure storage for payment details, discounts, and customizable, theme-consistent design options.
The only downside is that PayWhirl charges transaction fees on top of the monthly costs of its plans.
Free version? Yes (3% transaction fee).
Price: Pro: $9/month; Plus: $49/month; Ultimate: $249/month.
Top Features: Recurring payments, analytics, unlimited subscriptions.
Customer Support: Support is available via email.
Klarna is a fintech company that has received significant attention in the ecommerce space over the past few years. Essentially, Klarna allows merchants to offer straightforward “buy now pay later” plans to customers, which can be spread over weeks or months. Shoppers don’t pay any interest on the payments. Instead, retailers pay a transaction fee on every purchase.
Klarna has proven incredibly popular, in large part because it significantly increases order values – 40% on average.
This Shopify connector allows you to offer Klarna payment plans on your product pages along with personalized customer messaging. You’ll have to sign up with Klarna directly first.
Free version? Yes.
Price: Klarna is completely free.
Top Features: “Shop now pay later” payment plants, personalized messaging.
Customer Support: Support is available via email.
Start Building Your Insights Community Platform Today!
Investing in building a forum will deliver a proven return on investment (ROI). From the perspective of boosting eCommerce sales and revenues, it is one of the most pragmatic and cost-effective decisions you can make as a retailer.
Even better, modern solutions and integrations streamline the process of launching a forum and significantly reduce wasted resources. Most providers price their services using a straightforward monthly subscription model.
PeerBoard’s community-building platform, for example, can be used to create a discussion space in a matter of minutes, without the need for any technical or development knowledge. PeerBoard also offers a direct Shopify integration and a feature-rich, “forever free” plan.
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