• Explore. Learn. Thrive. Fastlane Media Network

  • ecommerceFastlane
  • PODFastlane
  • SEOfastlane
  • AdvisorFastlane

20 Best Shopify Apps To Boost Your Shopify Store Performance

A man utilizing a laptop at a desk next to a window to optimize their Shopify store with top-performing apps.

For modern entrepreneurs, launching an online store can be one of the most exciting experiences of a lifetime… if the venture is a success, anyway. On the flip side, e-commerce can be a lot of work and create high expectations for founders. And, failing at any business can be one of your life’s greatest disappointments.

Fortunately, with the best tools and apps, you ensure that your online retail operations flourish. You need only the best Shopify apps to keep you ahead of your competition by optimizing the user experience for your customers.

For maximum impact, you need to analyze and optimize every stage of your sales funnel.  So, explore our top-rated pics to improve all facets of your online store.

Here are the Best Shopify Apps for Every Stage of Your Online Sales Funnel

Whether you’re looking to optimize your website navigation, enhance your product listings, better manage your inventory, or generate repeat sales, the Shopify apps store has an add-on to support you. Nevertheless, there are so many apps available in the marketplace that you may have a hard time selecting the right option for your brand.

You can only rely so heavily on online reviews. After all, not every e-commerce store owner has the same needs.  So, we’ve done our due diligence to seek out and bring you the best Shopify apps to increase sales by improving each stage of the customer journey.

Delight Customers & Capture Leads – Shopify apps

First of all, you only have a few seconds to capture website traffic and turn new visitors into leads. You need to provide friendly, personalized service to your online shoppers. These essential Shopify apps will help you do customer service right.

1. Live chat by Gorgias

 

Used by Rothys.com, Timbuk2.com or Roolee.com

Gorgias has the most powerful and user-friendly live chat for Shopify stores.

It integrates seamlessly with Shopify and allows you to enter variables with Shopify profile and order data directly into your messages.

You can also auto-trigger custom messages for your visitors based on the page they visit to boost your cart conversion.

2. Support center by Gorgias

 

Used by Mvmtwatches, GrooveLife or Rothys

One of the most loaded apps available in the Shopify marketplace and the best Zendesk alternative, Gorgias provides you with a full suite of help desk features. It lets you connect all of your customer support channels so you can access your email, chat, and messenger conversations in one dashboard. Doing so will save you a ton of time and streamline your customer service operations.

Being able to communicate with customers and the rest of the team in a single platform provides unparalleled convenience for your customer service team. And, being able to comment on social media posts relieves you from the need to train your social media team to respond to customer service issues. Whether a customer reaches out on Facebook or directly via email, the right team member can respond.‍

3. Growave: Reach. Engage. Convert.

Growave is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps Shopify brands reach their audience, engage users and increase conversions with ease. You get all tools for reaching, engaging and converting your customers like Wishlists, Rewards and Loyalty, Instagram galleries, Automated emails, Reviews, Comments, Notifications, Q&A and Social login for a great price.

Growave lets your brand go viral by encouraging users to share your brand on social media and email, build strong customer relationships using your loyalty program, comments, and reviews, and drive inspiration and increase conversion rates using customer reviews and user-generated content.

Key features: Loyalty and Rewards, Comments, Reviews, Social Sharing, Wishlists, Community, Social Login, Automated Emails, Instagram, Notifications

Growave works with Shopify and Shopify Plus brands.

Free plan available. 30-day free trial. The growth plan starts at $119/month.‍

4. Referral Candy: Delight your customers as they spread the word

Referral Candy is one of the top Shopify apps for starting and managing your referral programs. Once set up on your store, Referral Candy will help you structure and power your entire program across your different marketing channels and help you reward your most vocal customers.

Implementing Referral Candy is as easy as:

  • Connecting your store in 1 click through Shopify
  • Selecting your rewards from cash payouts to more custom rewards
  • Connecting your marketing apps to fuel your program
  • Setting up referral nudges to boost engagement

Pricing starts at $49 / month and includes a 30-day free trial to kickstart your program with peace of mind.

5. Yotpo: A Total Commerce Marketing Cloud

Are you looking for an all-in-one app solution for on-site conversion, traffic acquisition, consumer insights, and enhanced shopping experience so you can build trust with your customers? If so, Yotpo might be the right solution for you.

  • Reviews & Ratings: Get feedback from customers to improve your product selection and inform prospective buyers.
  • Visual Marketing: Display customer photos on your product pages to encourage user-generated content and social proof.
  • Consumer Insights: Collect powerful consumer data to make more informed product and marketing decisions.

Yotpo integrates easily with Gorgias, giving you access to the data Yotpo collects in your customer service dashboard. You can’t go wrong when you pair these two apps.

6. Octane AI: Facebook Messenger Chatbot

A Facebook Messenger bot can help you increase revenue by making you more readily available on a channel that many of your customers spend a lot of time on.

The average email open rate for eCommerce is 15.66%. Messenger communications are read 80% of the time. So, by implementing a chatbot to reach out to your users, you greatly improve the chances that people will actually read the messages being sent.

  • Abandoned Cart Messages
  • Receipts
  • Shipping Notifications
  • Automate FAQ answers
  • Custom Promotional Campaigns

And, Octane AI has you covered. So, use it to scale your Messenger marketing.

7. Privy: State-of-the-Art eCommerce Conversion Platform

Did you know that most of the people who visit your site never make a purchase from you? This is partly due to the fact that you’re not capturing their email addresses at the right time to nurture relationships. Another factor is cart abandonment. And, sometimes you don’t run enough promotions to get people excited. Privy will fuel your conversion optimization campaign.

See for yourself with a free account and unlock premium features as you need them.

Optimize Your Website Navigation – Shopify apps

Next, here are the apps that will make it easier for your customers to navigate your website. When people land on your site, ready to shop, if they can’t find what they’re looking for, they will never convert. So, leverage some of these options to amplify customers’ experience of your online store.

8. Omega Instant Search: Make Content and Products More Discoverable

Omega Instant Search’s guide feature enables auto-complete and spelling corrections for search queries. The app delivers relevant, instant product choices based on what your customer is looking for. With this tool, you can configure product order, hot searches, and landing pages to customize the results. So, you have complete control over how users find your goods.

Rather than run and store search queries on your own dime, all data is stored in the platform, so you can free up space on your site. Compared to others, this is a “light” search engine to use for your online store.

9. Buddha Mega Menu: Help Your Customers Easily Find Your Products and Collections with Beautiful Submenus

In addition to on-site search, you will need to optimize your navigation menu. Buddha Mega Menu is one of the best Shopify marketplace apps to get the job done. In addition to the enhanced functionality the platform provides, your shoppers can access optimized navigation from any device.

So, what does it do?

  1. Allows you to build an awesome menu in a matter of minutes
  2. Enables you to create eye-catching promotions using the countdown feature
  3. Provides your store with an adaptable navigation experience

As you scale, you’ll realize Shopify’s standard menu isn’t enough to make users aware of everything you have to offer. You will want to create visibility for your products, collections, pages, and blog. Aesthetically appealing submenus are the solution.

10. Smart Bar: Make Your Promotions Visible Across All Pages of Your Store

Many navigation apps include a feature similar to what Smart Bar offers. But if you’re only selling a few products, or just launching your store, you may not need a full-featured solution. You will, however, need to leverage every pixel on every page. Use this Shopify marketplace app to make your promotions visible on every page.

The app is simple, easy-to-use, and can help you increase conversions while saving time on your marketing campaigns. In addition, you’ll be able to access data about the success of your campaigns. Use the insights delivered to improve your future promos.

11. Easy Redirects: Redirect Broken Links to Manage 301 and 404 Errors

As your website grows, pages will drop off. Any links pointing to the old pages will be broken and point to blank 301 and 404 error messages… unless you manage your broken links by redirecting them to new landing pages. Rather than redirect each link manually, use the Easy Redirects add-on to monitor your URL errors, and move users to updated pages.

With the free version, you can implement 301 redirects in bulk, group URLs to easily categorize and filter them, and access general analytics. When you’re ready to upgrade to the Premium version of the app, you will have all basic features plus automatic 404 tracking, alerts and reminders to manage your errors, and the ability to use patterns to automate redirections.

Enhance Your Product Listings – Shopify apps

Then it’s time to optimize your product listings. This is how you facilitate purchases for ready-buyers. The Shopify app development community has made this easier than you probably know. Chances are, you’re doing many tasks manually that have simple time and money-saving solutions. Check out the best Shopify apps to enhance your product pages.

12. SEO Manager: Improve Your Search Rank and Get Found

When your online store isn’t getting a ton of traffic, the first place to look is at your on-page search engine optimization. SEO Manager simplifies your work. And, you won’t need Easy Redirects because you’ll have a full SEO Suite that handles 404 error tracking and fixes.

In addition, it offers over 20 features as apps to help you optimize your search appearance. It is completely customizable and delivers real-time feedback. So, you can make updates anytime and trust that they will be implemented immediately.

13. Hextom: Bulk Image Edits and SEO Optimization

There will come a time when you have an idea about updating product images across your store. After all, your imagery plays a major role in your conversion rate. With Hextom’s Bulk Image Edit (BIE), you can make quick changes to multiple images at one time:

  • Optimize SEO: Change the ALT Text so that Google and other search engines, including your own on-site search tools, know what they’re looking at.
  • Minimize, Crop, or Resize: Change the size of your shopify theme or product images without quality loss.
  • Square: Want all images on one page to appear as uniform squares? No problem! That option is just a few clicks away.
  • Watermark: Add your branding to many images at one time.

The best part about using this app is that you can make changes without losing your original images. So, you will always be able to revert to using the original images if you make a mistake.

14. HotShp: Automate Shopify Product Description Writing

Unique to the Shopify marketplace among marketing apps, HotShp automatically assigns product description writing assignments to a team of experts with SEO experience. For only $3 per product, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. If English isn’t your first language or you simply need more product descriptions than you have time for, check this app out. Some users pair the HotShp add-on with Grammarly to make sure spelling and grammar are optimized before they click “publish.”

15. Conversific: Get along with your metrics

When you own an e-commerce store, there are tons of data you should be using to grow your business. So you’re forced to either pay someone to analyze it or, worse, spend hours trying to understand it yourself. (Sometimes I feel there’s a direct correlation between trying to understand data ? and being sad.

Whether you’re a global brand or just started up your e-commerce business, with Conversific you can easily understand your data, because we put it in valuable context.

image.png

The 4 pillars of Conversific

  • Reports – see all your important store metrics in one place;
  • Benchmarks – compare your store’s performance against peers in your industry;
  • Insights – tailored recommendations based on your data;
  • Analytics – dig into product & customer insights that drive revenue growth; and much more, all while enriching user profiles.

Conversific is a free app and can be installed in one click on your Shopify store.

16. Vela: Edit Your Product Listings “in a Flash”

Vela claims to enable you to “sell smarter;” their app lives up to that claim. You can save hours of time by editing your products in bulk, rather than navigate from one product to the next. By doing so, you free up your workload to focus on your products and marketing.

One benefit that can’t go unmentioned is the ability to manage your listings across multiple platforms. Vela can help you cross-promote on a variety of marketplaces.

Leverage numerous convenient features. For example, you can choose to either enhance multiple images with a filter or isolate products from a busy or colored background. Plus, they’re adding a new promotion/ sales feature. If you start using the app now, you could be one of the first to try it.

Better Manage Your Inventory and Orders – Shopify apps

Now, you’re ready to learn why you need to optimize your inventory management processes (Hint: It’s not just because disorganized processes give you a headache). When your customers make a purchase, yet you don’t have the stock to deliver, you’ve likely lost a customer forever.

While 72% of online shoppers abandon their carts, only 8% of them ever return to make a purchase. Your website needs to be up-to-date with what’s in stock at all times. Hey, there’s an app for that!

17. Skubana: Multi-Channel Inventory Management

Like Vela, Skubana has the ability to unify your e-commerce operations. But, the latter has a larger suite of system integrations:

Also unlike Vela, Skubana has a targeted focus on backend operations like inventory management, order fulfillment, and overselling. By connecting all of your sales channels in one dashboard, you are empowered with real-time information about which products and how many are actually in stock.

Skubana works with all types of fulfillment structures: In-house, 3PL, FBA, Multi-Channel, and Dropship. So, it’s used by more sellers than any other inventory management app.

18. Swym: Generate Automated In-Stock Alerts

Did you know there’s a way to automatically let online customers know when a product they are interested in is in stock again? It’s true and customers love it, which is why Swym sends out over 10K alerts each day.

This app enables your customers to sign up for product updates and takes the work of updating them out of our hands. The algorithm works for back in stock, price drops, low stock alerts, and more. You can leverage it for free to send up to 50 updates each month. Doing so can increase your conversion rate tremendously.

19. Wipeout: Hide Sold-Out Products and Automatically Republish Them When They’re Available

Wipeout is a great app by Storebuilder that allows you to hide your products that have sold out and publish them once they’re available again. You’ll receive email reports about your products and implement changes automatically or manually. If you aren’t using an add-on that has this feature, Wipeout is a must-have.

Unfortunately, the app cannot hide sold-out variants nor does it support other sales channels like POS, Facebook, etc. So, your options are somewhat limited. Still, you want to be able to show customers what’s in stock in real time, and this is a solid choice.

Simplify the Checkout Process – Shopify apps

At the last moment before a purchase, … Why You Need to Simplify the Checkout Process

20. One-Click Checkout: Speed Up Checkout for Your Customers

With One-Click Checkout, you can speed up the customer checkout process or offer to let them continue shopping. A speedy checkout process will increase your conversions. Allowing customers to make decisions about what to do next will put them in control — online consumers love this.

This checkout app is another must-have for any Shopify store since complicated checkout processes throw a wrench into your ROI goals.

21. Klarna: Facilitate Flexible Payment Options

Shopify comes loaded with payment options, even with the standard plan. So, payment options aren’t usually a problem. But, what if your customers want to buy now and pay later? Enter Klarna. With this app, you can offer customers the option to finance their purchase.

Klarna boasts interest-free and low interest installments, increasing the likelihood that a shopper who might otherwise wait to make a purchase later will convert instantly.

The beauty is in the fact that you, the seller, will be paid in full at the time of purchase. So, you won’t have to mess with credit. Yet, your customers will thank you for the heightened convenience. This app could give you the upper hand you need to stand out against your competition.

Generate Repeat Sales – Shopify apps

Finally, … Why you need to promote customer retention and generate repeat sales.

22. Klaviyo: Email Marketing Segmentation and Autoresponders

If you have a growth-focused brand, you can use Klaviyo to help you deliver highly-targeted and relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing messages to your audience. You can segment your lists without spreadsheets using smart software that collects data from your eCommerce store, POS software, and other marketing tools.

Klaviyo simplifies email marketing with triggered emails. Leverage automation for various stages of your pipeline:

Just set it and let the app take control of your communication.

23. ReCharge: Recurring Payments for Subscription-Based e-Commerce

Are you running a subscription business? If so, you can transform your Shopify store into a subscription-based platform with recurring billing. Simplify repeat payments with ReCharge.

This app works well for recurring product orders as well as monthly subscription boxes. So, you can manage and sell all of your repeat orders from one simple platform.

It takes only minutes to turn your single-order products into monthly income for your store. The customer dashboard is easy to navigate, giving your users full control over their preferences without the need for you to hire full-time customer service staff.

24. Postscript: Enterprise SMS Marketing for e-Commerce

In an era where everyone is on their phones, you need to be able to get in front of your audience. So, let website visitors subscribe to receive updates from you via SMS using the Postscript app. You can use it to easily create and manage SMS marketing campaigns on a platform designed specifically for e-commerce.

Then, leverage detailed analytics and reports to help you navigate your future campaigns with invaluable information. Use data to help you increase revenue, not just clicks.

Postscript claims that they have a 35% click-through rate (CTR) and can increase your ROI by 400%. So, start sending your targeted campaigns to segmented lists right away to start seeing these results.

25. Retention Rocket: Marketing for e-Commerce & Omnichannel Sales

Retention Rocket is built for eCommerce to do just what you would expect: retention marketing. A full suite of features allows you to stay in touch with your customers on multiple channels, delivering targeted messages to drive repeat purchases.

Some of these features include:

  • e-Commerce Platform Agnostic
  • Exit Intent
  • Push Notifications
  • SMS List Builder
  • Live Messenger Chat
  • Messenger and SMS Abandonment
  • Product Recommender
  • Gorgias Integration
  • Slack Integration
  • Outbound Promotions
  • White Label URLs

Retention Rocket is designed to reduce marketing costs by delivering easy-to-use tools that increase your bottom line without the need for a large team. For countless brands, it works wonders‍

26. Smile: Easy-to-Implement Rewards Programs for Shopify Stores

Thousands of stores already use Smile to deliver simple yet robust rewards programs to their buyers. Use systems based on points, referrals, or VIP to generate more repeat purchases for your online store. This is Shopify’s most popular rewards app to date.

You can offer various rewards using Smile’s API:

  1. $ Off Coupons
  2. % Off Coupons
  3. Free Shipping

Use it online or in-store with Shopify’s POS. Your customers will have an effortless and delightful experience with automated email notifications, reward shopping and social behavior, customizable display, and multiple program types.

You will have an effortless and delightful experience because most of the work is out of your hands. Use Smile’s industry guides to find out what already works in your niche and execute a new referral campaign quickly.

27. Spently: The Easiest Way to Drive Repeat Purchases on Shopify

As a Shopify merchant, you can use Spently to leverage email notifications as a standalone sales channel. Do so using marketing components and follow-up sequences. This add-on gets 5-Stars in the Shopify app store over and over.

Use the customizable templates to create campaigns that get attention. Then, configure the settings for your automated notification and follow up emails. Finally, sit back and gain insights from the analytics dashboard to power your future online store promotions.

28. Spocket.co

Spocket is the leading dropshipping marketplace for US and EU products on Shopify with a 4.7/5 rating and over 1600 votes. If you’re looking to start a new store or add products to your existing store, Spocket has you covered.

All suppliers are carefully vetted to ensure quality, consistency and speed of delivery so your customers get their order fast. You can install Spocket, connect your store and list top quality products in just minutes. Check out their dropshipping case study on Marc and how he grew his store to over 6 figures in 3 months.

Final Thoughts

Now, you’re in — you know what tools the e-commerce leaders are using to grow their revenues this year. So, it’s time to give your store a new paint job. Start enhancing your customer experience today using the tools above.

This article was originally published by our friends at Gorgias.

You May Also Like
Share to...