Killer Shopify Apps: A Full Guide on Killer Shopify Apps You Will Absolutely Want to Install
Shopify slowly eased its way into our daily lives, just as online shopping did. It’s hard separating the two and distinguishing one from the other. Shopify has grown to be a powerful tool for e-commerce businesses and a user-friendly ally to consumers that when people talk about online shopping, it’s hard not to bring it up.
As an online marketplace, it has successfully partnered with and integrated apps on its platform that both e-commerce store and website owners and consumers find a very reliable shopping platform providing a seamless shopping experience. Do you need to optimize your content and website?
Don’t worry, Shopify App Store can help with that! Do you need help automating your fulfillment process? Look no further! The answer is still on the app store. Do you want to have more time to perhaps, rest or focus on other business processes?
There’s an app to manage and monitor your site, so you don’t have to spend every waking hour on your store, and instead, just check in every once in a while.
With 4,200 apps on the platform in 2020, Shopify provides all your e-commerce startup needs in one place. All these apps are either free or fee-based, with some offering free trials so you can check whether they work to help improve your business processes or not.
These apps are either integrated from third-party developers or introduced by Shopify developers themselves. They are meant to assist sellers with all their startup needs and help them achieve their business goals.
When you want convenience, speed, and accuracy, these apps will be advantageous to your business.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an e-commerce website builder that provides a platform for seasoned business owners and entry-level entrepreneurs to set up low-cost and beginner-friendly online businesses. In fact, it provides a 14-day free trial just so store owners can gauge the quality and performance of the site in conducting online business operations.
Unlike Amazon or some other online marketplaces that let sellers sell on their platforms alongside other sellers, Shopify is a specialized e-commerce platform that allows sellers to build their own online store (website). For this reason, Shopify sellers have more control over the management and marketing of their products.
Although Shopify is most known for catering to dropshipping stores, it actually also allows other sellers on different business models like Print-on-Demand or Handmade and original creations. Wholesale, however, is available for Shopify Plus users only.
Benefits of Shopify:
- Provides in-app and built-in e-commerce tools and resources to build your brand from the ground up, market your e-commerce store, and scale your online business
- You can showcase your brand story and create a unique and compelling brand identity and image
- You have more flexibility and control to store and product pages customizations
- Has thousands of apps that help manage, monitor, automate, and optimize your online store
- Has a solid customer support team for all your concerns
Disadvantages of Shopify:
- Costs can easily pile up because other than the subscription fee, most apps and themes have separate fees
- Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) feature is a paid app that needs to be installed from the app store.
- Shopify has only over a thousand themes which means the 500,000+ active stores on its platform share the same themes.
- You are all on your own when marketing and promoting your products and brands.
You can also check out 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Shopify Store is Profitable to see how you can earn money with Shopify.
What Are Shopify Apps?
Shopify apps are applications you can find on the Shopify App Store which are developed by either Shopify or third-party developers. Shopify currently has over 4,200 apps that serve different purposes on different business models supported on the platform.
Apps are organized in different categories on the app store to help you easily locate what you need for your business. Currently, there are nine app categories which include sourcing and selling products, store design, merchandising, marketing, conversion, fulfillment, shipping and delivery, customer service, and store management.
It also features a Collections page, which are other sets of apps grouped together for specific business purposes.
Apps provide better functionality for your business. They also add features to your store that would make certain processes and navigation easier and more convenient. They are highly customizable to fit the needs of your business.
If your concern is about the efficiency and usefulness of the apps, you can see the app reviews and ratings just below its name. You can read the reviews first, then decide to add the app or not after evaluating the feedback. You can also try it for yourself because the experience differs from person to person in some cases.
To integrate apps on your Shopify store, follow these steps:
- Log in to Shopify App Store.
- Look for the app that you want to install and click on it.
- You will be directed to the app’s page. Click on the green Add App button you’ll find below the app name and logo.
- You’ll be redirected to the Shopify Admin page, where you need to authorize the app and click the Install App button at the bottom of the page.
- Visit the Apps navigation button on your Shopify Admin page to see the app you installed. If it is a paid app, you will be charged with its fee on your next invoice.
Alternatively, you can install apps through a third-party install link or hire a developer that will create a custom app for your store and install the app through the installation link that the developer provides. The developer can also install the app for you if they are a collaborator in your store.
Types of Shopify App
There are four types of Shopify apps that you can integrate with your store to boost its functionality and optimize other processes:
- Public Apps
Public apps are divided into two categories: listed and unlisted. Listed apps are what you can install and see from the Shopify App Store. Unlisted apps, on the other hand, can only be seen and installed on the app’s App store or from the developer’s website.
- Private Apps
Private apps are not available on the Shopify App Store but are only available to your store. You can let a developer build you your own private app by giving them your store’s API access. Then, you can use Shopify’s API to directly access your store’s data and customize your storefronts to extend your business operations to other online platforms.
- Custom Apps
Just like the other apps except the listed, custom apps are not listed on the Shopify App Store. Instead, it is made by a commissioned or partner external app developer of the store owner. Unlike Private apps, its developer doesn’t need an API address to access the store and Shopify admin.
- Draft Apps
From the name itself, draft apps are apps made by Shopify Partners which can be used in development stores for testing purposes only. These can be converted to custom apps, however, your store can use them after passing Shopify review.
Guide on Killer Shopify Apps You Will Absolutely Want to Install in 2022
With so many apps to choose from and your store not being able to support all or most of them all at once, here’s a shortlist of the best and must-have Shopify apps. These apps will help you easily manage your store and find time to rest or do other works in your business.
- Plug In SEO
From the name itself, this app’s goal is to fix SEO issues and help your store rank higher in Google search results and other search engines. You can use Plug In SEO to optimize your store, upsurge organic traffic, and increase conversions.
Price: Free
- Oberlo
Oberlo automates importing of products from a sourcing marketplace directly to your Shopify dropshipping store. It makes product sourcing easier, faster, and more convenient with just one click. You can also manage and process orders through the app.
Price: Free plan available. But more tools and perks are waiting on the boss plan, which costs $29.90 per month.
- HubSpot CRM
All-in-one is the best adjective to describe what HubSpot can do for your e-commerce business. It provides everything you need, from organizing to tracking customer data and interactions. It helps you create marketing strategies tailored to the preferences and needs of your customers.
It also automates your marketing campaigns by syncing your store’s data into the app.
Price: Free to install. But there are paid plans available for the different services it offers like sales, marketing, CMS, etc.
- Product Reviews
Feedbacks help build your customers’ trust in your store. This is exactly what Product Reviews help you with. It allows customers to add reviews to your products and lets you customize the design, text colors, and layout of the reviews. Most importantly, reviews can help you increase your search engine rankings, so this app also helps with SEO.
Price: Free.
- Messenger, WhatsApp Chat+Carts
Messenger, WhatsApp Chat+Carts helps not only with recovering abandoned carts but also in re-marketing. It targets previous shoppers or window shoppers who did not make it to the cart.
It integrates with Facebook messenger to allow on-site visitors to chat with your store’s FB page and WhatsApp account and send tracking details on WhatsApp and Facebook. It also has other unique marketing tools like persistent discount widget, live chat widget, and spin-the-wheel popup.
Price: Free plan with a 14-day trial.
- Sales Notification | Sales Pop
One way to encourage your store’s visitors to make a purchase is to let them see real-time notifications of customers buying from your store. It makes you look credible as a brand, and it increases trust from customers.
It also shows notifications of customers adding products to their cart and displays your website’s numbers online and recent visitors. You can also adjust the notification popup and track conversions on your website.
Price: Free plan available
- Keep Cart
Cart abandonment is always an issue with all online marketplaces, platforms, and stores. One reason why abandonment happens is when customers shift from one device to another.
This is one problem that Keep Cart tries to resolve. The Persistent Cart app remembers and saves carts from one device to another on a prompt to the user. It also offers a discount. This is one of the best conversion apps around.
Price: Free
FAQs
How many apps should I install on my Shopify website?
There’s actually no capping when it comes to apps you can install on your Shopify store. However, keep in mind that apps may affect the performance of your website, such as the pages’ load time, as apps consume your web storage.
The bigger and the more the apps you install, the heavier it becomes. It will slow down other processes on your website.
How much do apps cost on Shopify?
Some products, especially most of the ones developed by Shopify, are free. Some also have free plans available, which means that you can use them for free for a limited time, then you need to pay after you use up the free trial period.
Some have fixed prices, and some have prices that depend on the included services divided into plans. So, the short answer is, it depends.
Why do I need to install Shopify apps?
Apps enhance your customer’s shopping experience and engage visitors of your site for them to eventually make a purchase.
They also make work easier on your end and save you time by automating most of the rigorous processes of your business. Most apps also save you money that you would otherwise spend on hiring people to do the apps’ work.
Conclusion
There is still a range of reputable and well-received apps to choose from on the Shopify App Store. Although all of them are beneficial in their own ways, with their own unique features, not everything can bring your store an advantage.
You still need to figure out what your store’s problem is at the moment and what your store badly needs, so you’ll be sure to only add products where you can get optimal benefit. It also helps you use your budget economically. When you’re just starting, if it isn’t a need yet, it is not a priority.
