Choosing the right apps for your Shopify store
April 20, 2021
by David Miles

You may have seen our previous post about the Best Plugins for WordPress, but for those of you who use Shopify, we’ve created a guide to help you choose the best apps for your Shopify store. It’s important to note, however, that the apps we’ve brought to your attention in our checklist are just one of the thousands like them. Finding the perfect version of these apps is down to you: The first step to installing the best apps for Shopify is to understand your customer; their experience on your store and their ultimate needs.

How to choose the right apps for your Shopify store

Check online reviews — Similar to how your customers look for reviews about your product, make sure to check the reviews of each app you’re interested in to see what other store owners are saying. You might find others are noticing glitches or restrictions and can recommend a better version.

Cross compare a few articles — Every E-Commerce blogging site (just like us) will have their own version of ‘the best Shopify apps’ article. But don’t take it for the gospel. The best way to get a general overview is to cross-reference several articles to find which apps are referenced time and time again.

Think about your customer — Is your customer demographic young or old? What sorts of things are uniquely important to your audience? What is your customer looking for? Have your customers mentioned in their reviews something that your site is missing? By listening to your customers, understanding how they navigate their way around your website, and figuring out what else you can offer, the path to find the best apps will become a lot clearer.

Don’t be woo’ed by freebies — Hey, it’s great if you can find a free app to do what you need, however, don’t be put off by the apps that cost. You might find the free versions are pretty restrictive and later on down the line you’ll have to sign up for a subscription anyway. Make sure to check out what is available in the free versions of an app and what extra is available for the paid option.

With these things in mind, it’s time to get browsing. We’ve taken a look at a few articles online and cross-referenced them (though we would recommend you do your own research too). Each app below solves a common problem all store owners experience.

Yotpo— The One for Reviews

Over half of online shoppers look at reviews of a product before deciding to purchase it. Installing a review app to your Shopify account, which allows customers to share reviews directly under the product they’ve bought, will not only give your customers the information they’re looking for but also stop them from leaving your site to compare competitors. If a customer can see a great range of reviews on your site, it’s more likely they’ll seal the deal with a purchase.

ReturnGO — The One for Returns

ReturnGo can be integrated into your Shopify store to automate the solving of returns. The system asks the customer a series of questions to understand their needs and reason for return and calculates a sum of store credits to offer them instead. The app’s aim is to have customers cancel returns and transform them into repeat customers by offering them credits to keep their items. ReturnGO is a great way to save money on restocking and fulfillment.

Benchmark Hero — The One for SEO

This app will be a lifesaver when it comes to getting traffic to your website. While writing product descriptions that you think are right is a good start, Benchmark Hero will provide you with an SEO audit of your website in live time. That way, you can see where you’re going wrong and what needs to be improved. Having this app installed is useful as it means you no longer have to search the web for a similar tool every time you want to do an audit.

Upsell and Cross-Sell Products — The One for Increasing Basket Value

Sure, it’s not got the catchiest name, but this app can help secure more value in each customer. Say a visitor to your online store has reached your site from a link on Google, directly to the product they’re looking for: The customer hasn’t seen anything else you have on offer and might proceed to the checkout without even looking around. Upsell and Cross-Sell Products allow you to showcase other similar and relevant products under your product page in a ‘you may also like’ format. That way, the customer can see accessories or add-ons that they also might be tempted by.

Tidio Live Chat — The One For Telephone Phobias

As the world becomes ever-so-obsessed with messaging apps, many would rather find a store that allows them to contact customer service without having to call. This is why you’ve probably noticed that most sites are moving towards live chat boxes on their website or on social media. Tidio Live Chat allows you to create up to 100 scenarios in which the customer can be offered an automated message then and there. No more looking around for FAQs, waiting for email replies, or picking up the dreaded phone.

Conclusion

And there you have it. A quick guide to choosing the best apps for your Shopify store. There are so many more apps to discuss from abandoned cart recovery, built-in marketing apps and things to help you create a loyalty scheme for your customers. But with every store and customer being different, you know better than anyone what your store is missing. And with one of the biggest plug-in/app stores for E-Commerce out there, you’re bound to find the perfect tool for you.

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