Shopify Apps: The Best Tools for Creating, Developing, and Expanding Your Store
The Shopify ecosystem has over 7,000 different apps that can help not only in creating a store, creating certain functionality, but also in optimizing business processes.
On average, each store has about 6 apps, although many active stores use much more in stores.
When developing Shopify stores we have to come across a wide variety of apps - from the most necessary to complex solutions that help integrate with external systems.
Today I want to share with you 5 apps that will help you create a better store and grow your business.
Search and filter: Product Filter & Search
Application: Product Filter & Search by Boost Commerce
Demo: link
If you have a large catalog your products have to be found easily. A good navigation structure will help here. Also filtering and intuitive search are a must.
We use this app a lot because it can filter products very quickly based on many attributes, including: type, price, variants, or any other attributes. You can create any attribute using Shopify Tags or Metafield parameters and display them in the filter.
Also the app has an intuitive search integration which allows you to set various synonyms, assign ratings to products or highlight certain collections in the search.
And one more very important thing - this application gives you the opportunity to see statistics and requests that did not give results. This way you will be able to get to know your visitors better and understand what they are looking for. So you will be able to adapt and adjust offers according to the requests you receive.
Free Shipping Bar: Free Shipping Bar
Application: Free Shipping Bar by Hextom
Demo: link
This minimalistic bar has a lot of potential: based on the size of the cart it will automatically calculate how much the customer have left untill free shipping. Thus encouraging them to buy more.
The application allows you to easily determine the style of the bar and the placement of the display in the store. We often use the geolocation function which allows us to display different messages depending on the country the visitor is coming from.
Of course, you can advertise not only free shipping but also some kind of promotion or gift after reaching a certain amount.
Merging products via colors: Shopify Variants Options, Color Swatch
Application: Variants Options, Color Swatch by StarApps Studio
Demo: link
This application will work for those who have similar items that differ slightly, e.g. colors. You will be able to easily group similar products and display thumbnails (variants) in them that will lead to the next product directly from the product page.
This will shorten the user journey and improve product findability. There will be no need to go back to reach the desired item, the visitor will be able to get to a specific item that he might not have found normally, especially if there are a lot of items.
At the same time, it is possible to hide / cross out the missing sizes on the product card and on the collection page it is possible to display squares on each product card.
For feedback generation: Stamped Product Reviews & UGC
Application: Stamped Product Reviews & UGC by Stamped.io
Demo: link
Perhaps the most important thing you can install is the feedback app. There are a variety of them so you will definitely be able to find one that suits you.
The advice is to install such a solution as early as possible because in a few months you can generate quite a lot of feedback. The most convenient function of these apps is automatic letters to buyers with a request to leave feedback.
The application will allow you to determine how many days after the order such letters must be sent, and at the same time you will be able to offer additional products or a discount coupon for the feedback left. This is a great way to re-reach loyal customers. As you know, it is much easier to sell to an existing customer than to attract a new one.
We find that reviews add social proof to your store while helping to boost your SEO. And an additional discount will encourage buyers to return, so you can generate additional sales just from such an automated feedback campaign.
Additional sales channel - Shopify buy buttons: Buy Button channel by Shopify
Application: Buy Button channel by Shopify
Finally, one of the less used but really valuable development tools is Shopify Buy Button. You can add it for free as one of the sales channels in your Shopify store. With the help of the tool, you can easily create purchase buttons or even collections for hosting on any other website - for example, Wordpress.
Let's say you want to have a separate representative page for one of your brands or another product line. Of course, visitors will also want a convenient opportunity to purchase goods but at the same time you don't want to create and administer a separate store?
With Shopify Buy Buttons you don't need a separate store. You can easily add Shopify products to any other page. At the same time it will also introduce a secure purchasing option and all orders will flow into your main Shopify store and you will manage them all from a single Shopify administrative environment.
A few more tips at the end - what should you pay attention to?
Time is money. Apps sometimes cost money but in many cases, especially with repetitive tasks, the tools save a lot of hours that you can spend on business development. Just like any investment apps can help generate a lot of additional sales for a small price.
Quick action. Applications that provide a certain function in the store from the visitor's side usually have some influence on the loading speed. So it's worth thinking - is it really necessary to have another app? This applies not only to apps but also to the entire page - I often notice that functionality and user experience are sacrificed for the sake of beauty which is the most important thing.
Meanwhile, applications that help you manage work and processes from the inside (administrative side) do not affect the loading speed of the site but will definitely help you save time.
When should you use the app and when should you program the required function? Not all apps are worth using, and there are definitely apps that aren't worth paying for. Especially when there is an expert who can program the desired function or solution.
So I want to wish everyone that you find your toolkit that will save you time. And have your very own Shopify expert you can always turn to!
