Launching a new Shopify store doesn’t have to be intimidating. Why? Because Shopify is an easy-to-use platform that allows you to set up your own online store – from the comfort of your home.
Starting an online store is one thing, but having a successful online store is another. From gaining and growing customers to marketing and advertising your store, quite a few factors go into supporting your business.
But you don’t have to do it alone. There are 6 apps you absolutely need if you’re looking to launch a new Shopify store, and they’ll ensure your store is set up for success.
Our criteria for choosing the best apps to launch a store
When choosing the best apps to launch a successful Shopify store, there are a few criteria we look out for – and you should, too.
One thing to note is that no app is guaranteed to make your store successful. To build a successful store, there are countless factors to consider, like messaging, pricing, marketing channels, audience, and much more.
Ease of launch
First is the ease of launch. Any app you want to install to improve your Shopify experience should be user-friendly. The best apps are simple from the moment you sign up. An app can’t help you with your Shopify store if you can’t figure out how to work it.
Price
Next up is the price. Not all affordable apps need to be free, but we are not opposed to saving some money when looking into choosing the best apps. And let’s be honest – you’re opening up a Shopify store to make money, so we don’t necessarily want to break the bank on expensive apps yet.
Features
The amount of features an app has is important, too. Simple apps have their time and place, but apps that include useful features relevant to your intentions are where it’s at. When opening a Shopify store, there are certain features an app needs to have to help you out.
Integrations
App integrations allow all of your working parts to work together – rather than switching between Shopify, and other apps, a truly functional app will allow you to have a single user interface. This way, you can maintain and manage all of your work without repetition. Your business and work will be more automated, and you can perform more efficiently.
Customer support
Let’s not ignore the importance of good customer service and support. When an app isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, you need to be able to reach out to customer support for assistance. If an app’s customer support isn’t helpful, then it’s not an app that will be helpful to you.
Potential to scale
Apps may seem like small parts of the puzzle, and that’s why their potential to scale is so vital to look into – just how much can an app support you and your Shopify store? Just because something starts small doesn’t mean it needs to – or should – stay small. The best apps help you grow.
Shopify
Shopify is an incredibly user-friendly eCommerce platform. It’s great for beginners because it has a super-simple interface. If you want to start your own business, Shopify allows you to grow and manage your business with free-to-use templates as you create your online store. Whether launching a beauty store or a sportswear store, Shopify has you covered.
Why we recommend launching a store on Shopify
The simplicity of starting a store on Shopify saves you time, which in turn saves you money. By eliminating many factors that can lead to stress and frustration in the shop launching process, Shopify helps you get your store up and running faster.
Pricing
Shopify has extremely low startup costs. After completing a free trial, you can choose from a Basic plan at $29 per month, a regular Shopify plan at $79 per month, or an Advanced plan at $299 per month. With its free website designs and customizable templates, Shopify makes it easy to launch and grow your store, taking care of everything in between while also being a safe and efficient platform.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is the #1 email marketing app for Shopify stores for a good reason. Klaviyo allows you to integrate data from other marketing tools, which allows it to gather data on your audience – with this insight, Klaviyo can personalize email and SMS and help you discover new possibilities when it comes to growing your store.
How Klaviyo helps grow your store
Klaviyo is a customer growth platform that is essential to not only gaining customers but also retaining customers. By automating both email and SMS marketing, it allows you to focus on other aspects of your business while it handles marketing communications.
Pricing
Klaviyo allows you to enter the number of email or SMS contacts you have to calculate fees ahead of time. Their user-friendly pricing tool is convenient and transparent, allowing you to explore your options.
Privy
Privy is key to selling more in your online store, focusing on capturing and converting visitors – it helps you grow your email list and improve site conversions, so potential customers who visit your site are more likely to sign up for more and visit again at a later date.
How Privy helps grow your store
From building out your email list to saving visitors’ abandoned carts and sending “money-making emails & texts,” Privy is an all-in-one tool to grow your Shopify store’s sales. Privy focuses on capturing visitors’ email addresses to drive instant ROI for your online brand, primarily through turning passive browsers into subscribers through content that converts.
Pricing
Privy has a 15-day free trial and competitive pricing. Privy Free costs $0 per month and has quite a few features, with a Starter plan at only $15 per month and a Growth plan at $45 per month. Privy’s plans are designed to grow as your company grows, with each plan featuring more mailable contacts.
Okendo
Okendo helps generate more positive customer reviews, leading to more shoppers converting. It is also built exclusively for Shopify and has been recognized by Shopify for its ability to grow stores.
How Okendo helps grow your store
Okendo is all about customer reviews. When you use Okendo, your customer reviews will support your business by ensuring shoppers trust you and are excited about purchasing your products, showcasing experiences from customers that get folks to click.
Pricing
With a 14 day free trial and an Essential plan that is only $29 per month, Okendo also offers many other options when it comes to price. Their Growth plan is $99 per month, the Power plan is $299 per month, and the Advanced plan is $499 per month. They also have an Enterprise plan that can be customized!
Gorgias
Gorgias is an all-in-one helpdesk that transforms your customer service into profit. By displaying all of your customers’ data in one place while you’re talking to them, you can edit orders and complete other tasks without leaving your helpdesk. It can be easily integrated into Shopify, as well!
How Gorgias helps grow your store
Gorgias allows you to personalize your shoppers’ experiences. It can help increase conversion rates, enhance engagement with customers, and generate sales via support agents over text messages, social media responses, and live chat conversations on your website. It brings everything together so you can focus more on your business, rather than worrying if you are missing anything over multiple areas.
Pricing
Gorgias offers four plan options, starting at Basic for $50 per month. The Pro plan is $250 per month, followed by an Advanced plan at $625 per month. They also offer an Enterprise plan that can be customized.
Postscript
Postscript is SMS marketing specialized for Shopify stores. By creating hyper-segmented campaigns, Postscript promises to make your customers happy. Most of your customers use SMS, and Postscript lets you leverage automation and integrations designed to help make more sales and build relationships with customers.
How Postscript helps grow your store
Postscript includes many tools that allow you to build and grow your subscriber list for text message marketing – it collects subscribers at your store’s checkout, website pages, through pop-ups, and more while also automating your text message marketing in general. It personalizes text messages to subscribers, whether that’s following up on purchases or abandoned shopping carts. Bonus: it adds fun GIFs and photos, too!
Pricing
Postscript offers a free trial and flexible pricing that is adjustable based on how many messages are sent per month. Check out their pricing, where you can enter how many messages per month you’d like to send for a total cost per message and month.
Sezzle
Sometimes your customers need a little bit of extra time to pay, and that’s where Sezzle comes in. They empower your customers by allowing them to make four interest-free payments over six weeks rather than all at once.
How Sezzle helps grow your store
By utilizing Sezzle’s “buy now, pay later” option, customers are more likely to become buyers – and guess what? You make more sales! Sezzle encourages new customers to make purchases, and splitting up payments leads to larger orders. The best part is that you get paid in full immediately – Sezzle handles the rest.
Pricing
As per Sezzle’s Merchant Agreement, “Sezzle’s payment processing fee is 6% plus 30¢ per transaction.” You can read more about it here.
Rebuy Engine
Rebuy Engine is all about revenue generation. By utilizing data gained by customers, Rebuy provides personalized upsell and cross sell opportunities throughout your site. If you are looking to make more money and raise your AOV this is a tool to add to your store.
How Rebuy Engine helps grow your store
By using data gained by your customers and website, Rebuy Engine guides your customers into performing actions that generate more revenue – whether that’s enhancing product discovery or increasing the average value of orders.
Rebuy Engine makes it easy for you – it has “ready-to-deploy merchandising solutions” at your disposal, all ready to add value and revenue to your business within minutes. It’s also easily customizable, so you can make it fit your company’s unique needs.
Pricing
With a 21-day free trial and a free Starter plan, Rebuy Engine offers two additional plans: a Professional plan at $4.49 per month + $0.09 per order and an Enterprise plan at $949 per month.
Conclusion
Shopify is a great way to start your own business by creating an online store, and there are multiple apps out there to help you out on your journey. Whether it’s converting visitors into customers or building up your subscriber lists, the options are endless, often easy to use, and affordable. We hope this list helped you on your Shopify store journey!