A good Shopify store needs more than a nice theme. The apps you add decide how easily visitors find you, trust you and finish checking out. Shopify calls them apps; many store owners still call them plugins. Either way, the right five can lift sales without a redesign.
This guide covers the five types of apps that move revenue for most stores, what to look for in each, and how to avoid slowing your store down.
Shoppers trust other shoppers. Reviews answer the questions your product page cannot: does it fit, does it last, does it look like the photos? Stores that show reviews usually convert more visitors, and review content also adds fresh, keyword-rich text to product pages.
What to look for:
Most people who add something to their cart do not buy on the first visit. An abandoned cart sequence reminds them, answers objections and brings a share of them back. It is often the highest-return automation a store can set up.
Start with three emails:
Once that works, add a welcome series for new subscribers and a post-purchase email that asks for a review.
Raising your average order value is often easier than finding new customers. Upsell apps suggest a better version of a product; cross-sell apps suggest something that goes with it.
Tip: Keep offers relevant and limited to one or two at a time. Too many pop-ups feel pushy and can lower conversions.
Shopify handles a lot of technical SEO for you, but most stores still have gaps: missing image alt text, duplicate titles, broken links after products are removed. An SEO app finds these problems and helps you fix them in bulk.
Useful features include bulk editing of meta titles and descriptions, alt text suggestions, broken-link monitoring with automatic redirects, and structured data for products. For a deeper look, read our Shopify SEO tips.
A mention in a well-known publication brings visitors, backlinks and trust at the same time. Journalists are busy, though. If they cannot quickly find your story, logo and product photos, they move on to the next brand.
A newsroom on your own store solves that. Publish each announcement as a press release with its own page on your domain, so you can send journalists a direct link. Our GISL Press Kit app adds one to your Shopify store: you write releases in the Shopify admin and place them on any page with the theme editor, with no theme code.
Every app adds code. Too many apps, or poorly built ones, make pages load slower, and slow pages lose sales. Before you install anything:
You do not need all five at once. If you have traffic but few sales, start with reviews. If people add to cart but leave, start with abandoned cart emails. If too few people find you, start with SEO and press coverage. Measure for a few weeks, then add the next one.
Questions about choosing or setting up an app? Our team is happy to help.
