Shopify App Stack: The Best Apps to Use in 2024 - Part 1

Apps are part of the backbone of successful Shopify stores, offering a range of functionalities that can enhance the customer experience, streamline operations, and boost sales.

With an ever-growing number of apps available, choosing the right ones can be daunting. This blog aims to guide you through the different types of apps, explaining their features, benefits, and best use cases. Our goal is to provide clear, concise, and supportive information to help you make informed decisions, ensuring you’re paying just for the worthy Shopify apps.

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Disclaimer

Less is more. It's essential to install only the apps that are crucial for your store's development. Overloading your store with unnecessary apps can lead to a cluttered backend and slow performance. We’ll present a lot of apps here - some of them in more detail than others - but it doesn’t mean you need to install all of them, or at least one of them from each category.

If you're unsure about which apps to choose, feel free to reach out to us for personalized advice.

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Sales Channels

Tier 1 - Social Media Apps

Google

‍The Google & YouTube app for Shopify allows merchants to easily connect their stores with Google Shopping, YouTube, and Google Search. So what does it mean?

• By integrating this app, you can automatically sync your product listings with Google Merchant Center, making your products available on Google Shopping and Search (that carousel of products you see when searching for something online). This visibility can significantly increase your store's traffic and sales.
• Additionally, integrating with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) ensures you track accurate data and understand customer behaviour on your site.
• We believe the Google channel is mandatory for everyone - maybe the only one from this list that must be part of everyone's store.

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Facebook & Instagram

‍The Facebook & Instagram app by Meta allows you to connect your Shopify store with two of the most powerful social media platforms for e-commerce. So what does it mean?

• With this integration, you can create shoppable posts, run targeted ads, and manage all your social media marketing from a single dashboard.
• The app offers promotional credits for new users, which can help you get started with advertising.
• If you sell or advertise on Facebook, there’s something called Facebook Pixel ID that has to be integrated with your Shopify store for better data and informed decisions. This app will help you integrate the Pixel ID more easily.
• As long as you advertise on Facebook and Instagram and you want to increase your reach and sales, install the app.

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TikTok

‍TikTok's app for Shopify enables merchants to tap into the platform's rapidly growing user base. So what does it mean?

• You can reach a younger, highly engaged audience through TikTok.
• If you connect your store, it will be easier for people to go from TikTok to your Shopify store.
• The app also provides promotional credits for new business accounts.
• Use TikTok’s unique ad formats, such as in-feed videos and hashtag challenges, to create viral content that drives traffic to your store. Ideal for brands looking to build a strong presence on TikTok and engage with a dynamic audience.

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Pinterest

‍The Pinterest app for Shopify allows you to integrate your store with Pinterest, turning your product images into shoppable pins. So what does it mean?

• Well, this can drive significant traffic to your store, as Pinterest users are often looking for inspiration and ready to make purchases.
• The app also provides robust analytics to track the performance of your pins.
• From our experience, brands in the home decor, fashion and more aesthetic industries like to have Pinterest as part of their Shopify tech stack.

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Tier 2 - Own Shopify apps for sales channels:

Shop App

‍The Shop App by Shopify (yes, their own app) acts as a marketplace where users can discover and purchase products from various Shopify stores. How do we translate this into benefits?

• Enhanced shopping experience by allowing customers to track their orders directly in the app.
• Advantageous for increasing product visibility.
• Personalized recommendations that can help you make more sales.
• This app is beneficial for merchants who want to increase their product visibility and tap into the community of Shop app users. It’s similar to how Amazon’s marketplace operates, providing an additional sales channel for your products.

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Point of Sale

‍Shopify POS (Point of Sale) is designed to integrate in-person sales with your online store. It syncs inventory and sales data between your physical locations and your Shopify store, providing a unified view of your business. So, what?

• If you’re operating both online and brick-and-mortar stores, this app is perfect for you.
• You can manage all sales channels in one place and have an overview of someone’s discounts, purchase history and basically everything you have inside the online store.
• Ensures more accurate inventory levels across all platforms.
• {WARNING} Shopify POS works almost in all countries. You can use Shopify POS worldwide, but your store needs to be based in a country where Shopify has supported credit card payment providers.
• This app is ideal for merchants who operate both online and brick-and-mortar stores, allowing for seamless management of both sales channels. It helps in streamlining operations and ensuring that inventory levels are accurate across all platforms.

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Search Feature Apps

Shopify Search & Discovery

‍The Shopify Search & Discovery app it’s a Shopify native app and WE LOVE IT!! This app allows you to customize search filters and recommendations, improving the overall shopping experience for your customers. So what does it mean?

• You can use metafields to filter products. Create a metafield, populate it with data and connect that metafield with the Search & Discovery app.
• The app uses dynamic recommendations and helps you match products better.
• Stores on Shopify and Advanced Plans can benefit from Semantic Search, which is the latest Shopify addition. Semantic Search uses AI to understand search queries better and provide more relevant results. How cool is that!
• Great for literally all stores that require filtering.

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Smart Product Filter & Search by GloboI

t’s worth having this app developed by Globo in our ranking. Why?

• Because it offers advanced search capabilities, including spell check, model/year search, and customizable filters.
• It’s particularly useful for stores with large inventories or niche products, such as automotive parts, where customers need precise search options.
• We like their Product Discovery feature, which is basically an AI technology that makes it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for quickly and efficiently.

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DooFinder

‍DooFinder is similar to the Globo app but includes additional features like voice search and cross-sell functionalities such as product carousels. This app enhances user experience by providing advanced search and recommendation capabilities, helping customers find products through voice commands or browsing related items. This is our second alternative for the native Shopify solution.

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Reviews Apps

Loox

Loox is a visually oriented-review app that focuses on photo and video reviews. It allows merchants to collect and display customer reviews with rich media, enhancing social proof and trust. Explained in simple terms?

• We believe that Loox is focusing on the visual aspect of the reviews and does a great job providing beautiful widget types.
• They offer a variety of customizable widgets to showcase reviews on any page you want (Product Page, Home Page, etc.) or sitewide. Or directly in the emails.
• Support multiple languages and currencies. Pay attention when translating your store for a specific market, the tools you use are very important and must be synced.
• We recommend Loox to industries that rely on visual appeal, such as Fashion and Beauty.

Example Use Case: A fashion retailer can use Loox to display photo reviews from customers, showcasing how real people wear and style their products. This can significantly boost conversion rates by providing authentic, visual proof of product quality and style.

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Judge Me

Judge Me is a comprehensive, cost-efficient review app that offers a wide range of features. What does it mean?

• First of all, Judge Me is by far the most cost-efficient app out there. If you’re new in the business and want to benefit from all sorts of features at a good price, go for Judge.
• The Customer Support is fast and responsive.
• They have extensive customization options. You can edit everything you want and include rich snippets for SEO.

Example Use Case: An electronics store can use Judge Me to gather detailed product reviews and ratings, including photos and videos, helping potential customers make informed purchasing decisions. The app's Q&A section can also address common customer queries, improving overall satisfaction and trust.

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Ali Reviews

Ali Reviews was launched with a focus on importing reviews from AliExpress, making it ideal for dropshipping businesses. Now it’s popular among all sorts of businesses and it’s very customizable. What do we like about this app?

• It has a very nice User Interface, probably better and more intuitive than its competitors.
• The development team behind AliReviews created a whole ecosystem of apps, which makes it great if you want to use it in combination with their Language Translation tool, for example. They follow Apple's example and we appreciate that.
• We like how they display the country and avatar of users.

Example Use Case: A dropshipping store selling garden products can use Ali Reviews to import and display reviews from AliExpress, providing immediate social proof and enhancing credibility. The store is expanding internationally and using the Ali Reviews ecosystem instead of other options available on the market (yes, there are other alternatives as well).

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Yotpo

Yotpo is a powerful review and marketing app that offers a range of features, including product reviews, visual marketing, loyalty programs, and referrals. What does it mean?

• It might be the richest app out there when it comes to features.
• It is similar to Loox, but this one is focusing on technical features more than the visual ones.
• We like their Analytics Dashboard more than their competitors.
• There are a lot of ways to collect reviews.
• They have an advanced Reviews widget, allowing people to add filters inside it.

Example Use Case: A high-end skincare brand can use Yotpo to collect detailed product reviews, leverage visual marketing by sharing customer photos on social media, and implement a loyalty program to reward repeat customers. They enable filters inside the Reviews widget and let people indicate how oily their skin is so the other users can get an idea if the product is good for their skin or not.

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Short Comparision:

Loox vs. Judge Me: Loox excels in visual reviews, making it perfect for visually-driven products, while Judge Me offers a broader range of features, including site reviews and Q&A sections, at a more affordable price.

Judge Me vs. Ali Reviews: Judge Me provides comprehensive review management suitable for various industries, whereas Ali Reviews is tailored for dropshipping businesses needing to import reviews from AliExpress.

Yotpo vs. Loox: Yotpo offers a more extensive suite of marketing tools beyond reviews, including loyalty and referral programs, making it ideal for larger businesses with complex marketing needs. Loox, on the other hand, focuses on enhancing visual appeal with photo and video reviews.

Yotpo vs. Judge Me: Yotpo's advanced marketing features and integrations justify its higher cost, catering to larger enterprises, while Judge Me offers a cost-effective solution with essential review functionalities suitable for smaller businesses or those with budget constraints.

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Checkout

Tier 1: Modify Checkout

BeSure Checkout Rules

BeSure Checkout Rules is an excellent app for making modifications to the checkout process without requiring Shopify Plus. It allows merchants to set up a variety of conditions and rules to customize the checkout experience. Is the only one we recommend at this moment for Checkout modifications. What exactly does it do and why do we like it?

• For instance, you can create rules to restrict shipping to certain regions, or based on tags.
• You can modify the name of payment providers and make it more friendly for a specific region.
• Their customer support is great.
• The number of conditions you can set up is huge. This flexibility ensures that merchants can tailor the checkout process to meet their unique business needs and improve customer satisfaction.

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Tier 2: Post Purchase

ReConvert

ReConvert is a powerful post-purchase upsell app that enables merchants to maximize revenue by offering additional products or discounts immediately after a purchase. So what does it mean?

• It has a drag-and-drop Thank You Page editor.
• Let you add pre-purchase gifts/ surprises/ promotions during the Checkout funnel.
• Multiple widget options such as order tracking and birthday collectors.
• Advanced segmentation to tailor offers based on customer behavior.
• Intuitive interface.

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AfterSell

AfterSell is a big name in the industry and as powerful as ReConvert in almost all cases. We also recommend this one and that’s because:

• The UI is even better with AfterSell.
• The ease of usage makes it perfect for anyone.
• Customer support is great.

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Landing Page Builders

PageFly Landing Page Builder & GemPages:

Both are versatile landing page builders that offer a large number of pre-designed templates and sections. They make it easy for any Shopify merchant to create custom landing pages for promotions or special events. How?

• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor
• Access to more technical options for coders and experts
• Responsiveness feature - you can customize blocks and sections based on the device
• Integrates well with other popular apps.

I must admit that we’re not huge fans of landing page builders in general. We advise you to use these apps if you run specific promotions or seasonal campaigns and you need a different page that doesn’t require much technical work to be created. Otherwise, for regular use, it might be better to incorporate necessary templates directly into your theme.

In other words, these apps are ideal for merchants who need to launch multiple campaigns quickly and efficiently. It's best used for specific marketing efforts rather than as a permanent fixture in your store’s design.

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Navigating the Shopify apps ecosystemcan be overwhelming, but with the right guidance, you can build a tech stack that enhances your store's performance and customer experience. We've covered some of the essential apps to consider, each offering unique features to help you grow your business.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll explore even more tools to optimize your Shopify store. If you need personalized assistance or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're here to help you succeed.