March 2016 Edition: Top Shopify Apps March 22, 2016 19:00
Every quarter, we list highly rated apps that allow you to beef up the features in your Shopify store. In this edition of top Shopify apps, we list free apps that allow you to take pre-orders for out-of-stock products, get better analytics for your store data, enable loyalty points to reward customers, implement live Facebook chat for customer support, and automate thank you emails for a personalized touch.
Top Shopify Apps: Pre-Order Manager
Price: Free
If you are launching a new product in the future, or want to take orders for out-of-stock products, the Pre-Order Manager app can help you do just that. The app enables the regular purchase process for products on your store that are not in stock.
Pre-orders can be a great way to retain customers as they are not turned away with a generic “out of stock” message. In addition, you can generate orders for new products before you’re ready to process them.
Set up pre-orders for individual products
The app allows you to create store-wide settings that are applied to all products, or settings for individual products.
You can:
- configure how the “pre-order” button appears and the text that is displayed.
- limit the quantity of pre-orders so that you only sell the amount you can fulfill.
- start taking pre-orders on a future date.
- keep track of statistics related to the pre-orders to see what works best for your store.
See how the app works in this demo store.
Top Shopify Apps: Compass
Price: Free
The Compass app integrates with your Shopify store to give you better eCommerce analytics for free. The app connects your store’s Google Analytics data with data from marketing and sales channels. You can not only see and chart data within your store, the app also benchmarks your store’s data with stores in the same industry.
Example report in Compass (Source)
To set up the app for your store, simply “Get” it from the App Store and create an account for Compass. You can then connect integrations and finish set-up by:
- Connecting Google Analytics
- Connecting transactional and marketing data from Shopify, PayPal, Stripe, Facebook, and Amazon seller and vendor centrals
- Specifying your industry
The app allows you to compare eCommerce data from different sources and marketing channels, and get automated reports on more than 30 metrics.
Take a look at the quick video by Compass about the app:
Top Shopify Apps: Sweet Tooth Loyalty Reward Points
Price: Free to start
The Sweet Tooth Loyalty Reward Points app allows your customers to earn points through different actions like sharing your store on social platforms, registering for your store, referral purchases, and more. Customers can redeem those points for rewards like dollar-value or percentage discounts on your store.
Customers can earn points through various actions (Source)
By rewarding your customers, you can build loyalty and repeat purchases which help grow your store. You also incentivize customers to share your products and store with their friends and followers. This can ultimately build more sales through referrals.
The app is free to start with limited number of rewards and a 500 member limit. You can upgrade to the next tier for $59 per month that gives you access to all the features and a member limit of 2,000.
Below is a quick promotional video of the app:
Take a look at the demo store to see the app in action.
Top Shopify Apps: Quick Facebook Live Chat
Price: Free
The Quick Facebook Live Chat app lets you add a live chat button to your store that connects customers to your Facebook page’s message service through Facebook Messenger.
Live chat can be a great way to quickly answer customer concerns and questions as customers don’t have to fill out a contact form or pick up the phone to call your support. A live chat can provide an answer right away rather than waiting for an email reply so that customers can continue their shopping.
Create a live chat through Facebook on your store (Source)
If you provide phone support for your store, the live chat can be a great way to train new support staff on customer interactions.
Take a look at the demo store to see the app in action.
Top Shopify Apps: Happy Email
Price: Free
If you haven’t used an email marketing platform to automate emails yet, the Happy Email is a great way to foray into automating your emails. The app lets you create an automated email to new customers that is sent 30 minutes after they make their purchase. The delay ensures that the email is not lost
Automate thank you emails (Source)
You can track how many emails have been sent from your store and how many have been opened. You can use this information to customize and edit the email message to one that gets the most opens. By signing the email yourself, you can create a more personalized experience for your customers.
If you don’t feel like writing your own email, the app automatically creates email content based on your store information.
Check out these free Shopify apps
Use these apps to manage pre-orders for out-of-stock or new products, compare your store analytics with peers, build loyalty through reward points, live chat with customers through Facebook, and send thank-you emails to customers after they purchase your products.
Our last edition of top Shopify apps included apps that improve your store’s SEO, better the user experience, and help create a quick view of products.
Have you used other free apps to add features for your store? Tell us about them in the comments below.
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