The Best Free (and Almost Free) Shopify Apps

Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms for online retailers. It’s easy to use and fully ready to go as soon as you build your store.

While Shopify includes everything you need to set up your store and get up and running, there are many free and inexpensive apps that you can use to enhance it. These Shopify seller apps will not only make managing your business operations easier, but they’ll also improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and help you grow your business. We’ve put together a list of the top seven Shopify seller apps that you should be using with your Shopify store.

 

Google Shopping

With this app, you are able to automatically sync your Shopify store with Google Merchant Center. That means that when customers do a Google search for an item you sell, your product will show up when the “Shop on Google” option is selected from the search results screen.

The added visibility of your products will increase your sales. You can choose to sync all of your items or selected ones directly from your Shopify Admin page.

Cost: Google Shopping is a free app.

 

Facebook Shop

Facebook Shop allows you to showcase your products right on your Facebook page. Much like Google Shopping, when you add products to your Shopify store, you are able to choose to have them automatically uploaded to sell directly on Facebook. Your customers never have to leave Facebook to make a purchase, and they can leave comments and share your products just like any other post.

No matter what type of products you are selling, Facebook should be a key marketing platform. Set up is easy, done right on your Shopify system and any sales and inventory are managed on Shopify.

Cost: Facebook Shop is a free app.

 

Plug-In SEO

Help potential customers find your products with this app. Plug-in SEO allows store owners – even those with little or no SEO knowledge – to take full advantage of the benefits that search engine optimization provides users. The app will help you know what you need to change on your store’s website and make recommendations for what you should add. It also gives you valuable information about any problems your site has SEO-wise, and whether they are worth spending your time and money on. Plug-in SEO is easy to install and the app will automatically run checks and give you recommendations immediately.

Cost: Plug-in SEO is free for the basic plan with paid upgrades starting at $20.00 per month.

 

Social Login

Social Login is an app that is beneficial to you and your customers. It allows you to gather important customer information, and it allows your customers to avoid registering their information into your website, instead allowing them to use one of their social media accounts to login.

Social Login integrates easily with the following social networks:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Google +
• LinkedIn
• Amazon
• com
• Outlook
• Yahoo

You can enable automatic installation of the social login buttons, or you can manually place them where you want them. Everything is manageable from the social login admin panel.

Cost: Social Login is $0.99 per month and you can take advantage of a 15-day free trial.

 

AfterShip

This popular Shopify app will help you manage your shipping and delivery. You can place all of your shipments in one place, send your customers delivery updates, and allow your customers (and you) to track packages with a few clicks of the mouse.

AfterShip supports all major delivery carriers including, USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and over 350 others. Cut down on the number of emails with shipping questions from customers and ensure their satisfaction.

Cost: AfterShip is a free app.

 

Abandonment Protector Plus

Ecommerce business owners will agree that one of the biggest problems they face is shopping cart abandonment. This app will help you lower your abandonment rate by automatically emailing customers who leave merchandise in their shopping cart without making a purchase.

Abandonment Protector Plus also allows you to send emails with new offers for customers who completed sales, thank you emails when they make a purchase, and emails that introduce your social media accounts.

Cost: Abandonment Protector Plus is $8.00 per month for up to 3,000 emails, and you can take advantage of a 21-day free trial.

 

Yotpo

Yotpo makes the process of posting customer reviews easy for both you and your buyer. Voted as one of the top free apps on Shopify, Yotpo generates an email to be sent to shoppers after a set amount of time has passed (you dictate how much time until the email is sent). Customers can leave a review in their email, which then automatically populates on your Shopify site. It’s hands-off for you, and simple to do for them. Yotpo users receive reviews on 6-10% of their orders. Install takes only 5 minutes.

Cost: Yotpo offers a great basic plan for free with a premium option available, if needed.

 

Kudobuzz

Kudobuzz is a review generating app for an online shop as well. Where it differs from others like Yotpo is it’s ability to generate reviews that you’ve accumulated via social media sites. Kudobuzz imports reviews from your social channels, and filters them based on which they suggest to post. You can select which reviews you’d like to have in your widget basket for display, and can even import handwritten reviews and notes to publish through the app.

Cost: Kudobuzz offers a free plan with the premium accounts starting at $8 a month.

 

Product Reviews

The Product Reviews app (formerly known as Grapevine Reviews) allows customers to easily leave reviews on your site that you can either approve or deny before they go live. It’s SEO friendly, so  your reviews can populate in a google search, and its customizable and easy to use. It has a flexible and adaptive design that matches you current theme for a cohesive look. (I’m sure none of you will get a review like the first one listed, but at least you know you can delete it).

Cost: Product Reviews is completely free!

 

Improved Contact Form

This app instantly installs a “contact us” page and popup for your shop. It makes communication between you and the customer easier from both ends – the popup makes it easy for them to find, and you as the seller receive a detailed page of their question, how many times they’ve visited your site before, and how they found your site. Chose what information you want customers to fill out in the form (name, email address, etc), and have the contact sent directly to your inbox. Plus, there’s built in anti-spam protection.

Cost: Improved Contact Form offers a free plan with the premium plans starting at $12 a month.

 

Conclusion

Shopify has so many apps, including our Shopify inventory app, you need a whole day just to peruse them. The Shopify seller apps listed above are the seven that we think you can’t live without, but you will likely find many more that save you time and increase your sales.

Got any favorites? Let us know about them in the comments!