As of 2021, Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms on the planet and with an almost 20% share of the market it is second to only WooCommerce and outsizes other competitors such as Wix, Magento and Weebly. The enormous and growing library of Shopify Apps are a fantastic resource for any Shopify store owner but it can be hard to know where to start.
Over the last few years, the platform has undergone tremendous growth as more and more businesses opt to join. This is a trend we have seen first hand with many of our clients and it’s easy to see why. There’s lots to like about Shopify and one of the cornerstones of it’s rise to e-commerce ascendency is it’s ‘ease of use’ factor. Adding and setting up products, pages and the online store itself is made simple and intuitive. Beyond the online store itself and your chosen store Theme there is a vast array of functionality you can add to your website if you choose to do so. Rather like with plugins and apps on other platforms, there are some great and some not so good apps. Some require a subscription while others don’t. Here are 5 of our favourite free Shopify apps in 2021:
Judge.me Product Reviews
Reviews are consistently cited as one of the leading conversion factors in any online transaction. There will be a few customers who already know whether they will or won’t buy however, the majority of visitors will find themselves in the indecision void before making the purchase. Having positive product reviews can be an absolute gamechanger for your conversion rate. Many of Shopify’s themes will allow you to add testimonials on your homepage manually but the Judge.me app goes one step further and allows visitors to leave star ratings and detailed reviews directly on the product page. The review styling is great and the review management system allows you to choose which feedback to show and which to hide which gives you a bit more peace of mind than many apps.
Download Judge.me Product Reviews
Replay Live
There are lots of changes you can make to try and improve your conversion rate such as adding product reviews but sometimes even after extensive user testing and optimisation tweaks it can be hard to know exactly how visitors are navigating through your website and where you might be losing those conversions. Heatmaps and live recordings can take your analysis a step further than Google Analytics. Replay Live is one of a few free apps on Shopify that will allow to take live anonymised recordings of visitors using your website. By anonymising all sensitive data the app is GDPR friendly and can give you a fantastic insight into exactly how your website is being used and how you can improve visitor experiences and conversion rates.
Booster: Back In Stock Alerts
If you are a smaller business or perhaps have a catalog of more exclusive items it can be maddening to see that users have been browsing your website or even specific product page and have been unable to make the purchase/conversion because the product was out of stock at that particular time. The Booster Back in Stock Alerts app is a fantastic tool that will help stop those potential customers going to a competitor and bring them right back to your website when the item comes back into stock. Once again, it’s completely free!
Download Booster: Back In Stock Alerts
Translation Lab
If you’re wanting to offer multiple languages on your website it can sometimes appear expensive and tricky to implement. Translation Lab makes it easy to access both the template Theme phrases that will need to be translated and your custom content (products, pages etc.) that will also need translation. It’s simple to navigate through each piece of content for translation and add the appropriate phrasing/changes before publishing for free. Translation Lab will also offer you the option of having the content automatically translated via it’s database however this is a paid service.
Tawk.to
Adding a chat widget to your website is a brilliant way to increase your enquiries. The widget gives visitors to the chance to get in touch quickly and easily from any page on your site. One of the best things about this app is that you can tailor it to your convenience. If there is always someone on hand to monitor the website, using the full live chat feature allows customers to get in touch directly and enter into a dialogue with you. Alternatively, the contact submission form will allow them to send through an enquiry to your email address but retains the advantage of being accessible on all pages as other forms are not. You can style the website widget to match your branding and also schedule it to match your availability and of course, it’s free!
If you would like to discuss all how we can help you or your business please just get in touch today.
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