Statista, a global business data platform, projects that 2019 will see 1.92 billion digital buyers worldwide. For perspective, those buyers are estimated to make up 13.7% percent of retail sales globally. All of this is to say that online shopping is booming. As technology evolves becoming slicker by the day, consumers are relying more on digital purchasing experiences to get the things they want and need. In turn, that demand creates significant opportunity for e-commerce businesses and for traditional retailers to pursue direct to consumer models.
We help businesses establish and refine their e-commerce experiences every day and we almost always recommend our clients look no further than Shopify to get started. It’s rare that the comprehensive features and extensive app network don’t meet our clients, however it’s important to note that every good Shopify site needs applications to perfect its experience. Here are our picks for the five apps in the Shopify app store every e-commerce site should use:
Product Reviews by Shopify
It doesn’t take a lot of research to learn that product reviews are extremely important. The Spiegel Research Center claims that 95% of online shoppers read product reviews. They also claim that businesses that display product reviews can see up to a 270% conversion rate. The Content Marketing Institute states that reviews are one of the three most influential factors in an online shopper’s purchase decision. Shall we continue? Now that we understand how important reviews are, we can move on to the fact that the Product Reviews app by Shopify is simple, looks great and can help bolster your SEO ranking.
Swell Loyalty & Rewards
Who doesn’t like rewards? They’re hard to argue against, right? So why wouldn’t you want to offer your customers incentives to both purchase more AND refer you business? Swell gives you the flexibility to create seamless rewards experiences for your consumers and integrates well with a lot of popular applications like Klaviyo, ReCharge and MailChimp.
PushOwl
Push notifications are often times under utilized, especially when you consider how easy it is for a business’ communications via email or social media to be ignored. PushOwl offers a fresh medium for communicating with customers in a personalized and instant way through browser push notifications. Recover sales on abandon carts, run flash sales and implement automation and PushOwl can prove an extremely effective marketing tool for your business.
User Gems
In the age of big data and influencer driven marketing, it only makes sense that an application that combines those two concepts can serve as useful business tool. User Gems integrates directly with your Shopify store and monitors purchaser data to identify AND notify you when influencers, journalist, bloggers, or celebrities purchase your product.
Kit
While we’re always in favor of employee digital marketing experts (Shameless plug—start a project with us!) we understand that many scrappy startups and small businesses don’t always have the budget to hire a team. Kit is an AI marketing software that communicates through instant messaging to assist you in marketing your Shopify store. Covering everything from Facebook and Instagram ads, to email marketing, Kit is an entrepreneur’s dream service.
