It’s no secret that online shoppers can be hard to wrangle. Since Microsoft published a 2015 study revealing an 8-second human attention span (down from 12 in 2000), researchers* have gone back and forth on how online activity affects our brains. Declining attention span or not, one thing is for certain: online consumers can afford to be picky because the Internet offers so many options (like, so many. Some argue too many, but that’s a discussion for another time).
There are currently over 600,000 stores on Shopify. That’s 600,000 other places for your customers to spend money, not including other e-commerce giants like Amazon. Think of it this way: you’re selling apparel with a surfing dog on the front (just go with it) from your T-shirt drop shipping company, and if a customer feels like your site is lacking, there are literally thousands of other places they can buy a dog shirt.
So, whether you’re offering T-shirt fulfilment services, bonsai trees or dolls made from pocket lint, you need to find ways to attract, captivate and keep customers. How? Good question. Shopify apps are here to save the day. Here are 15 apps from the Shopify store that will bring in new customers and increase your conversions.
* Sources
The myth of the 8-second attention span
Attention Spans – Consumer Insights, Microsoft Canada
Ultimate Boost Sales
Free – £22.71/month
I’m one of those consumers that shops around to a fault, looking at every single option over and over, ultimately postponing my purchase. Light a fire under customers like me with this app, which lets you add any kind of promotion you can think of. Countdown timers, BOGO options, message labels, “get it by” timers, low stock warnings and a bunch more are there for the taking.
Infinite Options
Free
How can you turn a single product into an entire spectrum of them? By giving your customers choices. If your T-shirt fulfilment company offers one design, let your customer choose between eight different colours, three different materials, short sleeve or long sleeve and boom! Now you have 48 shirt options. Plus, everyone loves to feel like they’re getting something personalized. Infinite Options lets you create custom option fields for just about anything.
Kit
Free to install
Your hand-woven sunhats might be incredible days at the beach, but if nobody knows about them, nobody can experience their superior shading. Kit takes care of digital marketing for you, so you can stick to what you do best: making sunhats. Dynamic social media ads, engaging emails, promotions and analytics – Kit gives you the full gambit of digital marketing components and strategies.
Yotpo
Free to Install
Yotpo lets other customers do your promotion for you. It offers integrated customer reviews, ratings, questions and comments on your home and product pages. Around 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase (says the Spiegel Research Center), so promote those good reviews like crazy. Or provide answers to common questions through the Q&A feature. Soon, all your customers will feel like a family.
Oberlo
Free – £60.52/month
This app is essential for any drop shipper – whether you’re doing print on demand in the UK or anywhere else in the world. It streamlines the process of finding suppliers and shipping products. With Oberlo, you have access to suppliers from around the world who can produce anything your heart desires. It’s a league above running your T-shirt printing and fulfilment services out of the garage. With the logistics covered, you can focus more on growing your business.
Snapppt
Free
A recent study by Hootsuite showed that 60% of Instagram users discover new products on the app, and over a third of them have purchased a product via mobile. Snapppt Instagram Shop lets you turn your Insta feed into its own little store by linking images to products on your site. So when one of your followers stops to admire a shirt, they can buy it right then and there.
Plug in SEO
Free – £15.14/month
Don’t let your site get buried on Google’s third, fourth, or (gasp) fifth page. Even one or two basic SEO tricks can boost your searchability and get your products in front of more eyes. Plug in SEO analyzes your site’s search engine performance and tells you how to improve it. You don’t need to be a tech wizard to tackle SEO. Install this app and watch your site skyrocket up Google’s results.
AfterShip Returns Center
Free – £74.95/month
Let’s be honest: dealing with unsatisfied customers isn’t a non-stop thrill ride. It’s more like bumper cars – unglamourous, but totally necessary for any self-respecting theme park (in this humble writer’s opinion). AfterShip makes the return and refund process incredibly simple. You can establish branded returns, set advanced rules, easily communicate with customers, automate your procedures and make the process more enjoyable for everyone involved.
Mobile Converter
Free
An increasing number of consumers are purchasing products from their phones. By 2021, it’s predicted that mobile transactions will account for 54% of all e-commerce. Long story short, your site needs to be not just mobile friendly, but mobile dynamic. Beeketing’s Mobile Converter makes it easy for customers to purchase on their phones. It’s visually engaging, showcases your products and uses a sticky add-to-cart bar to propel your conversions.
Free Shipping Bar
Free – £7.56/month
Who doesn’t love free shipping? Once, on Amazon, I bought a £5 book I didn’t even want so I could reach the necessary total for free shipping. This app capitalizes on that desire for “free.” It shouts to the world, loud and proud, that you offer free shipping on a customizable, geotargeted bar, enticing customers to make that extra purchase as I did.
If you haven’t looked into the wide, wonderful world of Shopify apps, get out there and explore! Seriously, stop reading this and go download some of these apps. This is the end of my list anyway.
