This blog post is for all you Shopify website owners out there. Have you visited the Shopify App Store lately?  What we love about the selection of apps in the Shopify App Store is the ease of integration. They are fun and install with a few clicks. No tech degree needed here folks … but instant gratification!

That said we understand that sifting through thousands of apps can be very daunting.  While every store owner knows their products inside and out, setting up an online store, might be a new experience for you, or you may have set up your Shopify website rejoiced in your accomplishment (congrats!), and now you’re looking for ways to enhance it. But, who has time to go through thousands of apps and pick out the very best ones for your store? We do! And… We did!

We have gone through and handpicked for you eight worthy apps for your store. Plus we’ve added some bonus action items you can do to better communicate with your online visitors. 

Not only do these eight apps help you connect better with your online visitors, enhance their user experience, increase their likelihood to return, help you grow your email list, but when used properly increase your sales figures (because it’s all about the Benjamins).  So without further ado, here are our top eight picks to better connect with your customers.

8 Shopify Apps Guaranteed to Help You Better Connect with Customers & Increase Sales:

 

 

#1 Spin-a-Sale  ($4.99-$9.99/month)

The Spin-a-Sale overlay displays a special prize wheel for visitors that you can fully configure. When visitors enter their email address, the prize wheel spins and they win a random discount. Spin-a-Sale can be fully customized so you can specify the exact discounts you’d like to provide customers and how often each discount is provided. Spin-a-Sale subscribers are more likely to use their coupon code since the discount is won instead of simply handed out in exchange for their email address. It is a unique email popup that’s interactive and highly enticing for visitors. Spin-a-Sale completely reinvents the standard subscriber pop-up and makes it interactive, fun and irresistible for your visitors.

 

#2 Crowd Proof  ($5.99/month)

Crowd Proof displays recent orders through an attractive pop-up on desktop or mobile. It’s like a digital long line – people will want to get in on the action if they know a product is popular!  There’s a reason Crowd Proof is one of the most popular Shopify apps for instantly increasing conversions and sales. It also gives your visitor a feeling of connecting with other buyers.

 

 

#3 Tidio Live Chat  (free-$15.00/month)

Being about to chat live with your website visitors allows you the ability to provide convenient answers that customers want while helping you offer that personal touch.  An ATG Global Consumer Trend study found that 90% of customers consider live chat helpful and an emarketer.com survey found that 63% were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat. (Reference link – https://www.emarketer.com/Article/How-Helpful-Live-Chat/1007235 )

 

 

#4 viigii  (free – $9.99/month)

Want to be spontaneous, or need to send a gift now? Meet the e-gifting app: viigii. Once a retailer installs the viigii app on their website, shoppers have the option to “gift now” at check out. At checkout, a shopper can send a virtual version of their gift via email or text to the recipient while the gift is in the mail. This app also gives retailers the ability to capitalize on gaining emails, phone numbers and most importantly, a potential new customer (gift receiver). Providing the “send gift now” button option at checkout not only provides an immediate and personalized gift giving experience, but retailers can be remembered as providing a solution to stressful gifting in this challenging and fast-paced digital age. Need a gift? Not to worry just “viigii it.”

 

 

#5 Facebook Chat by Beeketing  (free/month)  — Update to original post. This is not currently available. 

Instead of “may I help you” coming from the back of the room, the user can initiate the conversation and drop it as soon as they are done. With Quick Facebook Chat, you are chatting with their personal Facebook profiles, not just anonymous online accounts so that you can personalize your conversation for each chat. It’s never easier to get closer, build trust and establish the relationship with your customers like between real people, and what’s next, more sales are coming your way!

 

 

#6 Panda Language Translate  ($7.99/month)

Easily provide your website in multiple languages… need I say more. Just think what this could do for your bottom line. Panda Language Translate has been built by keeping with simplicity in mind. After installing this app you can start translating instantly without having to prepare your themes and different contents for translations.  Just make sure you have your shipping rates correctly set up in store to handle international shipping.

 

#7 eCommerce Email Marketing by Soundest (free/month)

Soundest does some crazy powerful stuff to connect you with your website visitors. Soundest tracks the carts of buyer’s who have ever clicked on your newsletter or entered their email address in the buying process and sends an email reminder when a cart is abandoned. They also have a number of other email marketing campaigns you can run to connect with your database, claiming +30% with their campaign booster, and 20% with Cart Recovery and Welcome emails.

 

 

#8 Points, VIP, Referral Programs by Smile.io (Sweet Tooth)    (free/month)

Online or offline rewards programs have always been a great way to connect with customers. Smile.io allows you to quickly set up and run your own rewards program. When you reward your customers they are much more likely to return and make repeat purchases. Over 15,000 merchants are boosting revenue and repeat purchases with a Smile.io program. These merchants are seeing a 15% increase year-over-year in revenue and a 20% increase in repeat purchases.

 

That’s a roundup of our some of our favorite apps to help you better connect with your customers. Now, as promised, here are a few more actions items you can implement to add more credibility and connect better with your website visitors. 

 

 

#1 Use Real Photos

We’ve all heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, that’s true as long as you’re not using the same stock photo as every single other company out there. Don’t use stock photos! There have been numerous studies done that prove that real photos have a better chance of engaging your visitors.

 

 

Take a look at the example above. As soon as you land on the Fazl Socks website  (https://fazlsocks.com/) you can’t help but connect with the brand, and a big reason for that is the amazing use of real photos!

 

#2 Post a FAQ and/or a Knowledge Base Section on Your Website 

Posting your most Frequently Asked Questions or Knowledge Base Section on your website not only provides the answers, your customers / potential customers are probably going to contact you wanting to know the answers to, but it also provides you with an opportunity to improve your search engine rankings by including keyword rich quality content (win-win).

 

 

Modkat (https://modkat.com/) pictured here, has a great help section on its website, featuring both Frequently Asked Questions and links to all Policies.

 

# 3 Be Clear on Your Policies

Your Return Policies, Privacy Policies, and other policies should easy to find on your website.

 

 

# 4 Add Video

Videos are an amazing vehicle for sales and training. Consider them for walk-throughs, product demos, getting started, etc.  These days you don’t need a fancy video camera, an iPhone will do.

Swag Paper (https://www.swagpaper.com/) uses video to show their visitors how easy it is to install their product.

 

# 5 Share Your Story

Your About Page or Section of your website doesn’t have to be boring. It’s a great place for telling your company story. Storytelling is a proven emotional tool to help connect you to your audience. This is a great place to add team member photos and videos. It allows your visitors to see the faces of the people that represent the company.

 

 

Mammoth and Co. (https://mammoth.co) use their Meet Mammoth Page (a.k.a. About Page) to introduce their team members, showcase artwork, and tell their story.

 

# 6 Add Testimonials, Press, & Social Proof

Flaunt it if you’ve got it! Make sure you’re making it easy for people to leave rave reviews about your products and amazing customer services. If your company has been featured in the media, make sure you add it to your website as well.

Hedge (https://www.hedge-quarters.com/) does a great job of this with their website. They have a full page dedicated to showcasing any mentions they’ve had in the ress.

 

Or, you could simply showcase social proof like Rose & Rex (https://www.roseandrex.com/) does on the bottom of their home page.

 

 

Final Thoughts

It’s your website. They’re customers. Connect with them.

Shopify makes it easy to install apps, and are great tools. But, tools are not strategies. Just like having a hammer doesn’t make you a carpenter. Once you install an app make sure you take full advantage of the learning materials associated with it to ensure that you’re using it to its maximum capability.

 

Now go and APP up your website!