The App Overload Problem
Shopify's app store has thousands of apps, and it's easy to end up paying £100+/month in subscriptions for tools you barely use. Every app you install also adds code to your store, potentially slowing it down. Here's a ruthless guide to what small sellers actually need.
Essential Apps (Install These)
Email marketing — Klaviyo or Shopify Email: Email is your most profitable marketing channel once you have a customer list. Shopify Email is free up to 10,000 emails/month and fine for beginners. Klaviyo is more powerful for segmentation and automation but costs more.
Reviews — Judge.me (free plan): Social proof matters enormously for conversion. Judge.me's free plan lets you collect and display reviews. Don't pay for a reviews app until you're established.
SEO — the built-in tools + a free SEO checker: Shopify's built-in SEO fields are sufficient for most sellers. A free app like SEO King or Plug In SEO can flag issues, but you don't need a paid SEO app.
Shipping — Royal Mail Click & Drop or Shipstation: If you're shipping 10+/orders per week, a shipping app that prints labels and books collections saves meaningful time.
Useful But Not Essential
Upsell/cross-sell apps — can increase average order value by 10-15%, but only worth it once you have consistent traffic. Don't install on a new store with 5 orders/week.
Abandoned cart apps — Shopify includes basic abandoned cart emails for free. Third-party apps add SMS recovery and more sequences, but start with the free built-in version.
Inventory management — only needed if you sell on multiple platforms. If Shopify is your only channel, the built-in inventory tracking is fine.
Apps to Avoid (For Now)
Loyalty/rewards apps — these make sense when you have hundreds of repeat customers. At 10 orders/week, they're an unnecessary expense.
Live chat — unless you can actually respond instantly during business hours. An ignored chat widget is worse than no chat widget.
Advanced analytics — Shopify's built-in analytics + Google Analytics cover everything you need until you're doing £20,000+/month.
Page builder apps — Shopify's theme editor has improved dramatically. Unless your theme is genuinely limiting, you probably don't need Shogun or GemPages.
The £0/Month Stack for New Sellers
You can run an effective Shopify store with zero app costs: Shopify Email (free tier), Judge.me (free), your theme's built-in features, and Google Analytics. Add paid apps only when you can directly tie them to increased revenue that exceeds their cost.
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