When building an online store with Shopify, the basic features can be more than enough to get the store up and running. But after some time, you may be looking to enhance your store with additional features and apps that can draw in more customers.
The Shopify App Store has you covered, providing hundreds of apps that can be added to your store. These apps do cost money, but can be a great enhancement to your store that can help seal the deal in selling to new customers.
So, what apps should you be looking for? Here are five apps that are very popular and highly recommended.
Yotpo Reviews – Reviews are a critical part of the buying process for many potential customers. Just one positive review represents a 10 percent increase in sales. With this in mind, having reviews on your store and giving customers a way to leave a review can make an impact on future sales. With the Yotpo Reviews app, you can request reviews and have them displayed on your store. With the app, you have complete control over the reviews. Yotpo does have a free plan, but there are also additional features for purchase that can be used to upgrade.
Edit Order by Cleverific – Sometimes a customer will submit an order that has an error of some sort. Maybe the wrong shipping address is listed or a wrong size was ordered. With the Edit Order app by Cleverific, merchants can make adjustments to the order at the customer’s request as long as the order has not already shipped. The app does cost $19 per month, but when you consider the money you and your customers could save in shipping and returns costs, it’s a great value that proves worth it.
Wiser Product Recommendations – eCommerce stores that recommend products to their customers sell more. It sounds simple, but having product recommendations leads to more sales. To get product recommendations on your store, use the Wiser Product Recommendations app. There are a number of options on this app. You can have this show featured products, best sellers, the most recently viewed items by the customer, similar items to what the customer is viewing or new arrivals. The best part is that the app is free.
WishList Plus – Users are typically on eCommerce websites to find something they want to purchase. Sometimes, a potential customer will go to a store, find the product, but not be ready to purchase at that time for various reasons. With the WishList Plus app, customers are able to save these items by adding them to their wishlist. There are benefits to both sides. For customers, they don’t need to login to add items to their wishlist. For merchants, the app is free and can provide added insight on what items are drawing interest of customers.
Product Compare – Comparing products isn’t a necessity for every business, depending on products. But for stores where products are often compared, like electronics or apparel, the Product Compare app is a great addition. This app can help create side-by-side comparisons for similar models of specific products that can showcase extra features. The app costs $5 per month.
At 1Digital Agency, we are Shopify Plus partners. If you’re looking to create a new eCommerce website through Shopify or looking for a redesign, contact the experts at 1Digital. We are here to help you get with all of your eCommerce questions. Contact us today!
A framework for choosing apps without slowing your store down
The five apps above are popular for good reason, but the more important skill is knowing how to evaluate any app before you install it — because every app you add is third-party code on your storefront and your checkout. Use this checklist:
- Does it solve a measured problem? Install reviews because you have a trust gap on product pages, not because the app is popular. Tie every app to a metric you expect to move.
- What does it do to page speed? Many apps inject scripts on every page load. Test Core Web Vitals before and after install; an app that lifts conversions 1% but slows the site enough to lose 2% is a net loss.
- How does it bill, and does it scale with you? A flat $5–$19/month is predictable; usage- or revenue-based pricing can balloon. Model the cost at 10x your current order volume.
- Can you uninstall cleanly? Some apps leave theme code, metafields, or "liquid" snippets behind. Prefer apps with a documented clean-removal path.
- Native first. Shopify's built-in features (discounts, basic recommendations, abandoned-cart email on some plans) keep improving. Check whether you need an app at all before adding one.
What each recommended category really does for conversion
- Reviews / UGC (e.g., Yotpo): social proof at the decision point. Highest impact on considered purchases and on first-time visitors who do not know the brand.
- Order editing (e.g., Cleverific): a cost-and-service tool. It pays for itself in avoided reships and support time, not in new sales — account for it as margin protection.
- Recommendations / "wiser" merchandising: raises average order value and items per order. Most effective on stores with deep, related catalogs.
- Wishlist: captures non-ready buyers and gives you a remarketing signal. Pair it with an email flow or its value is half-realized.
- Product compare: only valuable in spec-heavy categories (electronics, appliances, technical apparel). Skip it for simple catalogs — it adds clutter without lift.
The mistake that hurts most stores
The single most common app problem we see is accumulation: a store ends up with 25 apps, half of them unused, every one of them loading code on the storefront. Once a quarter, audit installed apps against the metric each was supposed to move and uninstall the dead weight. A lean, fast store with five well-chosen apps outperforms a bloated one with thirty.
When to replace an app with native theme code
Some app functions are better built directly into the theme by a developer: a wishlist, simple product comparison, basic recommendation blocks, and many UI widgets. The trade-off is real and worth stating plainly. An app is faster to launch and maintained by the vendor, but it is recurring cost, third-party script weight, and a dependency you do not control. A theme-native build is a one-time cost, loads faster because it ships with your theme rather than as an external script, and cannot be sunset by a vendor — but you own the maintenance. The rule of thumb: validate the idea with an app, and once the feature is proven to move a metric and is core to how you sell, consider building it natively to remove the recurring tax and the speed penalty.
Frequently asked questions
Do apps slow down a Shopify store? Many do, because they inject JavaScript and CSS that loads on every page, not just the page where the feature is used. Always benchmark Core Web Vitals before and after installing, and uninstall anything that does not earn its weight. A handful of well-chosen, well-built apps is fine; an accumulation of thirty is usually a speed problem.
Are paid apps worth it over free ones? Judge by the metric, not the price. A $19/month order-editing app that prevents a single mis-shipped order a month has already paid for itself. A free app that adds clutter and slows the page can cost more than it saves. Tie every app — free or paid — to a number it is supposed to move.
How many apps is too many? There is no fixed number, but if you cannot say in one sentence what metric each installed app moves, you have too many. Audit quarterly and remove the dead weight, including leftover theme code from uninstalled apps.
If you want help auditing your app stack or building features properly into the theme instead of bolting on another subscription, see our Shopify design and development services or contact us.