What is the Shopify App store?
What are the best Shopify apps?
What apps do I need for my Shopify store?
How many apps are there in the Shopify store?
How do I market my Shopify app?
Can I turn my Shopify store into an app?
How do I install apps on Shopify?
How do I make my own Shopify App?
How much do Shopify apps make?
How much does it cost to build a Shopify app?
What is the best SEO app for Shopify?
This is where Shopify merchants can find hundreds of apps to install onto their stores to enhance, add or improve functionality, and build their business.
If you’re a developer, you can create apps to list in the Shopify App Store to reach an audience of hundreds of thousands. You can use Shopify’s Billing API to create pricing models to grow your own app development business.
This is an impossible question to answer! It depends what you want the app to do, how much you’re willing to pay for it etc. What we will say is that there are hundreds of apps in the store, all categorised into sections such as marketing, store design, sales, orders and shopping, inventory management, customer support and many more. Within those categories you’ll find apps that have many varied functions; some free, some have one-off payments, some require that you pay a monthly fee.
At Eastside Co we have released a range of apps that you can check out here. (We might as well do a bit of shameless self-promotion while you’re here!)
There are lots of free apps. Some are completely free, and some have free plans which give you some of the features, but in order to unlock the full functionality you need to upgrade to a paid plan. It’s up to each developer to decide what pricing model they want to use.
Strictly speaking, you don’t need any apps for your Shopify store. It will function as an ecommerce shop on whatever plan you use. However, apps can add functionality to your store with features that are not part of the main platform. You can personalise your store with apps which will make it unique to what you need it to do.
Some examples are adding a wishlist to your store so customers can save items for later or share them with friends, or if you sell clothes, installing an app that allows you to create bespoke size charts. Perhaps you want an app to help you manage customer returns? There are so many things to choose from - so what apps you need for your Shopify store, depends on what you need your Shopify store to do.
There are over 4,000 apps in the store. Shopify has said that over 80% of merchants use third party apps.
1. Write an article about your app and share it on places like Reddit subreddits to increase exposure.
2. Case studies are useful - this will help build trust and persuade other merchants to install your app.
3. Make sure the content - written, video, images - on the app store all convey how your app will benefit merchants or solve a particular problem for them.
4. Make your app easy to find in the store. With over 4,000 apps, it’s a crowded field. Optimise your listing so the key benefits section is razor sharp and conveys the benefits so if a merchant is looking at yours vs a rival app, yours is the obvious choice!
5. Create a visually striking icon for your app store listing so it stands out.
6. When people install it, make sure they know how to use it to get the best out of it which will aid retention.
Shopify has written this blog about how to market your apps which expands on some of these points and more.
Apps sometimes require access to a lot of data in your store so this is a valid question to ask.
The good news is that apps in the store are safe. Shopify understands that it is key that merchants have trust in the apps in the store, therefore they are extremely stringent when it comes to testing and approving apps before they are released into the store environment. As app developers ourselves, we know exactly how long it can take to get an app approved and how rigorously Shopify test and review the apps. If a developer is found to be doing anything that would endanger the reputation of the store, apps are removed and we’ve seen developers banned from the store entirely.
Other things to look out for are the reviews of the apps - what are other merchants saying about them? Check out the developer website. Is there a real address and contact number? Try calling them to check the validity if you have any concerns.
You can indeed. There are loads of reasons to do it, too. Apps are ‘stickier’ than websites so customers spend longer on them, people can use them without needing Wi-Fi, you can deliver content like blogs and product drops in a more engaging way to generate buzz, and most importantly data shows conversion rates and average order sizes are higher through apps.
You may need to enlist the help of an agency or app developer like Venn Apps who specialise in this kind of stuff - they create brilliant apps that work in tandem with merchants’ Shopify store websites.
This Shopify article explores 6 reasons why you should create your own retail app.
Go to the App Store and find the app that’s right for you. Click ‘Add app’ and as long as you’re logged into your Shopify store it should take you through the process of selecting the payment plan (if applicable) and getting the app live on your store. Each app will have a different installation process - some might have a wizard, some might ask you to drop some code into a specific page. App developers want to make it as easy as possible for merchants to install their apps so normally the process is self-explanatory.
Shopify’s API provides a very broad spectrum of possibilities to interface the platform with third-party software. As an app developer, you can create custom apps for your clients to add specific functionality to their store, or you can create apps to make publicly available in the Shopify App Store.
In order to be approved to make apps for the store you will need to become a Shopify Partner.
Shopify has a guide to making Shopify apps with more in-depth information on the topic.
This is an impossible question to answer. It depends on your pricing plans and install base, but developing apps can be very lucrative. There is no cap on the amount of money you can earn through this avenue. Remember that Shopify does take a 20% commission of the revenue as a fee for you using their platform.
If you’re looking to build your own Shopify app, the cost is going to be based on how much time you spend developing it yourself or with your team. Alternatively you can pay freelancers or app developers to realise your vision and create the app on your behalf. The cost then comes down to how many hours of design and development time is required, and the hourly rate charged by whoever you decide to work with.
Planning the creation of a Shopify application, you face a great number of factors that influence the development cost. So there is no exact price for any app: every product has different features, designs, etc and takes a different amount of time. When choosing a development company to work with, you shouldn’t rely only on their location and hourly rates. It’s better to check portfolio and team experience.
If you type ‘SEO’ into the App Store search bar it presents you with 480 results, so there’s a lot out there! There are apps that relate to different elements of SEO. For example, some score your products on their ‘SEO scale’ and give recommendations to improve them. There are apps to optimise your images, apps to help you improve your structured data and lots more. Some apps will scan your store to give you insights to help you improve SEO against best practice.
We won’t recommend any apps here but our advice is to compare the apps and their features, their pricing plans, check reviews and the reputation of the developer.