Expert Stacks: Brandon Amoroso

Starting an e-commerce store requires a crazy amount of thought and planning for a successful launch. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already embarked on the scariest part: taking that first leap to launch your own business. Congrats!

It’s crucial to have a solid tech stack that integrates well with one another, allows you to create a cohesive customer experience, and doesn’t slow down your site. There are over SIX THOUSAND apps on the Shopify app store. With all of these choices comes an avalanche of information and “Ultimate Shopify App” lists, so it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which ones to choose.

Well, there’s good news and bad news… the bad news is that here’s another Shopify App list. The good news is that I’ve helped architect the e-commerce experience for over 100 Shopify and Shopify Plus stores. After many starts and stops with various tools, this is what I’ve aligned on as the apps I would use to launch a store in 2022.
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Now, this list is not exhaustive. You may need to add in some apps here and there based on your specific needs, but these 15 apps should be the foundation for your store. These suggestions are rooted in our best-in-class understanding and hands-on experience with every application through our work at electrIQ.

My go-to 14 Shopify Apps

If you don’t want to read through the full list, here are some quick links to each tool:

1. Malomo
2. Rebuy
3. Recharge
4. Klaviyo
5. Attentive
6. Superfiliate
7. Octane.ai
8. Okendo
9. Gorgias
10. Ecocart
11. Enquire Labs
12. Lifetimely
13. Gatsby
14. Tapcart‍
    

1. Malomo

What is it: Transactional Touchpoints out of Klaviyo and Branded Order Tracking Pages

Differentiator: Malomo moves away from Shopify's default order confirmation and shipping/tracking pages to create a branded experience with upsells, education, and community building. From there you are able to create specific pages based on key personalization criteria: i.e. a landing page for one-shot customer versus subscription customers, new vs returning, VIP customer, and more.

Price: Based on # orders per month (Plans as low as $.02/shipment)

How we use it: 

1. Build separate transactional flows for one-shot versus subscription customers, including custom order tracking pages.
2. A/B test in Klaviyo to increase CTR.
   

2. Rebuy

What is it: Personalized Recommendations, Upsells, Cross-Sells, AI, Frictionless Re-ordering, and more

Differentiator: Rebuy is a powerhouse when it comes to increasing AOV, personalizing merchandising, and improving retention. With Rebuy, you can pre-populate checkouts based on a customer's last order, add in a free shipping threshold in your slideout cart, surface limited-time discounts, and much more! 

Starting Price: FREE up to 50 orders per month

How we use it: Since there are so many different use cases, I summed it all up in this YouTube video, which includes live examples from our current clients.

3. Recharge

What is it: Subscription Commerce Platform

Differentiator: There are some startups to watch in 2022, but Recharge is THE subscription platform for Shopify merchants. Recharge not only is a strong subscription platform, but it has numerous integrations with other best-in-class apps in the Shopify ecosystem. 

Starting Price: No Monthly Fee (1% + 10¢ per transaction) or $299/mo (1% + 19¢ per transaction)

How we use it: All things subscription!

1. Subscribe & save
2. Gifting
3. Prepaids
4. Build your own box
5. A quiz that leads to custom subscription recommendation
6. Intro offer into an auto-renew
   

4. Klaviyo

What is it: Email/SMS Marketing 

Differentiator: Email has been the foundation for DTC companies for as long as we can remember. SMS, on the other hand, has recently exploded in popularity. Today, for the highest level of return on your marketing (apart from having a specialist behind these), you need to make sure that your email and SMS marketing are working together. Klaviyo allows for both, providing a cohesive view of all your communication touchpoints and streamlined data analysis. You are also able to create sophisticated flows across both channels. Klaviyo also has more app integrations, I’d argue, than anyone else in the ecommerce space, ensuring that you can pass data from other platforms to enhance your email/SMS marketing.

Price: Based on # of contacts (Use their Price calculator)

How we use it: For everything related to email & SMS marketing and as an aggregator of all data we have on a customer. I put together a video of the flows you absolutely need to have.

5. Attentive

What is it: SMS Marketing

Differentiator: Attentive offers A/B testing, segmentation, journey creations, conversational flows, compliance and deliverability, numerous Shopify app integrations, and so much more! Attentive currently holds some of the strongest platform capabilities for SMS Marketing and boasts an easy-to-use platform with 5-star customer service and support. Email is great, but you can't forget about this booming channel! 

Starting Price: Free trial then variable based on subscriber count, term commitment, etc.

How we use it: Everything SMS marketing!

• List growth
• Conversational Flows
• Transactional SMS
• And More (See video below)

6. Superfiliate

What is it: Referral/Loyalty Platform

Differentiator:  Superfiliate can be deployed as a referral + loyalty platform through its on-site, post-purchase and portal commerce experiences, while also allowing customers to create their own unique headless storefronts to refer their friends with. Through deep integrations with Klaviyo, Attentive, and Postscript, Superfiliate automate SMS/email communication while integrating with Shopify and Recharge to handle payments.

Price: $599/month + 5% of Superfiliate revenue (flexible flat-rate pricing for some brands)

How we use it:

• Deploy loyalty + referral program to drive profitable user acquisition (Like this example with Your Super)
• Reward loyal customers with gifts they can give to their friends
• Create personalized social commerce experiences
• Embed into the Malomo tracking pages, Klaviyo email communications, etc.
  

7. Octane.ai

What is it: Quiz Builder

Differentiator: Octane is a must-have in the age of ever-changing privacy policies. A quiz allows site visitors to share zero-party data, get funneled into your communications, and be guided through the buying-decision process based on personalized recommendations. This journey creates the foundation for personalization from the moment the site visitors take the quiz all the way through to your first order retention efforts and beyond.

Starting Price: $49/month

How we use it: 

1. Create engaging quizzes with email or SMS lead capture that provide personalized product recommendations (like these two florence by mills quizzes)
2. Email/SMS flow after quiz completion to nurture leads into that first purchase 
3. Take the data acquired from Octane and use it in our retention efforts via personalized email/SMS messaging powered by Klaviyo

8. CartHook Post Purchase Offers

What is it: Post Purchase Offers as they aptly call out in their name :)

Differentiator: CartHook allows you to increase AOV without risking a conversion by creating post-purchase 1-click upsells. Their easy drag n’ drop editor allows you to build custom upsell offers, as well as implement conditional logic based on whether the custom converts on the upsell or doesn’t (i.e. showing 3 upsells in a row but only showing certain offers depending on whether the customer says yes or no to the former). The best part is that you can run A/B tests to see what performs the best.

Starting Price: $50/mo (plus 1% of post-purchase revenue)

How we use it: For 1-click upsells. Make a purchase on Disco to see the experience

1. Post-purchase upsell flows based on what the customer ordered, with conditional logic to show certain additional upsells whether they accept or decline the upsell shown previously.
2. A/B testing upsell offers

9. Okendo

What is it: Review Platform

Differentiator: Compared to many other review platforms, Okendo provides the fairest price in the market considering what it offers. You’re able to ask questions based on customer demographics and product-specific attributes during the review request process. It’s also a developer’s dream for customizing styling on-site, has strong filtering capabilities, and much more! Okendo also offers best-in-class integrations with Klaviyo, Attentive, Rebuy, Gorgias, and others.

Starting Price: $29/month

How we use it: For all of our client’s product reviews (including florence by mills)

1. Positive and negative review flows in Klaviyo
2. Segment customers based on attributes provided in their Okendo reviews
3. Source UGC

10. Gorgias

What is it: Customer Service Platform 

Differentiator: Gorgias is a customer service platform that allows you to automate frequent tickets, drive sales through the chat functionality, and unify all customer communications. With the many Shopify app integrations available, it allows for a 360-degree view of the customer needing support.

Starting Price: $60/month

How we use it: For Customer Service

1. Live chat on site
2. All customer service interactions (Facebook/Instagram, emails, SMS messages, etc.)
3. Set up rules to automate the customer service process
4. Create premade macros to streamline customer service responses

11. Ecocart

What is it: Offset Order Carbon Emissions  

Differentiator: Ecocart offers your customers the option to offset their order’s carbon footprint in both the cart and at checkout. Consumers are becoming more and more eco-conscious, with their purchasing behavior aligning with brands that emulate their values. By utilizing Ecocart, it showcases your brand's commitment to sustainability. 

Price: FREE

How we use it: In cart option to make your order carbon neutral

1. Integrate with Klaviyo to see which of your customers are eco-conscious buyers

12. Enquire Labs

What is it: Post-purchase survey

Differentiator: Enquire Labs allows you to specify whether you only want to ask the question to new or repeat customers, as well as build out question streams and logic. Their simple 1-click integration with Shopify and Recharge allows you to easily tailor questions in your post-purchase (order confirmation) area to better understand how your customers found you and more! As you gain zero-party data, you are able to pass that information through to other apps to enhance personalization efforts.

Starting Price: $49/mo

How we use it: To gather customer feedback as well as segmentable data points. I like to think about it from an email and SMS personalization standpoint. What would I like to be able to know about a customer to tailor and personalize our communications to them? From there, I can figure out which questions I need to ask in the post-purchase survey in order to get the required data to execute against my personalization strategy.

13. Lifetimely

What is it: Lifetime Value and Profit Analytics

Differentiator: Lifetimely allows you to look at the lifetime value and behaviors of your customers. Their array of in-depth features, functionalities, and data allows you to make better-informed decisions across your business. 

Starting Price: $19/month

How we use it: For cohort, retention, and LTV analysis. I put together a video that walks through how we use it at electrIQ and what sort of actionable takeaways you can glean from the data.

14. Gatsby

What is it: Influencer Marketing   

Differentiator: Gatsby integrates into your current communication funnels to make influencer marketing easier. Collect Instagram/Tiktok handles from your lead capture, post-purchase confirmation page, or even unique landing pages, and Gatsby takes care of the rest. Gaining your site visitors’ Instagram handles allows you to assess the potential reach of your customers as micro-influencers, get insights everytime your brand is mentioned, and even automate your communication and triggers with their Klaviyo integration.

Starting Price: $80/month

How we use it: To build loyalty programs that incentivize social selling and to also gain insights into our customer’s social reach.

15. Tapcart

What is it: Drag n’ drop app builder

Differentiator: Create a lightning-fast shopping experience with your very own mobile app! Create and grow a new owned marketing channel with push notifications to subscribers, and integrate it with Klaviyo to send your push notifications right alongside your email and SMS communications.

Starting Price: $250/mo

How we use it: To create iOS and Android apps for our clients

1. Host exclusive app product launches
2. Incentivize app downloads with rewards and discounts

Loyalty Program: Do it manually!

What is it: Loyalty Program

Differentiator: I’m a strong believer that points-based loyalty programs just don’t work. Historically, we’ve seen low adoption rates caused by confusing customer journeys, complicated tiered reward structures, and an overall mediocre customer experience. Instead, why not build out a manual loyalty program that surprises and delights your customer? For example: for every customer who places their 5th order with you, include a free piece of merch in their order! You can expand on it from there.

Starting Price: FREE

How we use it: Through Klaviyo flows, we can set up a manual loyalty program. For our Shopify Plus clients, we’ll use Shopify Flow to automatically add rewards to a customer’s order based on what order # it is with the brand.

How should you build your own tech stack? 

At the end of the day, how you set up your Shopify store and utilize supporting apps is up to you. However, you should look to maximize the efficiency and capabilities of all platforms. 

Ensure you are doing research on your apps, especially into the integrations they offer. You want to ensure that the new apps you add to your store will work with all of the other apps you have. You will be able to maximize an app far beyond its current capabilities if you have a secondary app that takes information from app A and enhances your capabilities with app B. This allows you to create a cohesive customer journey across all touchpoints, while also making your app investment more efficient.

You should have a clear goal and purpose for each app you decide to use, as well as KPIs and an ROI you’re looking to achieve when assessing whether the tool is successful or not.‍

First Tip: Make sure you know the attribution method and window for each of the tools you’re using. If the tool you’re using has a 30-day view attribution window, then it’s going to generate a massive ROI.

Second Tip: Most of these tools require some sort of setup process and support to ensure they’re successful. Just because you drop a referral program on your site doesn’t mean customers will use it unless you include it in your marketing materials, customer journeys, etc. That’s why you hire electrIQ :)

Final Thoughts

The e-commerce space is growing at an unprecedented rate. There has never been more competition and ad costs are going through the roof. However personalization and understanding your customers, has continuously been able to withstand the test of time. All the apps recommended in this article are focused on increasing LTV by creating a best-in-class customer experience.

It's a beautiful thing when your entire app ecosystem works cohesively to create a strong customer experience. The sooner you’re able to implement some of these best practices, the sooner you’ll start reaping the benefits!