One of the strongest features of the Shopify platform is the Shopify app store. There are thousands of apps to customize and extend the potential of Shopify sites to nearly every business requirement. Every store requires a custom combination of apps, depending upon existing platform usage and unique requirements.

In general, there a handful of types of apps that are helpful for nearly every store.

• Email marketing app: configure integration with an email marketing platform to automate syncing of email contacts. There are integration apps available for most major email marketing platforms, with Mailchimp a notable exception. Klaviyo is our email marketing recommendation for most clients that don't yet have a solution, or are looking for an ecommerce specific email platform. Regardless of the platform, it's important to give users a reason to signup for email lists because email continues to be the most enduring marketing channel for direct to consumer companies.
• Analytics app: It's crucial to gauge how visitors interact with your site through site analytics. Any analytics platform can be used with Shopify by modifying the Liquid code. Google Analytics is the most straightforward and can be integrated by simply copying one snippet of code into the admin. There are some alternative apps available for tracking more advanced metrics like customer lifetime values that aren't necessary for most new Shopify stores.
• Live chat/robochat app: Give customers a chance to interact with your shop directly, particularly with a new store. You may not be aware of some of the issues that customers are facing and it's best to be there to answer question right away, rather than hoping customers take the time to email about issues. As patterns evolve, the manual process can be supplemented with chatbot features to help provide automated, personal help. Tidio is one of our preferred live chat solutions.
• Products Reviews app: Give customers a chance to both write and read reviews in order to help build more social proof. This is somewhat frustratingly still not included in Shopify by default and a free app from Shopify can be installed instead. Judge.me Reviews is a worthwhile upgrade to add features like Review Snippets and automated collection of reviews.

This isn't meant to be an extensive list of apps, nor a list of specific recommendations. Our approach is to keep app usage minimal in order to maintain site performance, insure data integrity, and reduce potential conflicts. Shopify apps to assist with email marketing, analytics, on site chat, and product reviews are essential for nearly every store, and serve as a great starting list of apps for Shopify sites.