To say the holiday shopping season is a big one is an understatement - and it’s always around this time of year that the ever-competitive world of e-commerce really ramps up a gear. If you’re a small business, or even a medium-sized business, the holidays can be hectic between launching products, sale weekends, managing stock, orders, shipments, packaging, emails, social media… it gets a bit much!
Thankfully, there are Shopify apps out there designed to save the day, and we’ve compiled our five favorite to get you through the holiday season with a little less stress.
Back In Stock – From $19.00 per month
One of the unsung heroes of conversion rates, automatic back-in-stock alerts are a godsend for helping recapture some of the disappointed shoppers after Black Friday hopefully wipes out your current stock.
A quarter of shoppers abandon their cart if an item they want is out of stock, but then back-in-stock email alerts can result in as much as a whopping 25% conversion rate if implemented correctly…not bad! The Back In Stock app helps automate a huge part of that process, allowing you to focus on managing your inevitably huge to-do list and creating some very happy customers along the way.
Free Shipping & Discount Bar by Pixel Union – Free or $5/mo for Additional Features
Incentivizing is a huge part of increasing those average basket spends, but how do you get people to really pay attention? Whilst your customers are happily shopping away trying to decide should they or shouldn’t they, Pixel Union’s app will display clearly how much the customer needs to spend in order to qualify for free shipping or discounts.
And if you’re still wondering about the value of making sure they can see the free shipping incentive, a survey by AlixPartners revealed that 37% of shoppers abandoned their cart because the shipping cost was too high.
Gift Wizard – From $23.00 per month
The holidays are all about buying gifts and finding that perfect present for someone special. Gift Wizard enables gift card and e-gifting on all your products, and with digital gift card sales in the US expected to exceed $15 Billion in 2017…well you can see where we’re going with this!
You can even use the app to send branded gift card campaigns to the recipients and remind them when they’ve still balance to use, and even incentivise gift card buying – e.g. free $10 gift card with a purchase of over $100.
Order Printer – Free!
This one will be a life saver during busy picking and packing periods! Shopify’s free Order Printer app does what it says on the tin; it’ll print a neat, handy packing slip with all the order details to include in every order. You can even include your returns policy, and other useful need-to-know information for your customers, making their experience simple and well thought out.
And if you’re looking for some custom order printer templates? Take a look at this app.
Zendesk Chat – From $5 per month
Customer Service is a biggie this time of the year; are the sizes different to other sites? When will orders typically arrive? Has their order left yet? What if they’re not in?! We all know the panic that sets in around this time of year, and the e-commerce stores that’ll shine brightest will be those with stellar access to super helpful customer service.
Zendesk’s app makes it really easy for your customers to get in touch with you via your website, and you can respond just as quickly. Or if you’d rather use Facebook Messenger, then Facebook Chat by Beekeeting is a great – and free! – option.