An Overview of the Shopify App Store

Not everyone knows this, but when you sign up for Shopify you actually get access to a huge number of apps that can integrate with your Shopify site and allow you to have more functionality, more flexibility and add some pretty cool features that might just be the difference between a few sales and a whole lot. If you are a Shopify store owner, and you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the App Store yet, here is an overview so you can know what you’re going to get, and some good advice about how, why and when you should get apps.

The first thing you should know about the Shopify App Store is that it’s not something that included with your Shopify membership. In other words, it has more in common with the themes page. There are free apps that are in the Shopify App Store but most of them are premium, paid apps. Of course, as always, you get what you pay for, so the free apps may not even be worth your time. However, some of the low-priced apps are really reasonable and have a lot of functionality built in. You would be surprised how many things you can do with Shopify apps.

Shopify can be compared to WordPress as far as the look and feel of the backing goes. If you were to compare Shopify apps to WordPress, they would be equivalent of the WordPress plug-ins. Shopify apps can help you manage your SEO as well as do useful things like allow you to add images for your product variations. Basically, anything that the Shopify store doesn’t have integrated into it, there is usually an app for it. Before you buy any apps, you definitely should look at the free ones just to make sure that the functionality that you want is an out there. As more and more people develop these apps, the quality of the free apps will likely rise, just like WordPress.

So now you know a little bit more about the Shopify App Store. The apps can definitely add some functionality to your website and it can be worth investing in a good app that is increasing your sales. However, try to avoid apps that have a subscription fee rather than a one-time purchase. There aren’t many of these out there but if you use one, try to find a replacement as soon as you know the app is useful for you.