The 5 Shopify integrations [.blue]you need right now[.blue]

Since its launch in 2006, Shopify has become the go-to for entrepreneurs setting up eCommerce stores. Nearly 500 million people now buy from Shopify stores; that's a lot of business to bag if you're a seller. 

Shopify's popularity is largely down to low start up costs, user accessibility, and integrated site hosting. The ease with which you can set up a Shopify store makes it incredibly appealing to start ups and to businesses wanting to keep overheads down and sales up. Even better, Shopify offers a range of integrations to maximise your site's potential and bring in those all-important online sales.

What is a Shopify integration?

Shopify integrations are tools and apps that have been specifically designed to work alongside your Shopify eCommerce store. They share useful data to Shopify and allow you to automate labour intense processes to free up time elsewhere. The primary purpose of these integrations is to enhance the user journey and, thus, drive more conversions. Integrations can be free or very low cost, hence their appeal, and can make managing your Shopify an entirely streamlined and efficient process. There are literally hundreds of apps available and, for the uninitiated, it can be a bit of minefield. 

Do you need Shopify integrations?

In a word? Yes. Installing Shopify integrations and plugins to your site offers several benefits, including:

• Customer experience – Users expect quality websites so using design integration software just makes sense.
• Order management – Keeping track of inventory coming in, going out and being returned can be an administrative nightmare if done manually.
• Better marketing – Nowadays, there are countless marketing opportunities open to every business. Using marketing integrations with Shopify helps you leverage every one of them.
• Analytics – Want to know when and why a customer abandoned their cart? There’s an app for that.
• More sales – For multi-channel retailers, integrating their Shopify site with other marketplaces means more places to sell with less hassle.

The Shopify integrations you need

Around 41% of Shopify stores use between 1 and 5 integrations. Using too few can mean you aren’t maximising your store’s potential, but too many and it could get complicated. The majority of integrations used are for sales and conversions. Reporting and productivity take less precedence, so clearly the goal is selling. With that in mind, we’ve looked at the 5 key types of Shopify integrations your store needs and which apps you should take a look at.

1. Design integrations

When you set up your Shopify store, or if you’re planning an overhaul, it’s worth using design tools to make it as easy as possible with maximum effect. Common website builders like Wix and Wordpress have Shopify integrations, so you can create a stunning website using the available templates and then make it shoppable. Pagefly is one of the most popular design integrations, allowing you to customise your site using simple drag and drop, and has 90 quick templates ready to use straight away.

For those all-important product or model shots, PixPix is a super simple image editor that lets you edit images and instantly save them in Shopify. Better images provide a better customer experience, so it’s worth the time it takes to upload and edit them properly.

2. Marketing integrations

Marketing is arguably the cornerstone of most successful businesses. If people don’t know about your product or service, they can’t buy it. Setting up a website may seem straightforward but mastering the basics of SEO can enhance your website so it reaches far more people. Using an SEO plug-in with your Shopify store will take care of metas and title tags, image optimisation, and featured snippets. If you aren’t sure what any of that means, then it’s definitely worth trying a plug in like Smart SEO or SEO King. 

Another tried and tested way to lure in customers is email marketing. There are a lot of avenues you can go down with this one but apps like Klaviyo or Mailchimp will automate the process and let you target specific customer groups for remarketing or promotional opportunities.‍

3. Social selling integrations

There’s nowhere to hide when it comes to social selling. Integrating social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram into your Shopify strategy is the future. Our guide to setting up a TikTok Shop can tell you more and, once you’ve mastered that, you can integrate it with Shopify for even easier sales. Instagram is also a huge revenue generator and apps like Instafeed provide seamless access between your Instagram account and Shopify store.  

If you’re hoping to advertise on Instagram, Facebook, and Google simultaneously, AdVoz is the integration to go to. You can produce exciting and dynamic ads that go to engaged audiences and then access analytics to keep improving your social advertising strategy. 

4. Multi-channel integrations

Many Shopify stores also sell on popular marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Managing these platforms and the stock rotation on each can be mind blowing. Multi-channel integrations are, therefore, invaluable in freeing up precious time and boosting sales potential. Expandly lets you see all of your online activity across every platform in one place, and you can upload items in bulk and integrate with a shipping carrier as well.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is another trend that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Integrations like Klarna will pay you upfront but let your customers pay at a later date, so you can truly take advantage of every sales channel.

5. Inventory, shipping & returns integrations

These are potentially three separate areas but finding an integration that can take care of it all will make your eCommerce life much easier. The Shopify integration from Zendbox keeps tabs on your inventory using a proprietary system – Zendportal – stores it safely in a secure warehouse, and ships it wherever you want it to go. Returns are also handled quickly for maximum customer satisfaction.

Around 30% of online orders will be returned. This will vary according to the industry but, nevertheless, returns are a burden if you own an online store. Returnly integrates with your Shopify site to offer simple, fuss-free returns for customers. Automating the returns process may not be top of your list when starting a new business but you’ll find it pays to have it all organised, rather than manage it yourself.

For shipping requirements without warehousing or returns processing, Easyship offers pre-determined shipping discounts and lets customers track orders for free. The integration is supported by big name carriers and delivers across the world for those Shopify stores who have gone international. 

Shopify’s your oyster

This list is the tip of the iceberg. The world of Shopify integrations is endless and can be overwhelming at first. You can add reviews to your site, analyse abandoned carts, or automate cross selling and upselling opportunities. It’s probably best to start with the basics and once you’ve figured them out, you’ll feel much more savvy about integrating extra apps and levelling up. Your Shopify store is a revolving door of opportunity. We recommend you start by focusing on the key pillars we’ve mentioned above and then, if you want to, expand into other areas to automate every aspect of your eCommerce business.

‍Contact the eCommerce experts at Zendbox for more useful tips and insight on optimising your Shopify store, including your eCommerce fulfilment operations.