Top Shopify Apps to Control the Operating Costs While COVID-19 Crisis

Online Shopping experience plays a crucial role in buying revenue as well as long-lasting customers for any business. Before the rise of COVID-19 Pandemic, people used to count on big enterprises like Amazon or Flipkart in India as their go-to-shop stores. With a huge amount of disrupted fulfillment times and operations, consumers have now started looking for alternatives nearby. This means medium and small-sized retailers featuring a Shopify website get the golden opportunity to give their best shot in the eCommerce realm.

A recent study of Edelman Trust Barometer says that more than 60% of consumer experience depends on how well you respond as a brand during such a crisis. However, different people do expect different companies to act differently; there is no right way or cookie-cutter solution all we can do is try new ways and see what works.

Getting things right for your Shopify store can be insanely tricky but it is something that needs to be done at any cost. Before we get into the solution let us focus and start somewhere else (which will eventually lead us to the answer). 

Customer Behavior After COVID-19 Attack

There has been observed a huge decline in customers as they are found pulling themselves back in India as well as overseas. There are a few businesses especially the large enterprises that have seen a massive drop while others have seen a huge increase even if there is no season sale. So where are things not working out? What has happened to the existing consumer behavior? After lots and lots of research and analysis, it has been found that people are still buying when they find their expenses have gone down while their income is still the same.

Nobody has given up on buying those who are still working do tend to choose luxury over their basic buying needs whereas those who have already lost their jobs are also buying but only the essentials. It has also been witnessed that people have started buying from small-sized and medium-sized businesses or independent ones who can easily talk to their customers directly. And since consumers have more time to browse now, businesses must endeavor hard to make a cut above.

So there is no chance of giving a negative experience because one wrong move can cost you a million or even worse prevent them from buying from your store again. During such a situation it is always advisable to consult a reputable Shopify Development Company like us who ensures to offer everything under the sun (in regards with the services). Other than that, read the post that emphasizes on certain Shopify apps every merchant needs during such crises not only to increase revenue and sales but also to control the operating costs. 

Here Comes Shopify Apps to the Rescue

Like we said before, not only the aesthetics but also buying life-essential groceries and medical supplies have been disrupted due to the pandemic. eCommerce Merchants are facing a lot of problems in maintaining stocks as well as shipping products in the least amount of time. 
Further below we would like you to get acquainted with certain Shopify apps most of them are evangelized by Shopify developers in India that won’t just help you deliver an amazing shopping experience while keeping the operating costs low. Let us know each one of them in detail.

WhatsApp Chat + Cart Recovery

During this stay-at-home situation, people often were found bored at home due to which the usage of WhatsApp and all other social media apps increased at a tremendous rate. You can also think of incorporating a WhatsApp chat live chat button on your existing site. This will act as a strong bridge between you and your end consumers. Moreover, you can convince them not to abandon carts by offering special discounts via sending messages manually or automatically.

Other than chat, this Shopify application, in particular, incorporates a feature called WhatsApp sharing where users can directly share their products making them your indirect advocates or advertisers for your business. One of the best parts here is due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the creators of the app have extended the free trial period to thirty days. You get not one week, not two but an entire month.

PushOwl

Notifications are bound to be opened on social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) no matter whether important or not. When someone started following you or you received a comment or 30-40 likes or even when you have simply been tagged in a photo. As soon as the notification menu blinks we open it. These messages often called push notifications can do wonders when used appropriately in regards to engagement.

By using Shopify apps such as PushOwl, Shopify developers can create timely push notifications for your store. Why may you ask? 

Mainly to bring your customers back to your store as well as certain automation can be taken care of such as recovering abandoned carts, price drop alert, and back-in-stock updates.

Both free and paid plans available per month based on the impression.

PriSync

Unlike other Shopify apps, this one gives a free trial period of 14 days, and then it charges 129$ per month. No matter how much we say that considering the price for buying has become a little passe’ but the truth is price does matter and is crucial for any eCommerce shopper’s experience. You can bring down your competition by coming up with new and interesting pricing strategies (tactics, promotions, or special discounts) or maybe visa-versa.

This pricing software in particular PriSync allows you to analyze your as well as competitor’s prices so that you can play smart by applying dynamic pricing rules and remain competitive as well as profitable. Gone are the days when we required a bunch of manpower spending hundreds of hours keeping up with the market trends – all this seems to be replaced by a giant sheet in this Shopify application.

Oberlo

This application turns out to be one of the most likable among several Shopify Developers in India including us. You may wonder why? Oberlo features dropshipping services that act as a win-win situation for businesses as well as their end-users. If simply put it allows one to find the most popular products available online which means people can start selling on an immediate basis.

Those who consider that setting up a drop shipping model will work wonders for them in comparison to the inventory model, the Shopify app turns out to be a good fit. Moreover, it also provides the facility to track the shipments easily.

Other than finding trending products to dropship from worldwide suppliers, you will be able to ship directly without any disturbances from suppliers to the customers. For starters, you can use Oberlo for free but once your business grows you may need a premium plan starting at $29.90 per month to make the most of all its intimidating features.

Referral Candy

As the name implies, referrals are more connected with sales and so is this tool. It may quite interest you to know personal recommendations, word of mouth does have a huge impact on your increasing purchases. Seems pretty hard to ignore, isn’t it?

Referral Candy is one such easy-to-use tool offering a branded, seamless referral program that is beneficial for you as well as your customers who are referring further. Moreover, different types of rewards and incentives can be chosen from your side; for example cash rewards, coupon codes, unique gifts, etc. 

And you know what the best part here is, these all are paid on an automatic basis. Available with a 30-day free trial, the tool does provide you with high flexibility in terms of branding and customization. Although the setup process doesn’t require any coding skills, getting in touch with a reliable Shopify development company can definitely assist you in making the most of the app for your business.

Octane AI

Being a Facebook messenger chatbot, Octane AI has the potential to increase revenue by making you more readily available on a channel that most of your customers spend a lot of time on.

If we look at the stats the average email open rate for eCommerce is 15.66%. Normally a messenger communication is read 80% of the time. This means when you implement a chatbot to reach out to your users, you greatly improve the chances that potential ones will read the message being sent. 

Now what kind of messages are we talking about, you may wonder! Abandoned Cart Messages, Receipts, Shipping Notifications, Automate FAQ answers, Custom promotional campaigns.

On and all, when it comes to scaling your messenger marketing, Shopify application Octave AI is all you need. 

Growave

The all-in-one marketing platform assists many Shopify brands to reach their audience, engaging users, and increase conversations with ease. What needs to be done is to let go of things viral by encouraging end users to share your brand on social media and other platforms.

Now have you ever thought about building loyalty programs? Well, if not then it’s time to think of one. As a result, this will lead to increased conversion rates due to high-quality customer reviews and user-generated content.

Back in Stock

One of the major turn-offs for the end customer is the time when their required product is found out of stock. The deal-breaker, they will switch somewhere else in less than a minute. So what to do? How to stop the increasing bounce rate? Well, smart software developers recommend giving a scope to return; signing up for a back-in-stock email alert!

As the name suggests, this Shopify application will allow your end customers to be easily notified as soon as the products are back in stock. In other words, the moment product is available again this app sends them an alert complete with a juicy “buy” button.

As a result, you no longer will lose out on end customers. 

Know more about our Shopify Filter functionality using Product Type

ShipStation

Are you looking for a Shopify application that streamlines shipping at a low cost? ShipStation enables you to consolidate all of your shipping and sync all your marketplaces onto a platform in particular. Incorporating a geo-tracking page and self-service customer portal, this one makes returns way easy. Also, with inventory and detailed analytics can help you ensure that you are fully stocked and powered up with real-time insights. Now what marketplaces are covered, you may ask? Almost all from Amazon to eBay to Shopify, Etsy and Walmart. Besides, with carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS low negotiating rates are possible.

Available with a 30-day trial and price ranging from $9 to $159 a month, depending on your needs. The count of shipment lies between 50 to 10000 with custom packages available. Subscriptions include a free Stamps.com account and deep discounts with UPS and USPS.

Smile: Rewards & Loyalty

Last but not the least, Smile is one such Shopify Development app that allows businesses to create as well as manage loyalty programs in the least amount of time possible. There are times when businesses tend to only concentrate on their new customers, but not anymore it’s time for customer retention. But the question is how? Simple by setting up and running reward programs.

Smile gives you one such opportunity to create as well as manage reward programs with loyalty points, customer referrals, and VIP tiers. And you know what is the best part here, it integrates well with some of the biggest eCommerce and social platforms, email, and customer relationship management (CRM) service providers.

Conclusion

Among all Shopify is one such technology that keeps on enhancing itself in the marketplace at regular intervals. All the aforementioned apps will definitely help you boost your sales, retain your customers, and build an eCommerce reputation.

This is it! We hope you enjoyed reading the post. Keep watching the space for further information and updates on Shopify Development.

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