Top 3 Shopify Apps for New Stores
Running a small business means wearing many hats. The right Shopify apps can handle the tasks that eat up your time, letting you focus on growing your brand. Here are the three apps that deliver the most value without breaking the bank.
1. Klaviyo - Email Marketing That Actually Works
What it does: Klaviyo is an email marketing platform that connects directly to your Shopify store, turning customer data into sales.
Why you need it: Email drives more revenue than social media for most stores. Klaviyo automatically sends emails based on customer behaviour—no manual work required.
How you benefit: Set up automated flows that run 24/7. When someone abandons their cart, Klaviyo sends a reminder email three hours later. When a customer makes their first purchase, they get a welcome series. When someone hasn't bought in 60 days, they receive a "we miss you" discount.
The beauty? You build these once, and they work forever. A typical abandoned cart flow recovers 5-15% of lost sales automatically. For a store doing $10,000 monthly, that's $500-$1,500 in recovered revenue without lifting a finger.
Real results: Most SMBs see email account for 25-35% of their total revenue within three months of setting up proper flows.
2. Judge.me - Reviews That Build Trust
What it does: Judge.me collects and displays product reviews on your store, complete with photos and star ratings.
Why you need it: New customers don't trust brands without reviews. Over 90% of shoppers read reviews before buying. No reviews = no sales.
How you benefit:
Judge.me automatically emails customers after their purchase asking for a review. It offers incentives (like discount codes) to encourage responses. The reviews display on your product pages with rich snippets that show star ratings in Google search results—boosting your SEO and click-through rates.
Photo reviews are particularly powerful. When customers see real people using your products, conversion rates jump by 30-50%. Judge.me makes collecting photo reviews simple with one-click uploads.
The free plan includes unlimited reviews and is perfect for new stores. As you grow, the paid plan ($15/month) adds features like review requests via SMS and Google Shopping integration.
3. Stocky (Shopify's Free Inventory Management)
What it does: Stocky helps you track inventory, predict when you'll run out, and manage purchase orders with suppliers.
Why you need it: Running out of your best-selling product costs you sales. Ordering too much ties up your cash. Stocky finds the balance.
How SMBs benefit:
Stocky analyzes your sales history and tells you exactly when to reorder products. It shows which items are selling fast, which are sitting on shelves, and calculates your ideal order quantities.
For small businesses managing 20-200 products, spreadsheets become overwhelming fast. Stocky keeps everything in one place. Create purchase orders directly in the app, track shipments, and receive inventory—all without leaving Shopify.
The app also tracks your costs and profit margins in real-time, so you always know which products make you the most money.
Best part: It's completely free with your Shopify plan.
Getting Started
Don't install all three at once. Start with Judge.me this week to begin collecting reviews. Add Klaviyo next month when you have some customer data. Implement Stocky when you're regularly reordering inventory.
Quick wins:
Judge.me: Set up automated review requests → 2 hours
Klaviyo: Build abandoned cart flow → 3 hours
Stocky: Import inventory and set low-stock alerts → 1 hour
Each app pays for itself many times over. Judge.me builds trust that converts browsers into buyers. Klaviyo turns one-time customers into repeat purchasers. Stocky prevents stockouts and overstock situations that hurt your bottom line.
The best small businesses aren't doing everything manually—they're using smart tools to work efficiently. These three apps are your starting point.
