279 | Shopify Apps & Strategies with Erin Alexander, Product Powerhouse

Fun fact: Approximately 75% of our Proof to Product community sells their products through a Shopify site. One of the most commonly asked questions that comes up during Paper Camp is “What Shopify apps can I use to enhance the sales experience?”

Today’s guest is Erin Alexander from Product Powerhouse and she’s sharing her favorite Shopify Apps, including why she recommends them and how they can make your life easier. We’re talking about apps to enhance your product listings, collect & share customer reviews and apps that will simplify referral, loyalty or affiliate programs.

Erin Alexander is a curly-haired, plant-loving, coffee maven, that helps shop owners show up online with confidence. Her design agency, Product Powerhouse, helps product sellers build, grow and scale their online shop with the power of Shopify. She also teaches how to grow the visibility and online presence of their store through her podcast, digital products and DIY courses.

Today’s episode is brought to you by our Email Marketing For Product Makers guide. This was a training I taught inside of our Proof to Product LABS program—where hundreds of product makers mapped out a year of emails in under an hour. If you’ve struggled with what to say, when to send or how to plan out your email marketing strategies for wholesale or direct to consumer audiences we’ve got just the tool for you. Grab our free guide that has helped hundreds of product makers plan out a year’s worth of marketing emails in under an hour. We’ll tell you what to say, when to send and help you create an email strategy that works for your specific business.

Where to Build Your eCommerce Website

On the Proof to Product podcast, inside our LABS community, and even at Paper Camp, we’ve talked about which platform to build your eCommerce website on.

Over and over again, Shopify comes out on top as the best place to build your product-based business' website because it has everything you need. Shopify designed their platform for product-based businesses so they have thought through all the things you need to build a website.

Check out my conversation with Kaitlin Fontenot from Kait Studio on why Shopify is the best place to build your eCommerce website.

We know that optimizing your website for SEO and sales is key to selling more product and bringing in more revenue. In fact, one of our LABS members had over 600% growth in website visitors simply by improving SEO.

SEO gets users to our website but how do we keep those customers on our website, buying from us, and coming back for more?

That is where Shopify Apps come in really handy!

5 of the Best Shopify Apps to Improve Your Shopify Site Experience

After jumping into the freelance world and offering Squarespace website design services, Erin found herself supporting a community of e-commerce brands using Shopify. She decided immediately that she needed to learn the platform, so she dove all in to learn everything she could.

Through practice, trial, and error, Erin found her own niche in serving Shopify store owners with their web design and support. Now she helps e-commerce brands with all of their Shopify needs, including which Shopify apps to use on their website!

Every single Shopify store is different, which means that not all apps will serve you.

You may need an app that offers no value to another shop—plus there are dozens of new apps being added to Shopify every single week! With so many options, Erin is sharing some of her favorite Shopify apps to use, why they're helpful, and what they offer to your brand as a whole.

Infinite Options by ShopPad

Erin’s absolute favorite Shopify App is Infinite Options by ShopPad, which offers you personalization on a product in your shop, along with more variant options.

For example, if you offer a product with options, like a necklace that can have a custom-sized chain and a pendant, you have the option to not count inventory on one while still counting inventory on the other.

If you want to offer gift wrap as a paid option for your products, you can also do that as a check box, which will add that cost to the listing.

GOAFFPRO

Another great Shopify App is GOAFFPRO, which is an affordable affiliate program option for shops that want to offer affiliate marketing. This is a simple way to build up an affiliate program without having to invest a lot of money into it each month—specifically by getting started with their free tier.

Stamped Reviews by Stamped.io

If reviews are important to your brand, a great Shopify App to add to your store is Stamped Reviews.

This app automates the process of asking your customers for a review within a certain time frame after they’ve purchased. It’s customizable and notifies you when you receive a new review as well!

You can also set it up to use incentives to get your customers to leave a review. Some examples include:

a discount code
free download
a small gift

Stamped Loyalty by Stamped.io

In addition to Stamped Reviews, you can also add Stamped Loyalty to your store to encourage engagement with your brand from customers.

Stamped Loyalty offers rewards for those engagements like:

following on Instagram
liking a Facebook Page
birthday Rewards

Think of it like a Starbucks rewards program for your shop. This is an easy way to talk about your business without hard selling—like double reward weekends.

Smart Wish List

Customers love having the option to add to their wish lists to save things they want to buy! Smart Wishlist offers your shop an affordable option to host unlimited items for customers’ wish lists.

Shopify Apps to Avoid on Your Website

With any industry, there are going to be things you don’t love. When it comes to Shopify Apps, Erin has found that she personally isn’t a fan of anything created by the developer BOLD. They use additional coding in their apps, which affects the site and other apps—causing more site issues than most of the apps on the market.

Ready for a New or Refreshed Shopify Site?

If you’ve been listening to this episode and know that it might be time for a new website or a refresh with new Shopify Apps, Erin’s team is here to help!

Through their Shopify Style & Setup service, they’ll help you customize your Shopify site to serve your needs! If a new site isn’t what you need and you’re looking for a refresh, they also offer VIP days as well!

In Conclusion,

Shopify is a great platform to use to build your product-based business website. There are tons of apps out there to help make your website more user-friendly and boost your sales.

Infinite Options by ShopPad - allows you to personalize options on your shop & add variations
GOAFFPRO -
Stamped Reviews by Stamped.io - automatically gets reviews from customers & can even share them to social media
Stamped Loyalty by Stamped.io - works like Starbucks loyalty points…keep your customers happy and feeling special!
Smart Wish List - lets your customers create wishlists

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MEET ERIN

Erin Alexander is a curly-haired, plant-loving, coffee maven, that helps shop owners show up online with confidence. Her design agency, Product Powerhouse, helps product sellers build, grow and scale their online shop with the power of Shopify. She also teaches how to grow the visibility and online presence of their store through her podcast, digital products and DIY courses.

CONNECT WITH ERIN

WEBSITE: productpowerhouse.co | PODCAST: productpowerhouse.co/pages/podcast | INSTAGRAM: @product.powerhouse | FACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/productpowherhouse | YOUTUBE: youtube.com/channel/UCqf5XlFWZxvt5410_YiIVag

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct