Customer engagement is the lifeblood of every online store—it’s what sparks interest, drives conversions, and keeps your audience coming back for more. There are plenty of tools to help retailers boost engagement, but with so many Shopify apps out there, figuring out which ones will actually make a difference can be overwhelming.
In this post, we'll simplify the process by highlighting the five best Shopify apps designed to boost customer engagement. We’ll also share the key metrics you should track to ensure you're measuring success effectively.
Before we dive into the apps, it’s important to understand why customer engagement is crucial for any Shopify store. To do that, let’s take a closer look at the e-commerce funnel. The e-commerce funnel generally follows the same principles as traditional marketing and sales funnels—shoppers move from awareness to loyalty. In the e-commerce funnel, we’ll break it down into four key steps: traffic, engagement, conversion, and return visitors.
While most retailers focus on driving awareness to generate traffic and converting that traffic into paying customers, many overlook the critical step in between: engagement. Engagement is increasingly challenging in the world of online shopping, where customer attention spans are short, and shoppers tend to move quickly from one store to the next. But here’s the thing—if you can capture and maintain their attention, the benefits are significant.
The more engaged your customers are, the more likely you are able to:
Now, let’s explore the top Shopify apps that can help you drive this engagement and take your store to the next level.
First up is alby, an AI shopping assistant that boosts engagement by predicting and answering shoppers' questions right on product pages. By embedding alby directly onto your PDPs, you can engage customers at the exact moment they’re seeking information. alby has conducted extensive testing on customer engagement, comparing its shopping assistant to traditional chatbot experiences, and found that alby drives 10x more customer interaction. alby engages customers while guiding them toward making a purchase, leading to higher conversion rates and improved customer satisfaction scores (CSAT).
Customer reviews are key to building trust and driving engagement. Yotpo makes it easy to collect user-generated content like reviews, photos, and videos, and display them right on your product pages. It also includes SMS marketing tools and a loyalty program to encourage repeat purchases. With Yotpo, you can engage customers at every touchpoint, leveraging past customers' experiences as social proof to attract and engage new ones.
Upselling is one of the easiest ways to increase engagement and drive sales. Bold Upsell helps you offer smart product recommendations to customers right when they’re ready to buy. By personalizing upsell offers, you keep customers engaged and increase average order value (AOV). When implemented correctly, upselling can significantly enhance conversion rates and customer satisfaction.
One great way to drive customer engagement is by offering an incentive program. Smile makes it easy to set up customized rewards programs that encourage customers to make purchases, leave reviews, or refer friends. By offering points, discounts, and rewards, Smile keeps your customers coming back for more. It's an effective strategy to boost customer retention and foster long-term engagement.
Shoppable videos and user-generated content (UGC) are powerful tools for customer engagement, and Storista is the perfect app to leverage both. Storista allows you to create shoppable videos, drawing shoppers in with engaging content and then making it easy for customers to buy directly. UGC features let your customers showcase their experiences, which builds trust and credibility. Both of these elements are crucial in increasing click-through rates (CTR) and driving more traffic to your store.
When using any tool, it's crucial to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the impact it's having on your site. Tracking these metrics helps you understand what’s working, what needs improvement, and how the tool is contributing to your overall goals.
As mentioned, better customer engagement impacts the entire funnel, from awareness to loyalty. Here are additional KPIs to keep in mind:
Driving customer engagement is essential for the success of any Shopify store. By leveraging apps like alby, Yotpo, Bold Upsell, Smile, and Storista, you can improve conversions, build customer loyalty, and increase your store’s traffic. Don’t forget to monitor key engagement KPIs to track your progress and optimize your strategy for long-term success.