Starting a Shopify store is exciting, but the moment you go live, reality sets in. You have a product, a store, and a dream, but no sales. No trust. No traffic. And every successful Shopify store owner you look up to seems to have something you don't. Here is the truth: they do. They have the right apps working behind the scenes, doing the heavy lifting that most new store owners overlook entirely.
If you are building your Shopify store in 2026 and you want to compete with established brands, installing the right apps from day one is not optional — it is your foundation.
Why Apps Matter More Than You Think
Before diving into the list, let us talk about why the best Shopify apps are so critical for new store owners specifically.
According to Statista, there are over 4.4 million live Shopify stores across the globe as of 2024. That number is only growing in 2026. Standing out in that crowd requires more than a beautiful theme. It requires automation, trust-building, smart marketing, and seamless customer experience, all of which are powered by apps.
The Shopify App Store hosts over 8,000 apps. That is both a blessing and a trap. New store owners often either install too many apps and slow their store down, or install too few and miss critical functionality. This guide cuts through the noise.
"Your store is only as strong as the systems you build behind it." — a principle every experienced ecommerce operator lives by.
1. Trustbadge by Tameta — Build Instant Customer Trust
When someone lands on your store for the first time, they decide within seconds: do I trust this place enough to buy? According to a Baymard Institute study, 17% of shoppers abandon their cart specifically because they do not trust the site with their payment information.
This is exactly where Trustbadge by Tameta becomes one of the most important apps you can install as a new store owner.
Trustbadge by Tameta displays trust badges, security seals, and social proof signals directly on your store — particularly on your product pages and checkout. It communicates to your visitor that your store is safe, verified, and legitimate. For a new store with zero brand recognition, this is not a nice-to-have feature. It is essential.
What makes Trustbadge by Tameta stand out among popular Shopify apps is that it is designed to integrate cleanly without slowing your store down, and it is built specifically with Shopify's infrastructure in mind. When you are just starting and you do not yet have hundreds of reviews or a well-known brand name, Trustbadge fills that trust gap immediately.
Tip: Install Trustbadge by Tameta before you start running paid ads. If you are sending traffic to a store that does not look trustworthy, you are wasting your advertising budget.
2. Klaviyo — Email Marketing That Actually Converts
Email marketing remains one of the highest-returning channels in ecommerce. According to Litmus, email marketing delivers an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. In 2026, that number continues to hold strong.
Klaviyo is the email and SMS marketing platform that most serious Shopify brands use. It connects directly to your Shopify store and pulls in customer data automatically. From there, you can build automated flows — welcome sequences for new subscribers, abandoned cart emails, post-purchase thank you sequences, and win-back campaigns for lapsed customers.
What makes Klaviyo one of the best Shopify apps for new store owners is that it works even when you are sleeping. You set up the flows once, and Klaviyo does the work every time a customer triggers a condition.
Note: Klaviyo has a free plan that allows up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month. This is perfect for a new store. You only pay as your list grows.
For a new store, focus on these three flows first: the welcome email series, the abandoned cart sequence, and the post-purchase follow-up. These three automations alone can significantly increase your revenue without any additional ad spend.
3. Loox — Photo Reviews That Sell
No marketing copy is more powerful than a real customer talking about your product. According to BrightLocal, 92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. For a new store that has not yet built up social proof organically, Loox accelerates that process dramatically.
Loox is a product review app that automatically sends review request emails to customers after their purchase. It collects photo and video reviews, displays them beautifully on your product pages, and even allows you to offer a discount to customers who leave a photo review — which increases submission rates significantly.
When a potential customer sees a real person holding your product and smiling in a photo, the psychological barrier to purchase drops. This is especially important for new stores that are still establishing credibility.
Remember: Do not wait until you have hundreds of orders to start collecting reviews. Install Loox from your very first sale. Even five or ten genuine photo reviews can dramatically improve your conversion rate.
4. ReConvert — Turn Every Order Into Two
Most store owners focus entirely on getting the first sale. But experienced ecommerce operators know that the real money is in what happens after the purchase. Your order confirmation page is one of the most visited pages in your store, and most new Shopify stores leave it completely blank.
ReConvert changes that. It turns your order confirmation page into a post-purchase upsell opportunity. You can offer customers a one-click upsell, a discount on their next order, a birthday collection field, or a product recommendation — all directly after they have just completed a purchase.
According to Shopify's own data, post-purchase upsells convert at a significantly higher rate than standard product page offers because the customer is already in a buying mindset. ReConvert is one of the best apps for Shopify stores that pays for itself almost immediately.
Tip: Start with a simple post-purchase offer — recommend a complementary product at a 10-15% discount. Keep it relevant to what the customer just bought. Relevance drives conversions.
5. Plug in SEO — Get Found on Google
Paid advertising can drive traffic to your store quickly, but SEO builds long-term, sustainable traffic that you do not pay for with every click. According to BrightEdge, organic search drives 53% of all website traffic. If your store is not optimized for search engines, you are invisible to more than half of the potential customers out there.
Plug in SEO is one of the best Shopify apps for new store owners who do not have an SEO background. It scans your store and identifies issues — missing meta descriptions, broken links, poor heading structures, slow page speed issues, and more — and then tells you exactly what to fix and how.
For a new store, this is invaluable. Rather than paying an SEO consultant to audit your store, Plug in SEO gives you an actionable checklist you can work through yourself.
Note: SEO is a long-term investment. Do not expect results overnight. But the earlier you start optimizing, the sooner Google starts rewarding your store with organic traffic.
6. Privy — Capture Leads Before They Leave
Most visitors to your store will not buy on their first visit. That is just the reality of ecommerce. But that does not mean you have to lose them forever. Privy helps you capture email addresses and phone numbers before a visitor leaves your store, so you can continue marketing to them through Klaviyo or another email platform.
Privy allows you to create pop-ups, spin-to-win wheels, banners, and flyouts that trigger based on visitor behavior — like exit intent, time on page, or scroll depth. It integrates directly with Klaviyo, so captured leads flow automatically into your email marketing system.
According to Privy's own research, stores using exit-intent pop-ups recover an average of 3-8% of abandoning visitors. For a store with significant traffic, that recovery rate translates directly into revenue.
Tip: Offer something genuinely valuable in your pop-up. A 10% discount, free shipping on the first order, or a free guide related to your niche will always outperform a generic "Subscribe to our newsletter" message.
7. PageFly — Build Better Pages Without Code
Shopify's default theme editor is good, but it has limitations. If you want to build high-converting landing pages, custom product pages, or editorial content pages without touching a line of code, PageFly is the answer.
PageFly is a drag-and-drop page builder that gives you granular control over every element of your page design. You can build pages optimized specifically for conversions — placing your reviews, trust badges, product images, and calls to action exactly where they need to be to guide your customer toward a purchase.
This is particularly useful when you are running paid advertising. Rather than sending Facebook or Google ad traffic to your generic homepage, you send it to a custom landing page built for a specific product or campaign.
Remember: A dedicated landing page for your ads will almost always outperform sending traffic to your homepage or standard product page. The message needs to match the ad, and PageFly makes that possible.
8. Tidio — Engage Customers in Real Time
Customer questions are inevitable. Shipping times, product specifications, return policies — people want answers before they commit to a purchase. If they cannot get those answers quickly, they leave. Tidio solves this problem with live chat and AI-powered chatbots that can answer common questions automatically, even when you are not available.
According to Forrester Research, customers who engage with live chat are three times more likely to make a purchase than those who do not. For a new store owner who is managing everything solo, Tidio's AI automation means you can provide responsive customer support without being glued to your laptop 24 hours a day.
You can configure Tidio to automatically answer questions about shipping, returns, and product details. For more complex questions, the chat escalates to you directly. It is smart, efficient, and builds customer confidence at exactly the right moment.
9. Shipstation — Simplify Your Fulfillment
Once orders start coming in, fulfillment can quickly become overwhelming. Printing labels one by one, managing multiple carriers, tracking shipments, and handling returns takes time you could spend growing your business. Shipstation connects your Shopify store to all major carriers — UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL — and automates the fulfillment process.
With Shipstation, you can print labels in bulk, set automation rules based on order parameters, and provide customers with automatic tracking updates. This reduces errors, saves time, and creates a more professional post-purchase experience.
For a new store owner planning to fulfill orders themselves in the early days, Shipstation keeps that process manageable as volume grows.
Working with a Shopify Development Agency
If you look at this list and feel overwhelmed by the setup and configuration involved, you are not alone. Installing apps is one thing; configuring them correctly to work together is another. Many new store owners turn to a Shopify development agency to handle this technical setup so they can focus on their products and marketing.
A Shopify development agency like Tameta Tech specialises in building Shopify stores that are not only visually appealing but also structurally optimised for performance and conversions. From configuring the right app stack to customizing your theme and ensuring your store loads fast, a professional agency saves you weeks of trial and error.
If you are serious about building a scalable store, working with Tameta Tech early in your journey is one of the best investments you can make. They understand how apps like Trustbadge by Tameta, Klaviyo, and PageFly work together — and they set everything up correctly from the start.
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How to Choose the Right Apps for Your Store
Not every app on this list will be equally important for every store. The way to approach your app selection is to think about your biggest problem right now.
If your biggest problem is trust, start with Trustbadge by Tameta. If your biggest problem is converting traffic, start with Loox for reviews and ReConvert for post-purchase upsells. If your biggest problem is capturing leads, start with Privy and Klaviyo together.
Do not install every app at once. Each app you install adds code to your store, and too many apps can slow your page speed, which negatively affects both user experience and SEO. Install apps strategically, test their impact, and scale from there.
Note: Regularly audit your installed apps every few months. Remove apps you are not actively using. A lean, fast store will always outperform a slow store loaded with unused apps.
FAQ’S
Q1. What are the top Shopify apps every new store should install in 2026?
- The top Shopify apps every new store should install in 2026 include Trustbadge by Tameta for building customer trust, Klaviyo for email marketing, Loox for photo reviews, ReConvert for post-purchase upsells, Plug in SEO for search visibility, Privy for lead capture, PageFly for landing page building, Tidio for live chat support, and Shipstation for order fulfilment management.
Q2. Are the best Shopify apps free or paid?
- Many of the best Shopify apps offer free plans or free trials, making them accessible for new store owners with limited budgets. Apps like Klaviyo, Tidio, and Privy have generous free tiers to start with. As your store grows and generates revenue, upgrading to paid plans unlocks advanced features that further improve conversions, automation, and customer experience significantly.
Q3. How many apps should a new Shopify store install?
- A new Shopify store should ideally install between five and eight carefully selected apps to start. Installing too many apps slows your store's page speed, which negatively impacts both user experience and SEO rankings. Focus on apps that solve your most immediate problems first — trust, reviews, email marketing, and customer support — then expand your app stack as your store scales.
Q4. Why is Trustbadge by Tameta important for a new Shopify store?
- Trustbadge by Tameta is critical for new Shopify stores because it immediately establishes credibility with first-time visitors who have no prior experience with your brand. It displays trust badges and security seals on product pages and at checkout, reducing purchase hesitation. Since 17% of shoppers abandon carts due to trust concerns, Trustbadge directly addresses one of the most common conversion barriers new stores face.
Q5. What are the best Shopify apps in 2026 for increasing sales?
- The best Shopify apps in 2026 for increasing sales include ReConvert for post-purchase upsells, Loox for social proof through photo reviews, Klaviyo for automated email marketing, and Privy for recovering abandoned visitors through exit-intent pop-ups. Together, these apps target every stage of your customer journey — from first visit to repeat purchase — maximizing revenue from the traffic your store already receives.
Final Thoughts
Building a successful Shopify store in 2026 is absolutely achievable, but it requires the right infrastructure from day one. The top Shopify apps covered in this guide — from Trustbadge by Tameta to Klaviyo to ReConvert — each solve a specific, critical problem that new store owners face.
Your store is competing with millions of others. But with the right apps in place, a thoughtful strategy, and potentially the support of a Shopify development agency like Tameta Tech, you have everything you need to build a store that customers trust, return to, and recommend.
The next step is yours. Pick the two or three apps that address your most pressing challenges today, install them, configure them properly, and start measuring results. Momentum in ecommerce starts with action — and now you know exactly where to begin.
