Using Shopify Apps to Automate Your Operations (Free + Paid Tools)

Running a Shopify store is exciting—but let’s be honest, it can also be exhausting.
Between inventory, orders, customer service, and marketing, it’s easy to feel like a one-person circus. 🤹
Luckily, the Shopify App Store is full of tools to automate your operations, freeing you up to focus on growth.

Here’s your go-to guide to the best free and paid Shopify apps that can streamline your backend and boost your productivity.

🔄 1. Inventory Management Automation

If you sell across channels or have many SKUs, manual tracking = chaos.

💡 Top Apps:

• Stocky (Free with Shopify POS Pro)
  Great for forecasting and purchase orders.

• Trunk (Paid):
  Real-time inventory syncing across Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, etc.

• Shopventory (Paid):
  Advanced multi-location inventory with reporting and bundling options.

📦 Why it matters: Automating inventory helps you avoid overselling, understocking, and delivery delays.

📬 2. Order Fulfillment & Shipping

You shouldn’t have to copy-paste addresses all day.

💡 Top Apps:

• DSers (Free & Paid):
  Automates dropshipping with AliExpress; bulk orders in one click.

• ShipStation (Paid):
  Syncs orders, creates labels, and manages shipping across carriers.

• AfterShip (Free & Paid):
  Automated tracking, branded notifications, and delivery updates.

🚚 Bonus: Shopify Shipping (built-in) already offers discounted rates + label printing.

📧 3. Email & SMS Marketing Automation

Set it, forget it, and stay in your customer’s inbox (in a good way).

💡 Top Apps:

• Klaviyo (Free up to 250 contacts):
  Advanced flows for abandoned carts, welcome emails, product upsells.

• Omnisend (Free & Paid):
  Drag-and-drop workflows for both email and SMS.

• Shopify Email (Free for up to 10,000 emails/month):
  Simple native solution with templates and performance analytics.

💬 Tip: Use automation to send personalized birthday coupons, winback emails, and post-purchase follow-ups.

💼 4. Customer Service & Live Chat

Fast replies = fewer chargebacks and better customer trust.

💡 Top Apps:

• Tidio (Free & Paid):
  AI-powered chatbot + live chat in one.

• Gorgias (Paid):
  Helpdesk that integrates with email, live chat, social, and Shopify order data.

• Shopify Inbox (Free):
  Directly chat with customers from your admin dashboard; supports Facebook and Instagram DMs too.

🧠 Automate FAQs, order status checks, and “Where’s my package?” responses.

🛒 5. Upselling & Cross-Selling Tools

Increase your AOV (Average Order Value) without lifting a finger.

💡 Top Apps:

• ReConvert (Free & Paid):
  Post-purchase upsells, thank-you page optimization, one-click offers.

• Frequently Bought Together (Paid):
  Amazon-style cross-sell recommendations.

• Honeycomb Upsell Funnels (Free & Paid):
  Customize in-cart and checkout upsells with targeting rules.

💸 Automation here = more revenue from every order.

🏷️ 6. Product Reviews & UGC Collection

Social proof, on autopilot.

💡 Top Apps:

• Loox (Paid):
  Collects photo/video reviews via automated emails.

• Judge.me (Free & Paid):
  Review requests, Q&A widgets, SEO rich snippets.

• Stamped.io (Free & Paid):
  Loyalty + review + referral program in one platform.

📣 Tip: Set automated review requests to trigger 7–10 days after delivery for best results.

📊 7. Analytics & Reporting

Let data tell you what to automate next.

💡 Top Apps:

• Lifetimely (Free & Paid):
  Tracks LTV (customer lifetime value), CAC, and cohort data.

• Better Reports (Paid):
  Custom reports on orders, returns, customer segments, ad ROI.

• AdsPolar 🧠:
  Analyze ad creatives, monitor trends, and automate insights across multiple platforms to scale smarter.

📊 Automation is great—but knowing what’s working makes it even more powerful.

💥 Bonus: Free Tools with Powerful Automation

Don’t overlook these under-the-radar gems:

• Auto Tags Customer & Order: Add smart tags for segmentation and workflow triggers

• Bulk Product Edit & CSV Import: Automate price changes, inventory updates, etc.

• SEO Manager: Auto-generates meta tags, alt text, and URLs for SEO consistency

⚙️ Many of these apps offer free plans or trials, so you can test before committing.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Shopify apps are like digital employees working 24/7—when you choose the right ones.
By automating repetitive tasks, you:

• Save time

• Reduce human error

• Improve customer experience

• Focus on strategy and scaling 🚀

Start small: Pick 2–3 tools based on your current bottlenecks, then expand your tech stack as your store grows.

And when you're ready to scale your marketing?
AdsPolar helps you automate competitor tracking, creative analysis, and performance reporting—so you can make smarter, faster ad decisions.