We’ve collated the best ones currently available and, in no particular order, detailed what you need to know about each one: price, ratings, and pros and cons.

But before you check out these apps, let’s learn a little more about the Shopify sales funnel and how you can optimize it to boost sales…

What is the Shopify Sales Funnel?

When we talk about a sales funnel, we mean the customer journey from the first moment of contact with your store until becoming a buyer and, beyond that, hopefully, a raving fan.

New customers who know nothing about your store or your products generally pass through a series of stages before they will buy.

Understanding these stages is key to shaping the marketing strategies that will help visitors to your store take the journey to become loyal customers.

The Shopify marketing funnel includes five main stages:

1. Awareness: people develop awareness that you exist (usually through ads, articles, etc.).
2. Consideration/comparison: they consider your products/services and how they compare to what else is available.
3. Conversion: browsers turn into buyers by making transactions in your store.
4. Loyalty: a portion of the buyers will make repeat purchases and become loyal customers.
5. Advocacy: some customers will be so happy with your products/services that they actively leave reviews and promote your store in their network as “brand advocates”.

For some types of businesses, the first three stages are the only ones that count because they’re most interested in one-off transactions — personal injury law firms or real estate agents are a good example.

But you’re a Shopify store so you don’t just want to convert people into buyers. You want them to come back repeatedly and tell their friends about you.

It’s called a sales “funnel” because it’s naturally wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Of the people that are attracted to your business, only a fraction of those will become buyers. Many will drop out — and that’s normal — but the important thing from a Shopify marketing perspective is that you can increase the numbers at every stage of the funnel.

That’s where the next point about Shopify sales funnel optimization comes in..

Shopify sales funnel optimization steps

Before we get into the Shopify sales funnel apps you can use to increase sales, let’s take a quick look at a few strategies for optimizing each stage of your sales funnel.

1. Awareness: how do you attract the right visitors to your Shopify store?

Developing awareness is the stage that usually takes the most work so if you’re looking for quick sales shortcuts, look away.

It’s the lead generation stage, where you try to attract potential customers to your store with your marketing campaigns.

Essential marketing tactics for attracting visitors:

• Facebook ads: showcase not just your products but how they solve problems or achieve goals — pique interest to get people to your store.
• Google Ads: at the top of product search pages in Google are Google Ads that can send large volumes of your traffic your way if you get them right.
• Content and SEO campaigns: organic Google rankings are displayed when people enter search terms too, A comprehensive content strategy with an optimized SEO campaign can help your content rank higher.

Warning: you can burn a lot of money quickly on Google and Facebook Ads unless your campaigns are professionally managed. Seek help on your campaigns to maximize your ROI and minimize risk.

2. Consideration: how do you persuade potential customers that you’re the best solution? 

No Shopify store works in a vacuum — everyone has competition. During the consideration stage of your Shopify sales funnel, visitors start comparing how you shape up with what else is available.

Potential customers will evaluate your product’s features and pricing, as well as the overall service provided (from customer reviews). They want to know how your product helps them and whether it’s worth what you charge.

Essential marketing tactics for persuading customers that you’re the best answer:

• Professional, high-quality product images: to sell your products (including lifestyle shots of people using your products).
• Professionally written product descriptions that appeal to customer needs.
• Positive reviews from customers: embed positive customer reviews on your homepage, product pages and in your ads.

3. Conversion: how do you persuade potential customers to buy?

Traffic and interest are nothing unless a good portion of it converts into paying customers. That’s what will really make or break your Shopify store.

Essential marketing tactics for increasing conversions:

• High-converting landing pages: professionally written and designed landing pages will increase your conversion rate.
• Calls to action: clear call-to-action buttons that tell customers what to do next, why and when are essential for turning more browsers into buyers.
• Abandoned cart campaigns: if a visitor to your store shows buying intent (e.g., loaded a cart that was later abandoned), you can follow up and retarget these “lost” customers.
• Mobile navigation: a store with a  great user experience will encourage more sales. It needs to be mobile-first with simple navigation so that visitors can find what they need easily (like with most of the paid Shopify themes).
• Premium customer support: you can’t afford to drop the ball with support as bad news spreads quickly on social media. Live chat and responsive support will not only help retain customers but will also help grow your business.

4. Loyalty & advocacy: how do you make your customers happy?

It’s harder to win a new customer than to keep an existing one. The above steps help you win customers but that’s no good if existing customers are falling away.

By running campaigns to increase loyalty and advocacy, you will retain customers and word will get around about you and your products.

Essential marketing tactics for boosting loyalty and advocacy:

• Personalized offers: analyze your customers’ purchase history and send relevant and personalized offers.
• Follow up with a “thank you” email and a survey: a simple “thank you” email goes a long way. Also, consider sending a survey to show that their opinions matter.

Social media campaigns: using Facebook and Instagram to interact with your audience and build a community can increase engagement, loyalty and positive sentiment (quizzes, surveys and user-generated content are great for this).