When Apple first launched their App Store for iPhone and iPad users in 2008, their slogan was: There’s an app for that.

Fast forward less than a year, and Shopify launched their own version of the App Store - a magical marketplace where you could find all kinds of solutions to help streamline your online business. From email automations to fulfilment channels, developers jumped at the chance to introduce unique features and benefits to e-commerce merchants across the globe.

Now more than a decade on, there are over 6,000 publicly available apps across the Shopify App Store. With the average merchant using six apps to help run their business and the number rising every day, the question on everyone’s lips is: how many apps does your Shopify store actually need?

People get addicted to Shopify apps, but unlike phone apps which can be installed for everything from games of Crossy Roads to augmented reality, on Shopify it’s not necessary to install an app every time you think of a new feature or trick for your online store.

Whilst every business has different needs and requirements from its apps, 25 is a sensible amount for any comprehensive Shopify store.

How did we reach this figure? Certain businesses only need a few apps, others need many more. It all depends on the type of app you’re installing - and of course, if it’s even useful.

The biggest caveat to the number of apps that your store has installed is how many front-end apps you’ve got, and how many back-end.

So what’s the difference?

Front-end apps are apps that affect the physical look and feel of your store. This may be a back-in-stock app, for example, which loads a widget onto your site for customers to get notifications about out-of-stock items. It could be an app that provides cross-sell and upsell of products, such as Rebuy. It might even be an embedded shoppable quiz such as Octane.ai, which asks customers for more details and recommends products off the back of their answers.

Front-end apps are tricky beasts, because the more front-end apps you install, the slower your site will be. The reason they slow down your site is because the app’s code isn’t on the same server as your website. Every time a page loads, your site has to make a call to the app developer’s server. If their server is slow, you limit how quick your site is and it becomes as quick as that server. It slows down your store. The more apps you bring in, the more dependencies your theme has and the slower it gets.

For this reason, installing no more than five front-end apps will avoid your site getting too slow and clunky. Stick to this rule, and you won’t go far wrong.

Back-end apps, in contrast, don’t affect your site speed. They don’t make any calls to external servers when the website loads, so you don’t need to limit yourself if you need them. Back-end apps include those used for reporting, inventory planning, importing / exporting stock, integrations with other parts of your business such as inventory management software. Our advice? If you’re using them, keep ‘em.

Of course, as your business grows and the number of apps you need does too, it’s crucial to keep track of whether all your apps are a) up-to-date, and b) useful. With so many new apps released each year, you may quickly end up spending more than you need to by using an app that now has a cheaper and potentially better competitor.

It helps to conduct a quick website MOT every few months to keep on top of your app spending. Certain apps can get particularly pricey, and it’s all too easy to accidentally pay for things long after you’ve stopped using them. As we often say to our clients, an app is only useful if it’s being used.

If you’re already in the Shopify ecosystem, you’ll notice that every month you get an invoice from Shopify with all apps itemised in a PDF. Use this PDF wisely! If you’re spotting particularly high charges or things you don’t recognise, then it’s time to clean up that list - particularly if you’ve replaced a system, or trialled new software such as an email marketing platform, for example. Don’t forget to remove the old app you’ve now replaced if you’re not using the old one, otherwise you could soon get bogged down with multiple variations of the same app.

Merchants often come to us in a panic about the number of apps installed on their site, but as long as they’re back-end apps and useful, then don’t feel restricted. Apps can be a wonderful addition to the smooth running of your business - just keep on top of them and you’ll never get caught out with a slow site or unnecessary payments.

‘Appy days.

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