In a competitive e-commerce space, it takes more than a previous purchase for a customer to remain loyal to your brand. More products, price points and shopping experiences exist than ever. As a result, consumer preferences shape the market.

Today’s consumers want a simple, secure, pleasant shopping experience. And when something goes wrong, they want it to be addressed quickly. Anything that falls short means the customer probably won’t return.

Already using one of the best e-commerce website builders to create your store? Experiment with the host of different free and paid apps that can enhance your store experience. Here are the five best customer support apps on Shopify.

Facebook Chat by Beeketing

Online consumers are more open to interacting via the internet than having a phone conversation. The Facebook Chat app gives stores the ability to live chat with customers via Messenger right from the Shopify store platform. The app itself installs with no coding and requires minimal resources to run. Customize your chat settings, such as color and chat icon, to raise brand awareness with customers and move them from conversation to purchase. The developer, Beeketing, offers several other apps to grow a store’s customer base.

Free

Zendesk

Zendesk is one of the premier customer support software companies, so it’s no surprise their Shopify app is so popular. Zendesk gives Shopify stores a widget to display on every store page that helps customers get in touch with support directly. The support platform itself makes customer interaction easier, as support team members have clear, customized visibility to relevant customer data. If you’ve yet to implement a successful customer support tool, a tried-and-true solution like Zendesk is bound to fill your need.

30-day free trial

$18.99/mo

AfterShip Returns Center

E-commerce return rates can exceed 30 percent depending on the product. Even slight mismanagement of the reverse logistics process can mean considerable profit margin loss. AfterShip gives e-commerce stores a branded page to streamline self-service returns and facilitate notifications to customers.

Using an app like AfterShip gives your store credibility and can help impress customers with your return experience, which makes them more likely to buy from you in the future. AfterShip offers language switching, zones and routing rules to be set, as well as the option to export return data to CSV.

5 returns = Free

20 returns = $9/mo

100 returns = $29/mo

Easy Contact Form

To become a prosperous e-commerce merchant, you must gain trust and be transparent with customers. One essential portal that always should be left open is a way for customers to get in touch at any time of day. The Easy Contact Form app isn’t just one tool, but a bundle of over 25 free and paid marketing tools. Integrate social buttons to boost your follower count, integrate custom slide boxes to promote a sale or develop a straightforward ‘Contact Us’ page with a custom background image. ‘Easy’ lives up its name by integrating your social accounts and mailing service to ensure the contacts you collect end up in your marketing touchpoints.

Free tools available

14-day Free Trial for premium tools

Wishlist Plus

If every visitor who added something to a cart or a list ended up purchasing, your e-commerce store would grow like wild roses. But this isn’t reality. The internet can steal shoppers’ attention pretty quickly. And once they leave, there’s no guarantee they’re coming back. That’s where Wishlist Plus offers stores a lot of value. Wishlist+ integrates with any Shopify store theme and offers numerous API customization options to better blend into your shopping experience. Include an ‘add to Wishlist’ button on your site to capture insightful data about your customers, which can then be used to send re-engagement emails and win customers back.

100 wishlist items per/mo = Free

1,000 wishlist items per/mo = $9.99/mo

10,000 wishlist items per/mo = $29.99/mo

50,000 wishlist items per/mo = $59.99/mo

You can’t depend on new customers to fuel your store’s growth. The way to make long-term strides is to build your repeat-customer base. But the only way to do that is to provide stellar experiences. Start with one or more of the five best customer support apps on Shopify when shoring up your store’s customer service, returns process and opportunities for re-engagement.