Any business that wants to advance and succeed must keep an eye on its retention analytics.

This definitely applies to your brand too...

Remember - a loyal, happy customer will never consider alternatives. They won’t mind paying for more expensive products and/or services when they trust and are loyal to your brand.

On average, half of your entire revenue comes from the top 20% of your customer base. When you start thinking about it, you will quickly realize how important this is.

It’s even easier and more cost-effective to retain all your existing customers than to acquire new ones. Generally, returning shoppers spend a lot more and buy more frequently.

Plus, some of them might even refer your brand to other friends and family associates.

And what’s more interesting is that only a 5% increase in customer retention can boost company revenue by 25% (at minimum).

However, if you look up “customer retention” in the official App Store, you will notice that hundreds of solutions are accessible.

So how do you track down the most suitable app without spending time on research?

Best Shopify Apps To Improve Your Customer Retention Rate [Most are FREE]

To assist you in placing your customer retention strategy in motion, we’ve listed a few crucial Shopify apps that will keep your most valuable consumers engaged and increase the overall repeat purchase rate on your eCommerce website.

Keep reading until the end to see which tools you could take advantage of.

What Is Customer Retention?

But, before we can officially start the listing, let’s quickly explain what customer retention is.

If you didn’t know by now - customer retention is the ability of a business to retain its loyal consumers over a certain period of time. It’s represented as a percentage and can be easily calculated.

For instance, if your company begins the new year with 12 consumers and loses 2 of them, then you initially have an 80% retention.

But, just remember - there are a few things that you should take into account as well. You have to account for all the new customers you gained throughout the entire year as well.

Retention rate formula

Here’s the formula to calculate your customer retention rate in a few seconds:

• (EC-NC)/SC x 100
  • EC - Ending customers (at time period)
  • NC - New customers (during period)
  • SC - Starting customers (at time period)

Here’s an example:

• You have 45 ending customers, you acquire 10 new consumers. At the start of the period, you have 40 customers. Your retention rate is 87.5%.
  
  • ( 45 - 10 ) / 40 ) x 100 = 87.5% retention rate

It’s simple math! Now that you have your customer retention rate, you can track it each year and see if there is some improvement from the last one.

Let’s start with the official app listing - shall we?

1. Fera

Fera Product Reviews 4.9 stars with 5,400+ reviews

Fera Product Reviews stands as the best Shopify app for improving customer retention rates. It allows you to gather various consumer reviews (text, image, video) and present them on your official website (any particular section).

And on top of that, Fera even comes with incentive awards as well. This way, you will be able to award your customer for each review and encourage them to do more shopping with their discount code or loyalty points!

Why You Need Fera Product Reviews:

• Create and show off customer reviews widgets
• Offer incentives like discount codes for reviews so customers shop with you again
• Sync with your email marketing app to create flows based on the review rating a customer left
• Download and use the application in a few seconds - works on any Shopify theme

Fera Product Reviews Pricing:

Smaller Offers:

• Free (free) - Around 10 exclusive review submissions and 1 active widget.
• Start-up ($9/mo) - Around 100 exclusive review submissions, 3 active widgets, and customization features.
• Small ($29/mo) - Up to 1,000 exclusive review submissions, 10 active widgets, and unique product grouping.
• Medium ($99/mo) - Up to 10,000 exclusive review submissions, 20 active widgets, and multi-shop sync.

Bigger Offers:

• Semi-Large ($199/mo) - Around 25,000 exclusive review submissions and 30 active widgets.
• Large Plan ($299/mo) - Around 50,000 exclusive review submissions and 50 active widgets.
• X-Large Plan ($599/mo) - Up to 100,000 exclusive review submissions and 100 active widgets.
• Enterprise Plan ($999/mo) - Over 500,000 exclusive review submissions, 200 active widgets.

Type Of Stores Fera Product Reviews Is Best For:

Fera is perfect for both start-ups and professional businesses.

2. Smile

Smile: Loyalty & Rewards 4.8 stars with 5,6 00+ reviews

If you want to build long-term relations with your customers, then you should certainly consider setting up an individual loyalty program.

Smile: Loyalty & Rewards will provide you with all of the essential tools. The app is trusted by thousands of growing brands and has years of experience in this area.

Why You Need Smile: Loyalty & Rewards:

• Choose how to reward your customer’s loyalty (points, referrals, discounts)
• Customize your whole program and make it appropriate for your business goals
• Send reminder emails to your shoppers and encourage them to use their rewards

Smile: Loyalty & Rewards Pricing:

• Free Package (Free) - Up to 200 monthly orders, points, referrals, “Smile” branding, pre-made reward emails, and analytics.
• Starter Package ($49 per month) - Everything on “Free Package” + unlimited orders, advanced branding, remove branding, full customization, and 1 app integration.
• Growth Package ($199 per month) - Everything on “Starter Package” + unlimited orders, nudges, points expiration time, premium analytics, and 2 app integrations.
• Pro Package ($599 per month) - Everything on “Growth Package” + unlimited orders, VIP program, exclusive features, unlimited integrations, and API access.

Type Of Stores Smile: Loyalty & Rewards Is Best For:

Users that want to increase their retention rate by providing their consumers with exciting awards.

3. Recharge

Recharge Subscriptions 4.6 stars with 1,500+ reviews

Recharge offers your customers the ability to fully manage their online-based subscription payments directly from the site. This way, your shoppers will enjoy the convenience and flexibility you provide them with, and you will enjoy the recurring revenue each month.

Why You Need Recharge Subscriptions:

• Set up the entire subscription program and connect your preferred payment processors
• Receive influential insights about your customer’s demands and preferences in real-time
• Gain the advantage of their app integrations and take your business to the next stage

Recharge Subscriptions Pricing:

• Standard ($99/month) - Subscription billing, full order management, special merchant tools, payment options, essential analytics. RATE: 1.25% + 19¢ per transaction.
• Pro ($499/month) - Everything on “Standard + enhanced customer portal, enhanced analytics, and premium support. RATE: 1% + 19¢ per transaction.

Type Of Stores Recharge Subscriptions Is Best For:

Suitable for stores offering recurring subscription services or products.

4. Tidio

Tidio - Live Chat & Chatbots 4.7 stars with 1,500+ reviews

Every good business needs professional customer support. Tidio - Live Chat & Chatbots is an all-in-one solution that allows you to communicate with your consumers in just a few clicks easily.

This way, you can resolve all their problems and show them how much you value them.

Why You Need Tidio - Live Chat & Chatbots:

• Take care of your customers with automated responses for common tickets
• Quickly review all of the visitors on your page and start a conversation
• Employ some proven eCommerce techniques to increase your sale conversions
• A modern widget that will significantly enhance the appearance of your website

Tidio - Live Chat & Chatbots Pricing:

• Free (free) - Live Chat - conversations with 50 users, Chatbots: with up to 100 visitors/mo, Ticketing.
• Customer Service ($19/month) - All Free plan features, Analytics, Live visitors list, Operating hours.
• Lyro AI Agent ($49/month) - All Free plan features, Website scrapper, Lyro tasks, Native Shopify actions .

Type Of Stores Tidio - Live Chat & Chatbots Is Best For:

The app is mainly recommended for businesses that want to have a better connection with their customers.

5. UpOrder (formerly Spently)

UpOrder (formerly Spently) 4.6 stars with 580+ reviews

Used by both big and small businesses, Spently is a tool that can help you improve customer retention and boost repeat sales by sending valuable after-purchase emails. You will be able to pick from several pre-made templates or even create your own design by using a drag-and-drop builder.

Why You Need UpOrder:

• Employ some product suggestions or pre-set collections on their emails
• Activate the automatic email campaigns for a much better consumer return rate
• See how your emails performed with the help of the ROI-based reports & analytics

UpOrder Pricing:

• Free To Install - 1st 25 orders/mo free and $10 per add’l 50 orders up to 1K. For >1K/mo or multiple stores, we can customize a plan. .

Type Of Stores UpOrder Is Best For:

Ideal for stores that have powerful email marketing techniques.

6. ReturnGO

ReturnGO Return & Exchange Portal 5.0 stars with 290+ reviews

Want to boost your customer retention rate? Well, you will need to start handling the returns in the best way possible. ReturnGo makes it easy for online purchasers to acquire store credit, exchange for a similar product, or fastly obtain a refund - all within the Shopify platform.

Why You Need ReturnGO Return & Exchange Portal:

• Customize your product return & exchange policy based on the conditions
• Allow your loyal consumers to successfully cancel unfulfilled orders
• Automatically generate beautiful return shipping labels in a few seconds

ReturnGO Return & Exchange Portal Pricing:

• Starter Plan ($23/month) - Full returns solution, Variant exchange, Return labels .
• Premium Plan ($121/month) - All Starter features plus: Product exchange, AI-powered instant store credit, Gift returns .
• Pro Plan ($297/month) - All Premium features plus: Packing slips, Item validation, White label portal .

Type Of Stores ReturnGO Return & Exchange Portal Is Best For:

It is perfectly suitable for both start-up stores and professional veterans.

7. Fairing (formerly Enquire)

Fairing (formerly Enquire) 5.0 stars with 140+ reviews

Showing your consumers that you’re actually paying attention to their feedback is a crucial step in building brand loyalty. With the assistance of Enquire, you will be able to create some stunning post-purchase surveys that offer valuable insights into your brand.

Why You Need Fairing:

• Add more clarity by employing various question types (multiple-choice, open-ended, and single response)
• Use some crucial insights from this application and expand your business (intuitive dashboard)
• Ask the correct consumers at the right time (beta production)

Fairing Pricing:

• Starter Package ($49/month) - Around 500 product orders per month.
• Basic Package ($149/month) - Up to 1,000 product orders per month.
• Premium Package ($299/month) - Up to 5,000 product orders per month.

Type Of Stores Fairing Is Best For:

Businesses that want to gain unique insights from their own consumers.

Conclusion

That's it for today!

Just remember - customer retention should be a primary strategy for any type of business. So, even if you've had your business for a long time, you should definitely consider installing these apps in order to maximize your retention rate and maximize lifetime value of a customer!

They feature easy-to-access tools and functions that will make things a lot more convenient.

*All information is based on the Shopify app store listings as of January 2024.