What Apps Do Top Shopify Stores Use? [500-Store Analysis]

TL;DR: We looked at 513 Shopify stores. The average store uses 3.2 apps. Klaviyo wins email (60% of stores). 28% have no email app at all. Stores with 1M+ visitors average 4.4 apps. The most common combo is Klaviyo + Gorgias + Rebuy.

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What apps do successful Shopify stores actually use?

Everyone has opinions. App Store rankings show what's popular, not what works. Tools that analyze one store at a time don't show patterns.

We wanted real data. So we looked at 513 Shopify stores across 15 categories. From new brands to 7-figure operations.

How We Did This

Sample: 513 Shopify stores in the StoreInspect database

Categories: Fashion (80), Food (57), Sports (47), Beauty (39), Home (34), and 10 more verticals

Store sizes:

• Under 10k monthly visitors: 215 stores
• 10k-50k: 94 stores
• 50k-500k: 63 stores
• 500k-5M: 119 stores
• 5M+: 22 stores

What we measured: Apps (found via script patterns), tracking pixels, themes, and Shopify Plus status.

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The Big Numbers

Before we break it down by category, the headlines:

Stores Use 3.2 Apps on Average

But this changes a lot based on size:

Bigger stores use more apps. Whether apps drive growth or growth leads to more apps - hard to say. But the pattern is clear.

The most we found was 11 apps on one store. More than that usually means clutter, not smarts.

76% of Million-Visitor Stores Use Klaviyo

Of stores with 1M-5M monthly traffic, 47 out of 62 use Klaviyo. Add in other email apps, and only 13% of big stores skip email marketing entirely.

Compare that to stores under 10k traffic: 39% have no email app.

Bottom line: Email isn't optional if you want to scale. Almost every store past 1M visitors has figured this out.

Real examples: Gymshark, Allbirds, and Fashion Nova all run Klaviyo.

28% of Stores Have No Email App

Across all stores, 156 out of 556 (28%) have no email marketing app we could detect. That's a big gap for:

• Email marketing agencies
• Klaviyo partners
• Anyone selling retention services

A store doing 20k+ monthly traffic without email flows? They're leaving money on the table.

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Most Popular Shopify Apps by Category

Let's break it down.

Email Marketing

Klaviyo wins by a mile. 60% of stores use it. That's more than all other email apps combined.

Attentive shows up as the SMS layer. Many stores run Klaviyo for email AND Attentive for SMS together.

Mailchimp at 10% is mostly smaller stores. Filter to 500k+ traffic, and Mailchimp drops below 7%. Bigger stores graduate to Klaviyo.

Reviews

This surprised us. 64% of stores have no reviews app.

Judge.me leads the pack, probably because of its free tier. Yotpo is close behind, more common in bigger stores.

For agencies: two-thirds of Shopify stores don't use social proof. That's an easy pitch.

Customer Support

Gorgias is the clear winner. It plugs right into Shopify (order lookup, refunds in the inbox). That's why DTC brands pick it over general tools like Zendesk.

Upsell & Cross-sell

Rebuy leads upsells. 12% of stores overall, but 17% of stores over 500k traffic. Bigger stores care more about increasing order value.

Loyalty Programs

About 15% of stores run loyalty apps. Smile.io leads with its free tier and referral features.

Analytics & Attribution

Elevar leads server-side tracking at almost 10%. It fixes the data problems with Meta and Google conversion tracking.

Northbeam shows up in 4% of all stores - but 17% of stores over 500k. Bigger stores need better attribution.

Note: Triple Whale's low number is a detection issue, not reality. Some apps are harder to spot from the frontend.

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Tracking Pixels

Beyond apps, we looked at what tracking pixels stores run.

What stands out:

• 77% run Meta Pixel - Facebook and Instagram ads are still king
• TikTok at only 10.8% - Still early despite the hype. This will grow.
• 60% run Google Ads - Big, but less than Meta
• Hotjar at 14% - Heatmaps and recordings are popular for improving sites

If you see a store with Meta + TikTok + Google + Pinterest pixels? They're spending real money on ads across platforms. That's a sign of budget and seriousness.

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The "Success Stack": What 7-Figure Stores Run

We looked at stores with 500k+ monthly visitors to find patterns.

Most Common App Combos

Klaviyo shows up in every top combo. It's the center of the stack for high-traffic stores.

The most common trio: Klaviyo + Gorgias + Rebuy. Email, support, and upsells. This combo appears more than any other.

The Typical 7-Figure Stack

Here's what most 7-figure Shopify stores run:

Not every 7-figure store has all of these. But stores with 4+ from this list are almost always doing real revenue.

Hot take: If you're past $1M/year and running fewer than 4 apps, you're probably leaving money on the table. The data says bigger stores invest in their stack.

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Apps by Store Category

App usage varies a lot by what stores sell.

Health stores lead at 4.1 apps. Makes sense. Health and supplement brands rely on subscriptions, loyalty programs, and email flows to keep customers coming back.

Fashion is surprisingly low at 2.9 apps, even though it's the biggest category. Many fashion brands lean on brand and social media more than apps.

Automotive is lowest at 1.8 apps. These stores focus more on product catalogs than retention tools.

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Themes

What themes are top stores running?

Dawn leads free themes by a lot. Shopify's flagship free theme is good enough for many stores.

Overall: 40% use paid themes, 36% custom, 24% free. Bigger stores lean toward paid or custom.

See what themes successful stores use in our Shopify themes directory.

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Shopify Plus vs Standard

Our sample skews heavily toward Shopify Plus (93%). We focused on established stores, not the full Shopify population.

The app gap (3.3 vs 0.9) is huge. Plus stores invest more in their tech stack. They have the budget, and Plus gives access to features many apps require.

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Where the Opportunities Are

For agencies and app vendors, the gaps matter as much as the installs.

64% of stores have no reviews app. That's not a small gap. Most Shopify stores are leaving social proof on the table.

28% have no email marketing. For stores doing 10k+ traffic, that's real money being missed.

Use StoreInspect to filter by "stores NOT using [specific app]" to find these leads.

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What This Means For You

If You're an Agency

1. Lead with Klaviyo - It's what successful stores use. If a prospect isn't on Klaviyo, that's your opener.

2. Reviews are wide open - 64% of stores don't have them. Easy pitch, clear value.

3. Target 10k-50k traffic stores - They have budget but haven't built out their stack yet. The 2.4 to 3.3 app jump happens here.

4. Health and Kids verticals spend more - They average 3.8-4.1 apps. Bigger budgets.

If You Sell Software

1. Build Klaviyo integrations - It's the hub. Every winning app connects to Klaviyo.

2. The "no email" segment is huge - 28% of stores. If you're in email or retention, that's your market.

3. Analytics is wide open - Only 12% have dedicated analytics beyond Google. Room to grow.

If You Own a Store

1. Check your stack against these numbers - If you're past 100k traffic with only 2 apps, you're probably missing something.

2. Email first - 93% of million-visitor stores use email marketing. It's not optional.

3. Reviews are easy wins - 64% of your competitors skip them. Stand out.

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FAQ

How do you detect what apps a store uses?

We use the Store Inspector extension detection patterns. Script signatures, app blocks, and JavaScript variables. Backend-only apps can't be detected.

Why is Triple Whale showing so low?

Some apps are harder to detect from the frontend. Triple Whale's low count is a detection limit, not real adoption. We only report what we can verify.

How often does this data update?

We scan stores continuously. Store data updates when re-scanned. These aggregate stats are from the latest snapshots.

Can I see what apps a specific store uses?

Yes. Use Store Inspector (free) to check any store. Or browse top stores by category in our database.

What about apps that only run server-side?

Backend apps (inventory, fulfillment, accounting) can't be detected. This analysis covers frontend apps only - which includes most marketing, analytics, and customer-facing tools.

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Summary

Based on 513 Shopify stores:

The success stack: Klaviyo + Gorgias + Rebuy + a reviews app + Elevar

The biggest gaps: Email (28%), reviews (64%), analytics (88%)

The pattern: More traffic = more apps. Consistently.

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Want to see what apps any Shopify store uses?

Install Store Inspector - free Chrome extension. One click to see apps, pixels, and themes.

Looking for stores to prospect?

StoreInspect lets you filter 500+ stores by apps, traffic, and category. Export with verified contacts.

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