Too Many Shortcomings Requiring Too Many Apps

[Thomas_Romer]

I am looking to password protect a collection on my site. Guess what. Another app. $5 to $9 a month to do this. 

What else am I paying for? 

Infinite options so that I can make options on products that don’t then multiply every other option already in there so I have 100+ variants. That costs money. 

Automate shipping profiles, because figuring out how to combine shipping rates between varying types of products is nearly impossible to understand. That costs money. 

Do you want to have a free shipping and discount code? You need an app for that. 

There are so many other times things I have wanted to do. Basic stuff that when I looked into it — I found out I would have to pay $5 to $15 a month to add some one small function that arguably should be built into the basic platform. 

Even the design templates I have to pay a third party for one that is really nice. 

I feel like Shopify has stopped making the site better and all I see coming out are various “sales” based apps and services. What about making the platform itself better? Imagine Apple built this platform. Would they settle for weird omissions that are not available on the basic framework?

Does Shopify get a cut of the $$ from apps? Is that why it is SO dependent on third party developers? I recently had a bad bug on the site and a tech told me I shouldn’t have more than 10 apps installed. That is impossible. About 7 of them are Shopify developed apps (which are free at least) like Flow, Shop… there is even one called Online Store which begs the question what happens if I delete that?!?!

[glassit]

Hello @Thomas_Romer 

This is Glass It , a price tracker solution that can help you increase profit margins. As an app developer who just recently got their first app approved for public distribution in the Shopify App store, I can tell you that yes, for the most part Shopify collects on all billing charges originated from Shopify Apps, except in a few limited scenarios. I'm not sure who told you there is a hard ceiling to the number of apps your store should have installed, but that seems inaccurate. What they probably were referring to is the maintainability of having so many apps. The more apps you use, the more of a maintenance nightmare it becomes to ensure you have the latest version with security updates, compatible for your store, etc. 

That said, Shopify apps are very useful for merchants to focus on core business, and provide a very nice alternative to paying a developer a standard development rate. 

[Magee]

@Thomas_Romer I couldn't agree more. I feel extremely duped by Shopify. They sell the platform as being able to A,B, C and D to make your store a success. I'm not naïve to believe there's a magic pill to a successful online store, but Shopify can do barely anything without the need for third party apps.

A lot of them as you mentioned should be basic functions for a user that's already paying monthly. Want to display reviews, nope pay for it. Need to make simple adjustments to a theme page layout without being an expert in liquid code, nope pay for an app. Want to have pre-orders, no, you need to pay for an app for that too...the list goes on an on. If you want to read the rest of the list, I'm sure you'll find a third party app that will let you 😛 For what you pay for there's little in return, actually feels like all your paying for is web hosting space. Only started setting things up a month or two ago and honestly don't know if I'll stick with Shopify or not.

The amount of apps required to get a shop up and running properly is ridiculous and needs to be made more clear, that numerous paid apps will be needed before you can actually have a properly functioning store.  

[Lintottshop]

Shopify is very deceptive about what they offer. They definitely make it sound like you’re fairly set with their hosting. I’m going to switch to Square or another that doesn’t make us pay for 25 different apps on top of monthly fees. Even their free help is quite limited unless you pay to hire someone. It’s not user friendly as they claim. 

[Magee]

Yeah, I'm looking at alternatives too. The monthly fee is basically just web hosting and an SSL certificate. The majority of the functions needed for a store are then bolted on by having to pay for third party apps, most of which should be included as basic requirements of an online store. Pretty disappointed to be honest by Shopify's deceptive marketing.

[Lintottshop]

Shopify markets itself as small business oriented but it’s not. It only gives the bare minimum unless large stores that pay for the extra levels.  I’m very disappointed at how much gets eaten up by the apps we must install just for a basic modern website. 

[TNR]

I completely agree. I’ve also been advised against having “too many apps” that may slow down my site speed, but 80% of those I have installed are backend/admin only or Shopify apps. I try to be really careful to only install what’s “necessary”, but simple implementations like discount code in cart (for better conversions) should really be built-in as an option. It’s not even about the money at this point, but it’s more about needing so many apps for a decently functioning store and delivery a good customer experience. I spend a ridiculous amount of time vetting apps due to worries about conflicts, updates, weighing the pros/cons of App A that might do 3 tasks “okay”, or installing 3 separate apps that perform those same tasks really well, etc. Never mind the headache of uninstalling and worrying about lingering code. If I need a solution, I’m told by Shopify support “there’s an app (most likely not free) for that” AND warned in the Shopify Help documentation about installing “too many.” 

[Brooke_A]

I can only imagine Shopify must get a cut otherwise how do you explain so many basic simple features not being native. I just want to be able to send my customers an invoice, but to do that I need to install an App that gives this third party access to my customers geolocation, IP Address, etc. How is that information relevant - I can't bring myself to do this to my customers so I'm stuck manually creating invoices in Canva. 

[Iris]

Hello! Thank you for getting in touch!

We do have an invoice feature available on Shopify. To access it, simply head over to your admin section and click on "Orders". From there, select "Create an order" to input order and customer details, and then you can send out the invoice. If the customer has already paid, you can mark it as paid. You also have the option to accept payment right away or send the invoice to pay later. How does this sound to you? We also offer a free invoice generator tool that you might find helpful.

Let me know if you have any more questions! I would love to learn more about your business. What kind of products are you selling?