I've watched merchants waste money on features nobody used - here's what actually drives repeat purchases

Shopify Apps
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Working closely with many Shopify merchants on their apps, I’ve noticed a pattern: the features that sound impressive in a sales pitch are rarely the ones that bring customers back. The ones that actually work are usually pretty simple.

Features that sound good but rarely move the needle:

  • AR try-on or 3D product views (cool demo, low usage in practice)
  • Gamified rewards (spin-the-wheel, badges) with no real value behind them
  • Social feeds inside the app that nobody posts to
  • Heavy customization options that customers never touch

What actually drives repeat purchases:

  • A simple, reliable loyalty or points system tied to real discounts
  • Fast, relevant push notifications - restock, price drop, order updates
  • A genuinely easy checkout, faster than the website
  • Early access to new products or sales, exclusive to app users

This is one of the reasons the merchants I work with on Apploy tend to keep their app setup simple - the platform makes the basics (notifications, loyalty, early access) easy to set up well, so there’s less temptation to chase flashy extras that won’t get used anyway.

The common thread across every store I’ve seen is that customers come back for things that save them time or money, not for things that are novel. A flashy feature might get a few days of curiosity clicks, but it’s the boring, useful stuff that keeps someone opening the app three months later.

If you’re deciding what to add next, a good filter is simple: will this make it easier or cheaper for someone to buy from you again? If not, it’s probably not worth building yet, no matter how good it looks in a demo.

Happy to hear what others have seen work (or flop) in their own apps.

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Hey @VikashJ ,
I think that’s a fair observation. In my experience merchants often get more value from features that remove friction than from features that add novelty.

One thing I’d add is that it’s worth measuring engagement before investing in more advanced features. For example if customers are consistently opening push notifications redeeming loyalty rewards, and completing purchases through the app that’s usually a stronger signal than seeing a lot of one time interaction with AR or gamified experiences.

Of course there are exceptions depending on the industry but for most stores making it faster and easier to shop tends to have a bigger impact on long term retention than adding features that look impressive in a demo.

Thank You !