Top 10 most useful Shopify integrations for POD sellers

Do you remember the last time you were in the shop looking for something to spend your money on? You browsed through some shelves, worked your way into another aisle, and then finally found the item. You looked at it, thinking how amazing it was. And then a sudden thought pierces your mind… I would buy it if it were blue, beige, ebony, with my dog’s picture printed on it… This, my friend, means that you, in fact, have fallen into a trap of customization. 

Is POD that good?

We often don’t even notice how badly we are into the “customizing our lives” hole as it has become the most ordinary part of our lives. You expect items to come in a variety of colors, and you feel ecstatic when you see that you can add your own photo to an item. I will always choose a T-shirt with my print over a generic one. Will you? Because statistics show that I am not the only one. One survey notes that 65% of people will choose shopping online for personalized items over traditional shopping. 

This, of course, is great news for anyone out there wanting to start a new business that involves custom goods design and manufacturing. And the industry (which is called Print-On-Demand or POD) is already booming. So, if you want to start a business focused on selling custom items, it is high time to do so, as the demand, according to Google trends, hasn’t even flinched since last year.

What to be aware of?

However, there are things you have to be wary of when starting this journey. While being a profitable and seemingly straightforward business to lead, POD has multiple slippery slopes. Thankfully, many services like Shopify can help you start your journey fairly easily, allowing you to set up a shop, but there are more things to consider if you plan to take your business seriously. 

Starting with the overall oversaturation of the market where you find it difficult to be noticed as a shop, save from getting sales. But even with amazing marketing some things get overcomplicated when managing a business, for example:

• Finding software to actually create custom design 
• Approving those designs with clients
• Setting up a pleasantly looking shop
• and so much more

However, isn’t it a good thing that many of these problems have already been thought of and solved? Having a big community of talented people, Shopify has already attracted multiple individuals and companies that created integrations to help business owners. Some are extremely popular among Shopify users, and some are criminally underrated. Therefore, we present you with our top 10 most useful integrations on Shopify for POD sellers. Do you think one of these will help you out?

Approval Studio Integration

Rating: you might be first to enjoy it/5

Price: starting at 160/month

When the time comes for a customer to order a design it is highly important that they get the design they specifically asked for. Otherwise, what is the point of a POD? For that Approval Studio Integration by Approval Studio comes in handy. It creates an automated workflow for every order, that allows seamless work from the reference file upload to customer approval. Each design will be sent to a client by e-mail or a link for them to add comments to it, approve, or decline without the need to even register in the system. 

Additionally, the integration will allow you to set up a button for reference upload from the client directly on a checkout. This file will be sent to the Approval Studio project created for the order and the artist can download it at any given moment. While the manager can easily monitor order progression from the integration menu. 

However, it is far from all the Approval Studio functionality! Compare versions, have project discussions, assign tasks, use Kanban view for project progression and monitoring, and so much more for each designer out there! If don’t want to miss the opportunity of trying one of the best proofing software for creatives, book a demo now!

Anywhere POD Personalizer

Rating: 5/5

Price: 29.99/month

The first challenge you will face when creating your own POD shop is looking for software that can help you create custom designs with ease. And the integration that is bound to help is Anywhere POD Personalizer by AnywherePOD. Not only does it offer a convenient way to create custom designs, but also turns them into mock-ups or ready-to-print designs to reduce the amount of work needed. 

Furthermore, it allows its users to create/choose tags that will be visible in the store. And as a cherry on top, you will be able to connect with one of the trusted suppliers who will make sure to make your design exactly as it has been devised. 

Gorgias

Rating: 4.4/5

Price: starting at 10/month

Another pillar of a POD business is communication with the client. That can prove to be a difficult task. Especially, if you have to not only manage orders but also various means of communication. All that can be helped with when you have Gorgias by Gorgias Inc. integrated into your Shopify store. Connect Instagram, Twitter, E-mail, and other means of communication use to one inbox to never miss a thing. Likewise, manage orders without even leaving the integration menu: cancel, duplicate, edit, or refund orders quickly, enhancing customer experience.

What is even better, Gorgias allows you to understand the customer journey from the beginning until its end. You will be able to see their actions to understand what a typical customer does. And when dealing with them, you will have all customer information (phone number, address, order details) at your fingertips to comprehend each client’s need perfectly. 

Currency Converter Bear

Rating: 5/5

Price: 9.99/month

All successful stores have one thing in common: sooner or later they start globalizing and selling to more countries than previously. And that brings many crucial changes that need to be thought of. And one of them is, of course, a matter of convenience. However, it will hugely improve customer satisfaction: currency conversion. Currency Converter Bear by Conversion Bear is a guy for the job! Supporting multiple currencies, this tool allows you to choose how many or few to include, ensuring a tailored approach to global sales.

With exchange rates updated multiple times daily, your prices stay accurate and competitive, eliminating revenue loss due to outdated rates. Furthermore, the converter ensures all currencies are supported at checkout, enhancing the customer experience. You also gain full design control, allowing the currency switcher to align perfectly with your brand’s look and feel.

vIMG: Multiple Variant Images

Rating: 4.2/5

Price: 2/month

Another crucial part of any business is its clean look. I’m not talking about reputation, however, it is a thing to consider, but the aesthetic, or as they call it, vibe of the shop. What ensures a clean and professional style is neatly organized products and their variants. And vIMG: Multiple Variant Images app by Fresh Concept Design is a tool that can help you with this. By allowing users to assign multiple images to each variant, it displays only the selected images per variant.

This uncluttered photo presentation not only enhances user experience but also boosts conversion rates. Users can effortlessly add multiple images for each product variant and display images specific to the selected variant. The app also supports adding common images for all variants and showcasing images for collection pages. The creators made sure to make the app compatible with almost any store.

Hextom: Bulk Image Edit & SEO

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: starting at 9.99/month

Another prominent feature of a growing store is the quantity of the products they offer and the continuous growth with which the quality increases. However, with a huge amount of products and changes that are to come, it may be difficult to edit every single item manually. Hextom: Bulk Image Edit & SEO by Hextom will be the one to help you with the task. The app offers an array of features, including bulk editing options for resizing, cropping, rotating, framing, trimming, and watermarking images with ease. It also supports the uploading and downloading of store images for backup, restoration, or new product launches.

In addition to bulk edits, users can individually select images for specific adjustments, allowing for detailed customization. And, the app will help its users with SEO optimization of said images. This, in turn, will boost the store’s organic search engine traffic, ensuring your store ranks higher in search results

Urgency+ | All‑in‑one FOMO App

Rating: 4.6/5

Price: 12.95/month

What is one of the hardest things in owning a store? Getting people to buy. Fortunately, people love getting discounts, last offers, and other incentives to finally get that product. And Urgency+ | All‑in‑one FOMO App by Amai can help you achieve all of the above. This app offers over 10 urgency tools and features, saving you time and money by combining multiple functions into one app. They include, but are not limited to: Countdown Timers, The Spin the Whee, Social-Proof Alerts, The Stock Counter, and Urgency Emails.

Furthermore, the app is super easy to customize which makes the client’s experience smoother and and more pleasant. The pop-ups customized specifically by you, are less obnoxious and more likely to incentivize and get a sell. 

DT: Delivery Timer

Rating: 4.7/5

Price: 7.99/month

When the purchase has already been made, your journey of acquiring the client does not finish. A satisfied customer is the one who has enjoyed the trip from the start until the finish. And nothing makes you happier than knowing at what stage exactly your purchase is. Here comes DT: Delivery Timer by LAUNCHTIP. This app reduces checkout friction by offering clear shipping and delivery information, featuring a “get it by” countdown and delivery timer that enhances your store’s visual appeal. It communicates a clear timeline from order placement to receipt, making it easy for customers to understand the shipping process.

Furthermore, you can create custom rules for products and collections with varying lead times, ensuring accurate delivery information for each item. Tailored to your store’s specific order-by, cut-off, and dispatch times, this app ensures customers know exactly when to expect their purchase. It even includes geolocation zones for accurate delivery details across different countries and states, providing a seamless shopping experience for your customers.

Apptile ‑ Mobile App Builder

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: 49./month

A growing business must not only get bigger in size but also evolve everything that is connected to client experience quality. And what is the thing that most clients want? An intuitive and convenient app to access goods even faster. And Apptile ‑ Mobile App Builder by Apptile will be able to help you create one. With Apptile, you can create an on-brand mobile app featuring stunning designs and limitless customization. This app allows you to create immersive content experiences and customizable Product Detail Pages and Product Listing Pages.

And the best thing about it is that you do not have to have any coding experience at all to be able to build a visually stunning mobile app effortlessly. A mobile app that will delight your customers with AI-driven personalization, seamless product merchandising, engaging content, and automated push notifications, all wrapped in a sleek, modern design tailored to your needs.

Forma | Surveys that convert

Rating: you might be first to enjoy it/5

Price: 9.99/month

A successful store is one that knows its buyers, their expectations, needs, wants, and the impact that the business makes on them. Therefore, getting feedback from the customers after they have finished the purchase is crucial. Forma | Surveys that convert by Forma can help with this dreadful task. Forma allows you to gather zero-party data directly from your customers by offering small discounts in exchange for completing surveys. This data, collected from both abandoned and converted customers, provides real-time insights into your brand, products, and overall customer experience, helping you make informed business decisions.

It is fully customizable, meaning you can ask your most pressing questions and tailor the survey style, format, and text to fit seamlessly with your store’s theme. Even if you are unsure about the right questions, Forma has your back. It includes a comprehensive library of survey questions covering a range of brand and product topics, ensuring you can gather the information you need. And later you can access and export your customer data easily, with options to download in CSV format. 

Final thoughts

Leading a business is hard work that requires a huge amount of stamina and actual interest in what you do. However, sometimes even the greatest artist will not be able to withstand all the red tape associated with running a POD business. This is where Shopify and its vast app store comes in handy. With those two by your side and the integrations that we’ve discussed today running a business will be as easy as adding comments in Approval Studio! So, look at the list, choose wisely, and discover new things that improve your workflow every day. And Approval Studio will be here to help you do that, and proof your artwork, of course!)