In the competitive world of eCommerce, traffic does not guarantee success. Even the best products and the cheapest prices are not enough on their own. Using a Social Proof app is a quick way to show customers they can trust your Shopify store – but there are over 200 apps in the Shopify store for creating Social Proof. This summary compares the best social proof apps for Shopify stores in October 2024.
The 5 Best Social Proof Apps For Shopify in October 2024
- Nudgify – “Nudge your Visitors into Customers”
- FOMO – “Honesty Is The Best Marketing”
- Provesource – “Skyrocket Your Conversions”
- Fera – “Increase Sales with Social Proof & More”
- Bizzy – “Create Urgency With Recent Sales Notifications”
Before deciding which Social Proof app is the best for your Shopify store, it makes sense to think about what social proof is, how it is used, and why you might want it. In the era of Amazon and eBay, social proof has become a familiar part of marketing and web design.
Why Social Proof Matters For Shopify Stores
Social Proof is a powerful psychological effect which makes us copy the behaviour of those around us. It works because of our desire to fit in and our trust in the people we relate to.
The sales and marketing expert Cavett Robert outlined the principle of Social Proof in a guide to consumer behaviour he published in the 1960s. Describing the sales process, Robert famously stated:
95 % of people are imitators and only 5% initiators…people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer.
More recently, the principle of Social Proof has been used extensively by eCommerce platforms like Amazon. Subtle hints about what other people think and do have become a routine part of online shopping.
Whilst few websites have the data and resources of these eCommerce giants, anyone can use a social proof app to create the same kinds of messages. For Shopify store owners, there is a special category for social proof in the platform’s app store.
Nudgify is built within Shopify, so it can be added to a store without ever leaving the platform. It also means that the billing is simple to manage and there is virtually no setup needed. Like other Shopify social proof apps you can show recent activity, such as sales and page views, on any page. However, Nudgify also allows you to show when stock is running low, when a deal is ending and how much a customer needs to spend to qualify for free delivery.
Inside the App
Social Proof Messages
- Recent Sales & Sales Pop – Social proof based in purchases (2 people recently purchased this product)
- Popularity Nudge – Social proof based on views (28 people recently viewed this product)
- Order Soon Nudge – Creates urgency (Want it by 25 December? Order in 1h 32mins)
- Selling Fast Nudge – Tell when a product is likely to sell out, so customers stop procrastinating and click “Buy”
- Low Stock Nudge – Nudges hesitating browsers (Order now! Only 2 left in stock)
- Free Delivery Nudge – Shows customers your free delivery threshold (Free delivery when you spend over £20)
- Cart Counter Nudge – Show how many people have a product in their baskets right now
- Discount Nudge – Promote a discount in a Nudge and let online shoppers apply the discount with a check-box within the notification
- Custom Nudges – Says whatever you like (None of our products are tested on animals)
Pricing and Features
- Free – 1’000 Nudges/month
- $9 – 10,000 Nudges/month
- $29 – 100,000 Nudges/month
- $89 – 1,000,000 Nudges/month
Because it is a native Shopify app, Nudgify automatically identifies which of your website’s pages are product pages, collection pages and basket pages. That means you can assign different types of messages to different kinds of page, easily. Together with the range of Nudges you can use, and the customisation options, the ease-of-use makes Nudgify perfect for building trust instantly.
FOMO displays recent orders, product reviews, and a variety of other customer behaviours on Shopify Stores. However, the app can only be connected to Shopify by enabling an integration, which means displaying live sales and views can be complicated. It also means that your billing and account details are more difficult to manage.
By integrating through Zapier with other eCommerce tools (such as Mailchimp, Stripe and Trustpilot) you can show a wide range of messages about recent activity.
Social Proof Messages
- Recently Subscribed – Social proof based on a new subscriber (Tom from Jersey subscribed to Starter)
- Recently Started – Social proof based on a free trial starter (Michael started a free trial)
- Recent Updates – Social Proof based on technical updates (Roger pushed code to make FOMO even better)
- Recent Activity – Social Proof based on a custom event (Colin just helped Simon resolve a technical issue)
Pricing and Features
- $19/month – 25,000 notifications
- $39/month – 50,000 notifications
- $79/month – 250,ooo notifications
- $199/month – 3,000,000 notifications
The number of integration options means there are countless different types of message available for FOMO users. This is a real advantage, especially for enterprise customers.
Provesource is another Shopify social proof app that connects to an external platform. Like FOMO, it combines with other tools, such as Facebook and Google Reviews, to create Social Proof messages. Unlike FOMO, you can choose from a wide range of informational, event or review notifications.
Because of the reliance on integrations, it can be difficult to set up new notifications. On the other hand, there are tons of customisation options available to you.
Inside the App
Social Proof Messages
- Stream – Shows recent actions (Mike signed up for ProveSource)
- Informational – Highlights key information (Your purchase is backed by our guarantee)
- Counter – Shows the total visits or conversions you get (90 marketers are also interested)
- Reviews – Shows positive reviews from different platforms (One of the best experiences I’ve ever had)
- Combo – Combines visitors who completed an action in a time (Signed up for ProveSource in the last 24 hours)
Pricing and Features
- $16/month – 10,000 visitors
- $42/month – 50,000 visitors
- $84/month – 200,000 visitors
- $166/month – 500,000 visitors
Provesource offers a wide range of messaging options, and most of the templates can be easily edited.
Fera provides a range of interventions, including social proof messages, powered by artificial intelligence. It’s best to think of it as an all-purpose digital salesperson.
Alongside pop-ups showing information about recent sales and viewers, Fera can be used to add banners, carousels, buy-one-get-one-free offers and countdown timers to your website.
One of the most exciting features offered by Fera is the A/B testing option. Once you set a goal, this feature allows you to compare one notification against another.
Inside the App
Social Proof Messages (“Skills”)
- Testmionial Popup – Share testimonials (I’m really happy with what I received)
- Social Proof Popup – Show recent conversions (Jane from Dublin recently purchased)
- Recently Sold Counter – Show sales count (121 people recently purchased this)
- Low Stock – show when an item is nearly sold out (Only 2 left! 2 people are viewing this)
Pricing and Features
- $9/mo (startup) Only 3 skills, less than $5000 monthly revenue, limited customisation
- $29/month (small) 10 skill limit, $50k monthly revenue
- $99/month (medium) 20 skill limit, $200k monthly revenue
The variety of messages, or “skills”, makes Fera stand out from the other apps. The use of live data is also more sophisticated than most of the other options.
Bizzy Social Proof is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to make recent activity visible on your Shopify store. Whilst the only type of notification available is the recent conversion message, these can be customised to match your store’s branding.
Inside the App
Social Proof Messages
- Recent Conversions – Share live data about sales and sign-ups (Someone from France recently signed-up for…)
Pricing and Features
- $6.99/mo
This is a cheap and simple option that takes under two minutes to set up and use. If you want a basic set of social proof notifications for your Shopify store, Bizzy is a great option.
Other Ways to Add Social Proof To Your Store
An app is the easiest way to ensure that Social Proof works with your store, not against it. However, there are a number of other ways to capitalise on your store’s popularity without displaying customer activity in real time.
- Displaying user-generated content.
By combining your social media channels and your Shopify store, you can display pictures of real customers using your products. Apps like Growave build an Instagram gallery for your store, providing endless user-generated content. Visitors can add any featured products to their baskets directly from the gallery.
- Collecting and displaying reviews with a Shopify app
There are two ways to add reviews to your Shopify product pages. The simplest is to use one of the plugins from the app store. Apps like JudgeMe are very easy to use and let you collect and display reviews for individual products with very little effort. The other way to add reviews to your store is to connect it with your reviews platform.
- Embedding a reviews platform widget
If you have a Business TrustPilot account, you can use the platform’s Shopify integration. It is slightly more complicated to set this up than it would be to use a plugin, but you will benefit from the added credibility that comes with a recognised reviews platform.
Make The Most Of Your Shopify Social Proof App
If your business does not have the resources to engineer custom solutions, social proof apps are a quick and simple way to build trust and credibility on Shopify. Social proof helps to reduce customer anxieties, in turn increasing sales and allowing your store to grow. Even larger businesses can use social proof to help improve their Shopify conversion rate.
No matter how well a social proof app is designed, there is one essential component they cannot work without: live, honest data. If customers begin to suspect that you are showing them fake Social Proof, it could even reduce your conversion rate. So, whichever app you choose, honesty is essential.
