The Shopify App Store has both apps offered by outside companies and official apps offered by Shopify itself. Shopify's official apps tend to integrate easily with the admin and standard features, and can be put to work across many aspects of running a store — customer inquiries, form building, workflow automation, and more.
This article focuses on the official Shopify apps that EC managers are most likely to consider adopting, organized by purpose, along with things to watch for.
*This content is based on information as of July 2026. App availability, pricing, supported countries, supported plans, and features are subject to change. Check each app's page on the Shopify App Store before adopting it.
What Are Official Shopify Apps?
Official Shopify apps are apps within the Shopify App Store that are developed or provided by Shopify itself. The Shopify App Store has an "Apps by Shopify" page, which lists 40 apps as of July 2026.
Official Shopify apps suit stores that want to add core features step by step. For example, Shopify Inbox is a candidate if you want to start handling customer inquiries, Shopify Forms if you want to collect customer information, and Shopify Flow if you want to automate operations.
How to read Shopify's app pricing labels
The Shopify App Store uses pricing labels like "Free," "Free to install," and "Free plan available." However, none of these mean "there is absolutely no cost involved in running it."
| Pricing label | What it means | Things to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | The app itself can be used at no cost | Whether add-on features or external service usage fees apply |
| Free to install | Installation itself is free | Whether ad spend, sending fees, external service usage fees, transaction fees, etc. apply |
| Free plan available | A free-to-use plan is offered | Whether the free plan has limits on features or volume |
For example, Shopify Inbox and Shopify Forms are listed as free apps on the Shopify App Store. Shopify Messaging, Shopify Collabs, Shopify Marketplace Connect, and others, on the other hand, are listed as free to install, and depending on how you use them, sending costs or external service usage fees may apply.
When an EC manager is considering adopting an app, also check whether additional costs will apply once it's actually in use.
How this differs from third-party apps
Official Shopify apps are built on the assumption that they'll integrate with the Shopify admin and standard features. They're easy to adopt when you want to add core functionality, or when you want to simply try out a feature without complex conditions.
Third-party apps, on the other hand, are often specialized for a particular operation or sales method. For detailed operations aimed at the Japanese market — gift services, delivery date/time specification, membership tiers, LINE integration, payment restrictions, order limits, and so on — a third-party app is sometimes a better fit.
A practical approach is to build your core functionality with official apps, and fill in the gaps with third-party apps.
Quick Reference: Official Shopify Apps EC Managers Should Check First
Because there are so many official Shopify apps, it's easier to choose when you look at them by purpose. Here we organize the representative official apps that EC managers are most likely to consider adopting.
| Goal | App to check out | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Improve customer inquiry handling | Shopify Inbox | Chat display, checking customer information, notification settings |
| Collect customer information | Shopify Forms | Form building, display condition settings, customer tagging |
| Automate operations | Shopify Flow | Automating inventory alerts, customer tagging, order confirmation |
| Improve on-site search | Shopify Search & Discovery | Filter settings, synonym settings, product recommendations |
| Go multilingual | Shopify Translate & Adapt | Store translation, localization, editing translated content |
| Start subscriptions | Shopify Subscriptions | Creating subscription plans, skip/pause, cancellation management |
| Sell bundles | Shopify Bundles | Fixed bundle creation, multi-pack sales, inventory syncing |
| Connect in-store sales with your online store | Point of Sale | POS sales, inventory syncing, staff permission management |
If you're not sure where to start, it's a good idea to check out Shopify Inbox, Shopify Forms, and Shopify Flow first. These apps touch day-to-day operations for many stores — handling inquiries, collecting customer information, and automating tasks.
Official Shopify Apps Recommended for Customer Acquisition and Support
Here we introduce official Shopify apps that increase touchpoints with customers and can be put to work in inquiry handling and marketing initiatives.
Shopify Inbox
Image source: Shopify Inbox | Shopify App Store
Shopify Inbox is a free app for handling chat on your online store. It lets you manage online store chat and Shop app conversations together in one place, and check the customer's profile, cart contents, and browsed products while responding.
For apparel that requires help choosing a size, cosmetics that need usage guidance, or products with frequent questions about delivery dates or gift options, this can be a useful support channel for easing pre-purchase hesitation. Because it's relatively easy for a non-engineer EC manager to adopt, it's a high-priority app for stores wanting to improve inquiry handling.
That said, if your store receives a large volume of inquiries, or you want to manage inquiries across multiple channels — email, LINE, social media, and so on — together, also compare it against a dedicated customer support tool.
For more on the benefits and usage of Shopify Inbox, see the article below.
Shopify Forms
Image source: Shopify Forms | Shopify App Store
Shopify Forms is an app for building forms to collect customer information. You can use it for newsletter sign-ups, campaign entries, wholesale inquiries, restock notification requests, and more.
Forms can be displayed as a pop-up or embedded within a page, so it suits stores wanting to start collecting newsletter sign-ups or leads. Combining it with Shopify Flow or an email app makes it easier to tag customers after sign-up and follow up with campaigns.
On the other hand, if you want to build a form like a diagnostic quiz that branches into different questions depending on the answers, a dedicated app may be a better fit.
For more on how to set up and customize Shopify Forms, see the article below.
Shopify Messaging
Image source: Shopify Messaging | Shopify App Store
Shopify Messaging is an official app for email and SMS marketing (it's the renamed and expanded successor to the former Shopify Email). It's a good fit if you want to use the customer information collected via Shopify Forms to send post-purchase follow-ups, encourage repeat purchases, or announce campaigns.
It's characterized by making it easy to design sending campaigns while working directly with customer and product information within the Shopify admin. It's a good fit for stores just starting to send newsletters, or stores wanting to deliver campaign information to customers who've signed up via a form.
Pricing is usage-based: email is free for up to 10,000 sends per month, with additional sends starting at $1 per 1,000 (as of July 2026). Before adopting it, check your sending frequency, the number of customers you'll target, and any overlap with an existing email tool.
For more on the benefits of email marketing on Shopify and email apps, see the article below.
Shopify Knowledge Base
Image source: Shopify Knowledge Base | Shopify App Store
Shopify Knowledge Base is an app for customizing the FAQ content an AI agent references when answering buyer questions. It makes it easier for a store to organize information for pre- and post-purchase questions covering products, shipping, returns, sizing, and how to order.
That said, getting your information ready for AI agents isn't something that's finished just by installing the app. You'll also need to review information on product pages, FAQs, policy pages, shipping pages, and so on.
For more on how to use and configure Shopify Knowledge Base, see the article below.
Shopify Collabs
Image source: Shopify Collabs | Shopify App Store
Shopify Collabs is an app for managing collaborations with creators and influencers. It suits stores selling apparel, cosmetics, food, or lifestyle goods, categories that pair well with building awareness through social media.
With Shopify Collabs, you can more easily manage creator recruitment, referral links, and performance tracking directly within Shopify.
For more on Shopify Collabs' features and how to use it, see the article below.
Official Shopify Apps for Expanding Sales Channels
Here we introduce official Shopify apps worth adopting if you want to expand your sales channels beyond your online store.
Shop
Image source: Shop | Shopify App Store
Shop is the sales channel for listing your store on Shopify's consumer-facing mobile app, "Shop." Shoppers can discover products and check order status right in the Shop app.
This is worth checking out for stores with many customers using Shop Pay, or stores wanting to emphasize the mobile shopping experience. When adopting it, get the store and product information displayed on the Shop channel in good shape.
For more on the benefits and setup of Shop Pay, see the article below.
Shopify Marketplace Connect
Image source: Shopify Marketplace Connect | Shopify App Store
Shopify Marketplace Connect is an app for managing marketplace sales — Amazon, Target Plus, Walmart, eBay, and more — from within Shopify. It's a candidate for stores considering listing on overseas marketplaces. In Japan, Amazon and eBay are available (as of July 2026).
It makes it easier to centralize product information, inventory, and order management on the Shopify side, so it's worth checking out if you want to reduce the operational burden of selling across multiple channels. However, it doesn't support major domestic Japanese marketplaces like Rakuten Ichiba or Yahoo! Shopping, so if listing on domestic marketplaces is your goal, you'll need to consider a dedicated app instead.
Buy Button channel
Image source: Buy Button channel | Shopify App Store
Buy Button channel is an app for adding a Shopify purchase button to an external site or blog. You can use it to add a purchase path to an existing brand site, media site, WordPress site, and more.
This suits situations where you want to sell products on an existing site separate from an online store built on Shopify. That said, compared with building out an entire product page in Shopify, there are differences in how much design and purchase-flow flexibility you have. Check how it appears on the destination site, how cart transitions work, and the flow through to purchase completion.
For more on how Buy Button channel works and how to set it up, see the article below.
Sell on WordPress
Image source: Sell on WordPress | Shopify App Store
Sell on WordPress is an official app for selling Shopify products on a WordPress site. It's worth checking out if you want to add a Shopify purchase path to a media or brand site you run on WordPress. It suits stores that want to keep running content on WordPress while handling product and order management through Shopify.
For more on Sell on WordPress's features and integration steps, see the article below.
Official Shopify Apps for Expanding How You Sell Products
Here we introduce official Shopify apps for expanding how you sell — subscriptions, bundles, digital products, and customization around checkout.
Shopify Subscriptions
Image source: Shopify Subscriptions | Shopify App Store
Shopify Subscriptions is the official app for starting subscriptions. You can add a subscription option to products that customers repurchase on a regular cycle — food, cosmetics, supplements, everyday goods, and so on.
This is the natural first app to check out for stores wanting to start a simple subscription program. On the other hand, if you need complex shipping cycles, tier-specific subscriptions, or designs combining a first-order discount with a continuation count, you may need a dedicated subscription app instead.
For more on how to use and configure Shopify Subscriptions, see the article below.
Shopify Bundles
Image source: Shopify Bundles | Shopify App Store
Shopify Bundles is the official Shopify app for creating fixed bundles and multi-packs. You can use it to sell multiple products together at once — gift sets, starter kits, and so on.
Because it makes it easier to suggest related products together, it suits stores aiming to raise average order value, or wanting to sell set products. That said, it may not be the best fit for build-your-own bundles or bundles with lots of conditional logic. Check what conditions can be set, inventory syncing, and how it displays on the product page before moving to full production use.
For more on Shopify Bundles' features and how to use it, see the article below.
Digital Products
Image source: Digital Products | Shopify App Store
Digital Products is the official Shopify app for selling digital products — ebooks, PDFs, audio, video, digital art, downloadable files, and so on. By attaching a digital file or link to a product, you can send an access link after purchase. This is worth checking out for any store selling digital content in addition to physical goods.
Shopify Checkout Blocks
Source: Checkout Blocks | Shopify App Store
Shopify Checkout Blocks is the official app for customizing checkout, the thank-you page, and the order status page. It's useful for stores wanting to adjust what appears around checkout and on post-purchase pages.
Customizing the thank-you page and order status page is available on the Basic plan or higher, but customizing the checkout page itself is limited to Plus stores.
For more on how to use and customize Checkout Blocks, see the article below.
Shopify Smart Pricing
Image source: Shopify Smart Pricing | Shopify App Store
Shopify Smart Pricing is an app that gives you AI-suggested pricing hints. It's worth checking out for stores considering a pricing review or looking to improve margins.
That said, pricing is influenced by many factors — brand value, cost, competitive landscape, sales channel, campaign design, and more. Rather than applying the AI's suggestions as-is, it's better to treat them as reference information.
For more on how Shopify Smart Pricing works and things to watch for, see the article below.
Official Shopify Apps for Improving Search, Translation, and Display
Here we introduce official Shopify apps that help improve on-site product search, multi-language support, and product display.
Shopify Search & Discovery
Image source: Search & Discovery | Shopify App Store
Shopify Search & Discovery is an app for tuning on-site search and product recommendations. For stores with a large number of products, whether customers can reach the item they're looking for affects the purchase experience. It's used to customize the storefront search environment.
It's a good fit for products people search for by conditions like color, size, use case, or brand — apparel, food, general goods, parts, and similar categories. For a store with few products it may not be a high priority, but it's worth considering once your category count or SKU count grows.
For more on how to configure and use Shopify Search & Discovery, see the article below.
Shopify Translate & Adapt
Image source: Translate & Adapt | Shopify App Store
Shopify Translate & Adapt is an app for translating your store's content and adapting it for each sales market. You can use it for multi-language support of product names, product descriptions, text within your theme, metafields, and more.
For more on how to use Shopify Translate & Adapt and go multilingual, see the article below.
Official Shopify Apps for Improving Efficiency and Automating Work
Here we introduce official Shopify apps that help streamline day-to-day store operations and reduce manual work.
Shopify Flow
Image source: Shopify Flow | Shopify App Store
Shopify Flow is an app for automating store operations. Based on conditions related to orders, customers, products, and inventory, you can automate processes such as tagging, notifications, and customer classification.
For example, it's useful for stores wanting to reduce manual work in day-to-day operations — notifying your team internally when a high-value order comes in, tagging customers who bought a specific product, or alerting the person in charge when a product's stock runs low.
This is a high-priority app for EC managers, but misconfigured conditions can trigger unintended tagging or notifications. It's a good idea to start with low-impact notifications or tagging, confirm it behaves as expected, and then move on to full production use.
For more on the benefits and setup of Shopify Flow, see the article below.
Launchpad
Image source: Launchpad | Shopify App Store
Launchpad is an official Shopify app for stores that want to plan out major sales and product launches ahead of time. Beyond scheduling sales, product publishing, and restocking, you can use it for price changes, theme switching, locking your store before an event, and tracking results via a real-time analytics dashboard.
It's currently available only to stores on the Shopify Plus plan (as of July 2026).
Official Shopify Apps for Retail, Shipping, and Documents
Here we introduce official Shopify apps useful for operations beyond your online store — in-store sales, shipping work, document printing, and product management.
Point of Sale
Image source: Point of Sale | Shopify App Store
Point of Sale is the Shopify POS app for connecting in-store sales with online sales. It's useful if you run a physical store, pop-up store, or sell at events.
Because it makes it easier to connect inventory and customer information between your online store and physical store, this is a high-priority app for any business running a brick-and-mortar location. That said, you'll need to check the countries or regions it supports, payment terminals, staff permissions, and the scope of POS Pro's features.
For more on Shopify POS's pricing plans and setup steps, see the article below.
Shopify Order Printer
Image source: Shopify Order Printer | Shopify App Store
Shopify Order Printer is an app for printing delivery notes, invoices, receipts, picking lists, and more. It's useful for any store that needs printed documents for shipping work.
Document templates can be customized, but if you need documents that follow Japanese business conventions or the invoice system, check whether it can output the fields you need.
For more on how to use Shopify Order Printer and create documents, see the article below.
Retail Barcode Labels
Image source: Retail Barcode Labels | Shopify App Store
Retail Barcode Labels is an app for creating and printing barcode labels for products. It suits stores handling in-store sales or warehouse product management. This app is helpful when you have a large number of products, or scan items to sell at the register.
For more on Retail Barcode Labels' features and how to use it, see the article below.
Official Shopify Apps for Pre-Launch Checks and Store Improvement
Here we introduce official Shopify apps that support checking your store before launch and improving the purchase path after launch.
Shopify Launch Check
Image source: Shopify Launch Check | Shopify App Store
Shopify Launch Check is an official Shopify app for reviewing how ready your store is before launch. You can use AI-driven analysis of your store data and settings, get suggested improvement items, and use a launch checklist you can share with your team or agency partner.
It's useful for organizing product information, store settings, and pre-launch checks before launching a new store or before a relaunch.
For more on how to use Shopify Launch Check and make the most of the pre-launch checklist, see the article below.
Shopify SimGym
Image source: Shopify SimGym | Shopify App Store
Shopify SimGym is an official Shopify app where AI browses your store as a simulated shopper, letting you simulate the effect of storefront changes. You can use it to test theme changes, campaign pages, or purchase-path improvements before pushing them to production.
Its distinguishing feature is letting you use AI-driven simulation to spot places where a shopper is likely to get stuck on a product page or in the cart flow, and potential areas for improvement. It's also useful for stores with too little traffic to run reliable A/B tests, or stores wanting to check the impact on the purchase path before a theme change.
That said, since Shopify SimGym is offered as an AI-powered testing app, its features, pricing, and terms of availability may change going forward.
For more on how Shopify SimGym works and how to use it, see the article below.
Other Official Shopify Apps
Here's a full list of the remaining official apps listed on the "Apps by Shopify" page. Most are limited to specific countries or aimed at developers, so only check the ones relevant to your store.
| App name | Overview | Availability for stores in Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Shopcodes | Creates QR codes that link to product pages | Available |
| Theme Access | Securely shares theme editing access with an agency partner | Available |
| Fraud Control | Manages fraud-prevention measures in one place | Available |
| Planet | Provides carbon-neutral shipping | Available |
| Shopify Combined Listings | Combines related products into a single product page | Available (Plus only) |
| Store Migration | Migrates stores from other platforms (WooCommerce, Wix, etc.) | Available |
| Headless / Hydrogen | Building headless commerce (for developers) | Available |
| Shopify Counter | Displays counters such as sales figures | Available |
| Shopify Audiences | Generates audience lists for ad targeting | Not available (US/Canada Plus stores only) |
| Shopify Collective / Shopify Collective: Supplier | Connects stores for sourcing and wholesale supply | Not available (US stores only) |
| Shopify Product Network | A network for connecting products with partner stores | Not available (eligible US stores only) |
| Shopify Bill Pay | Manages payments to suppliers and others | Not available (US only) |
| Shopify Fulfillment Network | Outsources shipping to Shopify's fulfillment network | Effectively not available (US-centric, English only) |
| Data Exporter ‑ Tax Compliance | Exports data for tax authorities | Not applicable (for Australia, France, Germany) |
| TSE (KassenSichV) | Supports Germany's cash register regulations | Not applicable (for Germany) |
*"Available" indicates apps whose app page had no stated country/region restriction at the time of checking (as of July 2026).
Things to Check Before Adopting an Official Shopify App
Many official Shopify apps are free to use, which makes them easy to consider adopting, but there are points worth checking before adding one to your production store.
- Pricing structure
"Free," "Free to install," and "Free plan available" mean different things. Ads, email, SMS, external marketplaces, POS, and similar features may incur costs beyond the app itself.
- Available on your plan
You need to check whether the features you need are available on your current Shopify plan. What's available around checkout, B2B, POS, advanced automation, and so on can vary by plan.
- Supported countries, regions, and languages
For Shopify Marketplace Connect and Shopify Collective-related apps, check whether they support the countries or channels you want to sell into. Japanese-language support (or the lack of it) also affects how easy an app is to adopt.
After checking the above, it's important to decide the priority for adopting each one on your own store.
When Official Shopify Apps Aren't Enough on Their Own
Official Shopify apps are convenient and integrate well with the Shopify admin, but they don't cover every detailed operation needed for the Japanese market. For example, Japan-specific noshi (gift wrapping labels) and gift wrapping, or delivery date/time specification, membership tiers, and payment restrictions that need more complex conditions than the official apps support, may require a dedicated app.
If there's a feature the official apps can't cover, also consider adopting a third-party app. For how to choose a Shopify app and what to check before adopting one, see the article below.
Summary
Official Shopify apps tend to integrate easily with the Shopify admin and standard features, and can be put to work across a wide range of situations — from pre-launch preparation to post-launch store improvement and adding new functionality.
The easiest ones for an EC manager to check first are Shopify Inbox, Shopify Forms, and Shopify Flow. Shopify Search & Discovery is a candidate for stores with many products, Shopify Translate & Adapt for cross-border e-commerce, and Point of Sale if you have a physical store.
As you continue running your store, there will be situations that call for complex conditional logic or detailed customization. In those cases, choose the app that fits your store by checking your current Shopify plan, the operations you want to support, and any overlap with apps you already use.
