Shopify Product Display Apps: Products Unavailable vs Cost Per Item

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. How Does Products Unavailable Work?
3. How Does Cost Per Item Work?
4. How Much Does Products Unavailable Cost?
5. How much does Cost Per Item cost?
6. Cost Analysis: Products Unavailable vs. Cost Per Item
7. User Reviews & Customer Support Insights
8. Integration and Compatibility Comparison
9. Conclusion

Introduction

The success of any e-commerce business largely hinges on how effectively it displays its products. Studies show that effective product display can enhance customer engagement and ultimately lead to increased sales. Essential to achieving this are Product display apps, which significantly improve user experiences and streamline the purchasing process.

In this exploration, we will focus on two noteworthy Shopify apps: Products Unavailable and Cost Per Item. Each offers unique capabilities that cater to different aspects of product display, influencing how customers interact with available products. While both apps provide fundamental functionalities, Products Unavailable stands out as a more versatile and impactful solution.

How Does Products Unavailable Work?

The Products Unavailable app, developed by Garoo, is designed to manage product availability based on specific hours, enhancing customer interaction and optimizing sales opportunities.

Setup and Functionality: After installation, merchants can select specific collections or individual products to be affected by the app. They can then establish varied working hours for each day of the week, even refining the settings based on their local time zone. This powerful feature allows for comprehensive control over inventory visibility during specified hours.

Key Features:

• Scheduled Product Availability: Merchants can restrict product purchases, thus enabling a strategy that can highlight limited-time offers or special menus.
• Custom Time Settings: Setting different hours not only aligns with operational needs but also caters to regional customer preferences.

Utility Across Business Sizes:

• Startup: A startup, especially with seasonal products or flash sales, can significantly benefit from disabling add-to-cart options during off-hours. This setup can create a sense of urgency, enhancing customer engagement.
• Small to Medium Businesses: These businesses can utilize this app for marketing campaigns, ensuring that highly sought-after items are only available during designated times, optimizing inventory flow.
• Large Enterprises: Larger businesses that operate in multiple regions can customize product availability for various time zones, offering advanced customer service and tailored marketing approaches.

By preventing customer orders during specific hours, Products Unavailable doesn’t just limit access but also encourages customers to return at a preferred time. This functionality clearly meets the demands of businesses aiming to maintain a dynamic product offering while maximizing customer engagement.

How Does Cost Per Item Work?

Cost Per Item, developed by rThrone, aims to clarify product pricing for customers by displaying both the cost and margin of products directly on the storefront.

Setup and Functionality: This app enables merchants to decide whether or not to display the cost per item and margin, depending on their pricing strategy. Businesses can configure their settings easily across all products, ensuring that transparency in pricing is maintained.

Key Features:

• Cost Visibility: Merchants can show product costs upfront, thereby fostering trust and transparency with their customers.
• Variant-Specific Pricing: The app supports displaying costs and margins based on different product variants, allowing for more nuanced pricing strategies.

Utility Across Business Sizes:

• Startup: A startup can clearly communicate their pricing strategies, essential for building trust.
• Small to Medium Businesses: These businesses may find value in highlighting margins to attract price-sensitive customers.
• Large Enterprises: Larger businesses benefit from the detailed visibility which aids in developing pricing strategies for managing extensive product portfolios.

While the features provided by Cost Per Item focus on pricing transparency, they lack the dynamic scheduling and marketing capabilities found in Products Unavailable, making them less suitable for targeted promotions and inventory management.

How Much Does Products Unavailable Cost?

Cost-effectiveness is pivotal for any business aiming to optimize its product display capabilities. Products Unavailable offers three pricing tiers, which cater to various business needs.

1. Free Plan:

   • Price: $0
   • Features: Allows up to 25 monthly orders.
   • Limitations: Best suited for startups trialing the app.
   • Target Audience: Small businesses testing the waters in the e-commerce space.
   • Additional Costs: None noted.

2. $2.99/month Plan:

   • Price: $2.99
   • Features: Supports up to 300 monthly orders.
   • Limitations: A great option for growing businesses managing increased traffic.
   • Target Audience: Small and medium enterprises emphasizing marketing strategies.
   • Additional Costs: No added monthly costs.

3. $3.99/month Plan:

   • Price: $3.99
   • Features: Unlimited orders, allowing full-scale use of the app.
   • Limitations: Best for larger businesses with significant product inventories and ordering capabilities.
   • Target Audience: Large enterprises looking for comprehensive product display management.
   • Additional Costs: None indicated.

It is important to note that you can always reach out to our team, and we can create a custom pricing plan to suit your needs and your budget. Schedule a call via this link and we’ll come up with the best solution for you and your business.

How much does Cost Per Item cost?

Cost-effective solutions are essential in the e-commerce landscape, especially for businesses focusing on customer transparency. Cost Per Item offers a single pricing tier:

1. Premium Plan:
   • Price: $1.99/month
   • Features: Unlimited Products, shows product cost per item and margin, and supports variant-specific pricing.
   • Limitations: Lacks advanced features such as scheduling or promotional tools.
   • Target Audience: Best suited for startups or small businesses seeking clarity in pricing without extensive customization needs.
   • Additional Costs: No additional fees mentioned.

While the pricing for Cost Per Item is lower, it is essential to weigh the value offered compared to the robust functionalities available in Products Unavailable.

Cost Analysis: Products Unavailable vs. Cost Per Item

When comparing the two apps in terms of pricing, Products Unavailable clearly establishes a more favorable value proposition.

• Products Unavailable: A startup can utilize its free plan to test core functionalities, while small and medium businesses can opt for the $2.99 plan as they scale. The flexibility these pricing tiers offer for increasing order volumes enhances their appeal.

• Cost Per Item: The single pricing tier may appeal to specific price-sensitive businesses; however, the absence of scalable options limits its attractiveness for larger applications.

Overall, the tiered approach of Products Unavailable makes it a more cost-efficient solution for businesses of varying sizes and growth phases.

User Reviews & Customer Support Insights

Is Products Unavailable good?

With an impressive 5-star rating from 64 reviews, Products Unavailable is highly regarded among users. Reviewers appreciate its functionality in managing product availability based on time, which allows for dynamic inventory strategies.

Is Cost Per Item good?

Cost Per Item, with a 5-star rating, is based on just one review. This limited feedback suggests a satisfaction level but may not yet reflect a broad user experience. Users might appreciate its ease of use but could argue that advanced features are lacking compared to Products Unavailable.

Customer Support Feedback: Good customer support can greatly influence user satisfaction. While specific feedback wasn’t provided in the data, effective support is crucial for maintaining high ratings, particularly for apps that handle critical functions in e-commerce.

User Preference: Products Unavailable or Cost Per Item?

Given the user ratings, Products Unavailable has a stronger user preference, highlighted by a significantly larger pool of reviews. Its features not only cater to inventory management but also reflect flexibility in product availability strategies, making it a favored solution among Shopify merchants.

Integration and Compatibility Comparison

Products Unavailable Integrations

Despite not listing specific integrations, the flexibility of Products Unavailable allows it to seamlessly work with various Shopify setups, providing versatile solutions regardless of the business scale.

Cost Per Item Integrations:

Cost Per Item has not cited any integrations, which could pose challenges for businesses looking for comprehensive data integration in their e-commerce platforms. Without extensible options, its utility may diminish for businesses seeking more holistic solutions.

Conclusion

In summary, both Products Unavailable and Cost Per Item offer substantial functionalities for e-commerce businesses. However, Products Unavailable stands out with its user-friendly design, flexible feature set, and tiered pricing structure. With a commendable 5-star rating and extensive options for product availability management, it is clearly a superior choice for sustainable growth in the Shopify ecosystem. While Cost Per Item holds merit, its shortcomings in versatile features and integration options make Products Unavailable the more effective solution for a majority of businesses.