Gather: Refer a Friend vs Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builderfor Shopify (2026)
Gather: Refer a Friend and Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder, while both targeting customer loyalty as a category, serve fundamentally different purposes for Shopify merchants. Gather focuses on leveraging existing customer relationships to drive acquisition through a referral program, providing tools for automation, personalization, and various reward systems. It emphasizes a low-cost, high-ROAS acquisition channel primarily targeting customer-to-customer referrals. Shopney, on the other hand, concentrates on building a native mobile app for the Shopify store, aiming to improve the shopping experience, increase retention, and reduce reliance on paid social advertising. The primary divergence lies in their core functionality. Gather focuses on referral marketing automation, offering features like referral link generation, email design, and reward tier management. Shopney delivers a full-fledged mobile app development platform allowing merchants to create iOS and Android apps without coding, enhanced by features like push notifications, in-app live chat, and integration with other Shopify apps. While both apps intend to boost sales and customer loyalty, they achieve this through different means: Gather through referral marketing, and Shopney through enhanced mobile experience.
At a Glance
Gather: Refer a Friend
14 reviews
Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder
684 reviews
Detailed Overview
Gather: Refer a Friend
Gather activates your customer to customer referral channel, with automation and personalisation.
Key Features
- Sales growth, newsletter growth or lead-gen with referrals.
- Invitations, including: email with contact search, social media and messaging.
- Deploy reward tiers / milestones. Provide One-sided or two-sided rewards.
- Enrol members in a post-purchase CTA sidebar and directly from Klaviyo.
- Design emails with a drag-and-drop editor. Design the embedded dashboard.
Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder
Turn your store into iOS & Android mobile apps. Generate more sales and decrease marketing ad spend.
Key Features
- Perfect product merchandising with various theme (layout) options in PDP and PLP
- Personalized shopping experience & real-time connection with in-app live chat.
- Rich integration suite with top Shopify apps. Bring along your must-have apps.
- One-of-a-kind customer support from get go. Work with people want you to grow!
- Smart tools, insights and tactics to get app installs. We know how it's done!
Feature Comparison
| Rating | 5/5 | 5/5 |
Rating Gather: Refer a Friend5/5 Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder5/5 | ||
| Reviews | 14 | 684 |
Reviews Gather: Refer a Friend14 Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder684 | ||
| Primary Function | Referral Program Automation | Mobile App Builder |
Primary Function Gather: Refer a FriendReferral Program Automation Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderMobile App Builder | ||
| Acquisition Strategy | Customer Referrals | Mobile App Engagement |
Acquisition Strategy Gather: Refer a FriendCustomer Referrals Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderMobile App Engagement | ||
| Key Feature - App Creation | Drag-and-drop email and dashboard designer | One-click mobile app generation (no coding) |
Key Feature - App Creation Gather: Refer a FriendDrag-and-drop email and dashboard designer Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderOne-click mobile app generation (no coding) | ||
| Target Merchant | Merchants seeking low-cost customer acquisition | Merchants aiming to improve mobile shopping experience and reduce ad spend |
Target Merchant Gather: Refer a FriendMerchants seeking low-cost customer acquisition Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderMerchants aiming to improve mobile shopping experience and reduce ad spend | ||
| Ease of Use | Likely Easy (embed with a click) | Likely Easy (one-click app generation) |
Ease of Use Gather: Refer a FriendLikely Easy (embed with a click) Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderLikely Easy (one-click app generation) | ||
| Value Proposition | High ROAS, low CPA acquisition via referrals | Increased retention, reduced ad spend through mobile app engagement |
Value Proposition Gather: Refer a FriendHigh ROAS, low CPA acquisition via referrals Shopney ‑ Mobile App BuilderIncreased retention, reduced ad spend through mobile app engagement | ||
Our Verdict
For Shopify merchants focused on leveraging their existing customer base to drive new sales through referrals, Gather: Refer a Friend is the more suitable choice. Its automation features, reward systems, and easy embedding make it a compelling option for those prioritizing referral marketing. Businesses that want a dedicated mobile presence to increase customer retention, provide a superior shopping experience, and decrease reliance on paid advertising should choose Shopney ‑ Mobile App Builder.
While Gather could provide some benefit for any merchant, the impact is likely more pronounced for established businesses with an active and engaged customer base. Shopney is beneficial to all merchants, but the ROI is likely significantly higher for stores with a good deal of mobile traffic already, or those in certain verticals with higher mobile shopping trends. Ultimately, they solve distinct problems and target different growth strategies.
Common Questions
Does Gather or Shopney offer better customer support?
While Gather's app description doesn't explicitly mention customer support quality, Shopney highlights its 'one-of-a-kind customer support'. Therefore, Shopney likely offers better customer support at the time of this analysis, however this may change.
Which app is easier to set up and use?
Both apps claim to be easy to use. Gather highlights 'embed with a click', while Shopney emphasizes 'one click — No coding'. Without further information, it's hard to say definitively, but both appear to prioritize ease of setup. User reviews suggest Shopney, due to the sheer volume, has had more real-world testing. The much lower reviews of Gather may mean they're still working out some bugs, or it could simply be a newer service.
Which app is more cost-effective in the long run?
Gather offers a potential low-cost acquisition channel with high ROAS, suggesting long-term cost-effectiveness if the referral program is successful. Shopney aims to reduce marketing ad spend, which could also lead to cost savings. The better option depends on the success of the referral program vs. the impact of the mobile app on reducing ad spend and increasing retention. Without specific pricing details, a concrete answer is difficult to determine.
Do both apps integrate with other marketing tools?
Gather highlights integration with Klaviyo. Shopney mentions a 'rich integration suite with top Shopify apps.' Shopney likely offers broader integration capabilities, allowing for integration with a wider range of apps beyond email marketing platforms.
Which app is best for generating leads versus driving sales?
Gather is explicitly designed for sales growth, newsletter growth, or lead-gen with referrals. Shopney focuses primarily on improving the mobile shopping experience to drive sales and retention. Therefore, Gather is the better option for specifically generating leads using a referral program, though the increased customer engagement from Shopney could indirectly cause more leads as well.
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