Ask to Buy create & share cart vs. SureCust ‑ Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right apps from thousands of Shopify options is one of the most practical decisions a merchant makes. Single-purpose tools can solve immediate problems quickly, but they also create maintenance overhead, integration gaps, and feature overlap that slow long-term growth. This comparison looks at two wishlist-style apps that take very different approaches: Ask to Buy create & share cart and SureCust ‑ Wishlist.

Short answer: Ask to Buy create & share cart is a focused tool for sharing filled carts and facilitating purchases by a third party (parents, friends, sales reps), while SureCust ‑ Wishlist is a lightweight wishlist that lets customers save items for later. Both can increase conversions in specific situations, but they address different parts of the shopper journey. For merchants who want one integrated retention stack that handles wishlists along with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, a consolidated platform often provides better value for money and less operational friction.

The purpose of this post is to provide a deep, feature-by-feature comparison of Ask to Buy create & share cart and SureCust ‑ Wishlist, evaluate pricing and support, and outline which merchants will benefit most from each. After the direct comparison, the article will explain why an integrated retention platform can be a more efficient choice for scaling brands and introduce Growave as an alternative that reduces app bloat.

Ask to Buy create & share cart vs. SureCust ‑ Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

This section compares both apps across several merchant-relevant criteria: core functionality, setup and UX, feature depth, analytics and reporting, integrations and compatibility, pricing and value, customer support and social proof, and recommended use cases.

Core Functionality & Product Focus

Ask to Buy create & share cart: What it does well

Ask to Buy’s core capability is sharing a completed cart that lands invitees directly on the checkout page with shipping and product selections already filled. It targets specific buyer flows:

• Gift purchases where the recipient is not the payer.
• Teen shoppers who need a parent to complete payment.
• Sales reps or customer success teams building proposals or curated carts for customers.

Key user-facing outcomes include a smoother payment experience for the invitee (they only need to confirm payment), and the inviter receiving notifications when a shared cart converts. Tracking of cart shares, conversions, and generated revenue gives stores a way to measure the direct impact of those shares.

SureCust ‑ Wishlist: What it does well

SureCust focuses on the classic wishlist. It’s built to help customers save items for later and re-engage with products they liked. Features emphasize simplicity and fast setup: a clear save-to-wishlist UI, customer-facing wishlist pages, and admin-level insights to see what customers have saved. The outcome is higher return visits and a reduced chance that interested customers forget products.

Setup, UX, and Ease of Use

Installation and initial configuration

• Ask to Buy: Installation is straightforward for a single-purpose app, but merchants should expect to adjust button placement and messaging to make the cart-sharing option visible without overwhelming the product page. The app includes built-in AskToBuy buttons and allows customization.
• SureCust: Designed for non-technical merchants. Claims “get started in minutes” and emphasizes zero technical expertise required. The UX is focused on being unobtrusive and easy for customers to use.

Both apps aim for low friction, but their flows differ: Ask to Buy requires thought around checkout pre-filling and messaging for invitees; SureCust is lighter — add a wishlist button and customers can save items.

Customer journey

• Ask to Buy enables a direct, conversion-oriented journey: product selected → cart shared → invitee lands in checkout → payment completes. This is a tight conversion funnel where the technical value is pre-filled checkout details and a landing experience customized for invitees.
• SureCust supports discovery and consideration: product saved → customer returns later (or receives a reminder/notification via merchant workflows) → checkout initiated. The path from save to purchase relies on secondary engagement (email, push, on-site reminders).

Consideration: Ask to Buy compresses the purchase path for a shared cart; SureCust lengthens it by design, turning interest into a later purchase.

Feature Depth and Limitations

Ask to Buy: Feature strengths

• Pre-fill checkout details so invitees need only complete payment — this reduces friction at the final step.
• Invitees land directly in checkout with a custom welcome experience — helpful for gift situations and sales continuity.
• Built-in buttons and customization options for branding and UX control.
• Tracking of shares and generated revenue; support for group sharing.

Feature gaps and practical limitations:

• Narrow focus: strong for cart sharing, but lacks broader retention tools like loyalty, referrals, or reviews.
• Small review base: 7 reviews and 4.4 rating suggest limited public feedback and possibly a smaller user community.
• Pricing referenced only as a single plan ($15/month) which suggests a basic tier without advanced segmentation or enterprise options.

SureCust: Feature strengths

• Fast setup and an emphasis on intuitive customer interactions.
• Admin visibility into wishlists and activity logs that help understand customer preferences.
• Works with checkout and customer accounts, meaning saved items can be tied to profiles.

Feature gaps and practical limitations:

• Very light feature set compared with fuller wishlist solutions (no mention of email reminders, social sharing, or deep integrations).
• Only 1 review (5.0), which is difficult to interpret as representative feedback.
• No publicly listed pricing data in provided app data; merchants will need to check the app listing to confirm plans and limits.

Analytics, Tracking, and Measurement

Ask to Buy

Ask to Buy includes reporting for cart shares, conversions, and revenue generated from shares. This is a notable strength: attribution that connects shares to revenue is valuable for proving ROI and optimizing where cart sharing delivers the most lift.

Practical items to validate during trial:

• Granularity of reports (per user, per product, per campaign).
• Export options and compatibility with merchant analytics pipelines (Google Analytics, store analytics).
• Time lag and attribution model for group shares.

SureCust

SureCust’s analytics focus is admin-level visibility into which customers saved which products and activity logs. This helps merchandising decisions and inventory planning, but the app description does not promise conversion attribution or revenue tracking tied directly to the wishlist.

Merchants depending on wishlists for revenue uplift should verify:

• Whether the app provides conversion tracking from saved item to purchase.
• If the app offers automated recovery communications tied to wishlist behavior.
• Exportability and integration with customer data platforms.

Integrations & Compatibility

Ask to Buy

Ask to Buy is built around checkout pre-fill behavior, which implies tight coupling with Shopify’s checkout. The app’s features explicitly mention invitees landing at checkout with a custom welcome experience, requiring compatibility with themes and checkout customizations.

Merchants should confirm:

• Compatibility with checkout apps (e.g., multi-currency or subscription checkouts).
• How pre-filled checkout data is handled with guest checkout vs. customer accounts.
• Theme compatibility and any need for theme edits.

SureCust

SureCust lists Checkout and Customer accounts as supported areas. That suggests wishlist actions can persist across sessions and be associated with a logged-in customer. For stores with strong account usage, that can be a straightforward way to track intent.

Merchants should confirm:

• Whether wishlist items persist between devices and browsers.
• Integration with email platforms to trigger wishlist-related campaigns.
• Behaviour on product variant pages and dynamic product displays.

Pricing and Value for Money

Ask to Buy

Public pricing is sparse but indicates a basic plan at $15/month. For a single-purpose app that provides checkout pre-fill, share tracking, and simple customization, $15/month can be a reasonable entry price. The main question is value relative to the impact: how many shared-cart conversions does the app generate versus the subscription cost and the operational overhead of another app to maintain.

Value considerations:

• If cart-sharing generates meaningful incremental revenue (for gifts or B2B quoting), the app can pay for itself quickly.
• The small review base means merchants should trial the app and measure attribution carefully.

SureCust

The supplied app data does not include a pricing plan. For wishlist apps, pricing models vary widely: free, low monthly fee, or usage-based tiers. Without a clear price it is difficult to calculate exact ROI. Merchants will need to review the app listing for pricing and test whether the app includes features that would otherwise require additional tools.

General value considerations:

• If a wishlist is a secondary conversion channel, a lightweight, inexpensive wishlist can be adequate.
• If wishlists are a core part of retention and re-engagement, it may be better to choose a wishlist as part of a broader retention suite.

Language note: Instead of saying “cheaper,” value is framed as “better value for money.” For many merchants, “better value for money” means a feature set aligned to measurable KPIs (retention, LTV, conversion) rather than the lowest monthly fee.

Customer Support, Reviews, and Trust Signals

Ask to Buy

• Reviews: 7 reviews, rating 4.4. A small sample but generally positive. Merchants should read the reviews to identify common praise or complaints.
• Implication: The app is likely maintained by a small team, so response times and feature roadmap may be more variable than for larger vendors.

SureCust

• Reviews: 1 review, rating 5.0. This single review is insufficient to draw broad conclusions.
• Implication: Limited public feedback increases risk; merchants should use trial periods and test key behaviors.

For both apps, merchants should ask about support SLAs, response channels (email, live chat), and any onboarding help for larger stores.

Security, Privacy, and Checkout Considerations

Both apps interact with the checkout and customer account data in some capacity. Merchants must verify:

• How each app handles customer data and whether it stores PII (personal identifiable information).
• Compliance with regional privacy rules (GDPR, CCPA) if operating in affected markets.
• Whether the checkout pre-fill behavior impacts Shopify’s checkout validation or third-party checkout apps (subscriptions, custom payment methods).

Operational & Maintenance Overhead

Running multiple single-purpose apps increases overhead: apps require updates, theme adjustments, periodic QA, and data reconciliation. For merchants considering either Ask to Buy or SureCust, this is a practical cost:

• Maintenance time for an extra app.
• Potential theme conflicts across apps.
• Data fragmentation across tools (wishlists tracked separately from loyalty or email data).

These are often hidden costs that grow with the number of single-purpose tools in use.

Use-Case Recommendations

• Ask to Buy is best for merchants that:
  • Regularly sell gift-orientated products where the buyer and payer differ (gift registries, conjoining family purchases).
  • Have a B2B or B2C sales-rep process that benefits from curated carts and direct checkout links.
  • Want a straightforward way to attribute revenue to cart shares.
• SureCust is best for merchants that:
  • Want a low-friction wishlist to let customers save favorites for later.
  • Need admin-level visibility into saved items without a large feature set.
  • Prefer a simple, fast-to-install wishlist that integrates with customer accounts.
• Neither app alone addresses retention holistically (loyalty, referrals, reviews, VIP tiers). Merchants prioritizing long-term LTV growth should evaluate whether a suite of retention tools (or a single integrated platform) better fits strategy and budget.

The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform

Single-purpose apps solve narrow problems well, but they also introduce "app fatigue." App fatigue describes the operational strain caused by running many discrete tools: repeated onboarding, multiple billing lines, inconsistent UX, overlapping or missing integrations, and fragmented customer data. Over time, this friction slows growth because energy is spent maintaining tools rather than optimizing customer experiences.

Growave’s philosophy of "More Growth, Less Stack" is built to counter app fatigue by combining retention features in one integrated platform. Instead of stitching together wishlists, loyalty, referrals, and reviews from different vendors, merchants can consolidate those capabilities in a single solution that shares data and consistent UX.

How an integrated platform reduces overhead

• Single data model: Customer actions (wishlist saves, reward redemptions, referrals, and reviews) live in the same dataset, enabling more accurate segmentation and personalized campaigns.
• Fewer theme edits: One integration point minimizes the risk of conflicts and UI inconsistencies.
• Consolidated support and billing: One vendor relationship simplifies troubleshooting and provides clearer accountability.
• Unified analytics: Cross-feature attribution (e.g., whether wishlist saves lead to referrals and repeat purchases) is easier to measure.

Here are concrete ways Growave addresses these needs:

• Growave bundles wishlist functionality alongside loyalty and rewards, referrals, and reviews so wishlists are not a siloed feature but part of a broader retention strategy.
• For merchants that want advanced reward structures, Growave supports customizable loyalty programs and VIP tiers that turn one-time buyers into repeat customers.
• Collect and showcase authentic reviews to strengthen social proof, which complements wishlist and loyalty activity to increase conversions.

Merchants evaluating consolidation should review product capabilities, pricing tiers, and how an integrated provider handles scaling needs and enterprise requirements.

Growave feature highlights and practical benefits

• Loyalty and Rewards: Merchants can create point-based or action-based reward programs to incentivize repeat purchases and engagement. These programs can be tailored to reward wishlist actions, referrals, and reviews, creating a cohesive retention loop. See how merchants use loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to increase LTV.
• Reviews & UGC: Growave helps merchants collect and showcase customer reviews and user-generated content to boost trust and conversions. Merchants can automate requests and display social proof in product pages and marketing. Learn how to collect and showcase authentic reviews.
• Wishlist: The wishlist is built into a broader customer-engagement stack so saves can trigger loyalty points or remarketing that’s consistent with other retention tactics.
• Referrals and VIP tiers: Built-in referral programs and tiered VIPs turn advocates into repeat buyers and can be combined with wishlist behavior for targeted offers.

For merchants evaluating Growave, practical next steps include reviewing pricing and plans, testing the wishlist workflow within the broader set of features, and measuring the lift versus multiple single-purpose apps. To explore pricing, merchants can compare tiers and feature sets to determine which plan aligns with order volume and growth objectives by reviewing consolidate retention features. For merchants who prefer a hands-on walkthrough, book a demo to see how the pieces work together: Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated stack improves retention. (This is a direct, explicit call to action intended to connect merchants with a tailored evaluation.)

Integration and platform compatibility

Growave supports a wide set of Shopify integrations and operational features that address scaling needs:

• Built for Shopify Plus and large merchants, with support for headless storefronts and checkout extensions. Merchants with enterprise needs can learn how Growave supports solutions for high-growth Plus brands.
• Pre-built integrations with popular tools like Klaviyo and Omnisend enable wishlist and loyalty events to drive email flows.
• Customer stories and inspiration show how brands combine features to lift retention and average order value—review a selection of customer stories from brands scaling retention.

These integrations reduce the need to build custom connectors and keep marketing and support teams aligned.

Pricing and perceived value

Growave provides multi-tier pricing that maps to different order volumes and feature requirements:

• Entry Plan – suitable for merchants starting to systematize retention while maintaining cost control.
• Growth Plan – adds advanced customization and integrations for stores with higher order volume or more complex flows.
• Plus Plan – designed for enterprise usage with headless and dedicated support.

Merchants can compare the monthly plan options to estimate cost against the combined price of multiple single-purpose apps. For many organizations, consolidating wishlists, loyalty, referrals, and reviews under one subscription produces better value for money because the incremental cost to add new retention modules is lower than subscribing to multiple standalone vendors. Merchants can review specific plans and compare features at consolidate retention features.

Why consolidating can increase lifetime value

When wishlist data is actionable—used to trigger reward points, one-click referral invitations, or review requests—merchants can close loops that single apps leave open. Examples of consolidated actions:

• Rewarding a wishlist save with entry to a VIP tier or early access increases long-term retention.
• Linking wishlist saves to automated email flows that include loyalty points or limited-time discounts lifts conversion rates on saved items.
• Using review collection to generate social content that is then surfaced on wishlist and product pages increases persuasive power when customers revisit saved items.

These are not speculative gains; they reflect logical behavior changes when data is shared across features. For merchants who want fewer moving parts and clearer attribution, an integrated retention suite often outperforms a stack of single-purpose tools.

Migration and implementation considerations

Switching from single-purpose wishlist apps or cart-sharing tools to an integrated platform requires planning:

• Data migration: Export wishlist and customer activity from legacy apps and import into the new platform to preserve intent data.
• Theme/UI updates: Replace multiple UX widgets with the integrated suite to achieve consistent styling.
• Automation mapping: Recreate any custom automations (e.g., wishlist reminders or cart-share notifications) within the new platform’s workflow engine.
• Analytics validation: Validate that conversion and attribution are consistent pre- and post-migration.

Growave offers onboarding and implementation support on higher tiers; merchants should confirm assistance levels and whether a migration guide exists as part of the plan. For merchants evaluating Growave, reviewing the pricing page clarifies which plans include dedicated migration help and additional integrations: consolidate retention features.

Social proof and scale of adoption

Comparing app store presence and review counts provides signals about market adoption and maturity:

• Ask to Buy create & share cart: 7 reviews, 4.4 rating. Indicates a small but generally positive user base.
• SureCust ‑ Wishlist: 1 review, 5.0 rating. Insufficient public feedback to determine broad performance.
• Growave: 1,197 reviews, 4.8 rating. Large review base and a high rating indicate strong adoption and generally positive merchant experience.

Those metrics are not the sole determinant of fit, but they do speak to team capacity, product maturity, and user trust. Merchants considering consolidation should weigh these signals alongside feature alignment and total cost of ownership.

Additional resources

Merchants who want to investigate the integrated route can view the Growave app listing on the Shopify App Store to confirm features and install options: install via the Shopify App Store. For examples of brands that have moved to an integrated retention approach, browse customer stories from brands scaling retention. To compare how loyalty mechanics can be combined with wishlist flows for better growth, review loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.

Choosing the Right Tool: Decision Criteria and Practical Checklist

When deciding whether to adopt Ask to Buy, SureCust, or an integrated platform, merchants can use the following practical checklist. These are advisory items to evaluate during trial and onboarding (presented as bullet points to increase scannability).

• Primary conversion goal:
  • If the priority is enabling third-party payments quickly (gifts, parental payments, sales quotes), prioritize Ask to Buy.
  • If the priority is capturing long-term product interest with minimal setup, prioritize SureCust.
  • If the priority is building sustainable retention and increasing LTV, a combined platform should be prioritized.
• Measurement and attribution:
  • Can the app attribute revenue to the specific feature (cart shares or wishlists)?
  • Are reports exportable and compatible with existing analytics?
• Time and maintenance:
  • How much theme customization is required?
  • Will the app need frequent updates or manual adjustments?
• Integration needs:
  • Does the app integrate with email providers, CRM, or subscription systems?
  • Does the app work with customer accounts and multi-device persistence?
• Pricing and ROI:
  • What is the monthly cost and how many incremental sales must be attributed to the app to justify it?
  • For an integrated platform, compare the consolidated price to the sum of the standalone apps it replaces.
• Support and roadmap:
  • What level of support is available (email, chat, dedicated managers)?
  • How actively is the product updated, and does the roadmap align with growth plans?

Answering these questions during trial periods will clarify which approach yields the best return on merchant time and budget.

Recommended Configurations by Merchant Type

• Small DTC brands on a tight budget with occasional gift sales:
  • Consider Ask to Buy if gift purchases are a frequent, measurable driver.
  • Consider SureCust if the goal is a very simple wishlist and no broader retention stack is needed.
• Mid-market brands prioritizing repeat purchase and operational efficiency:
  • Evaluate an integrated platform to replace multiple single-purpose apps for better value for money and consolidated analytics.
• Enterprise and Shopify Plus merchants:
  • Prefer an integrated system that supports advanced customization, headless storefronts, and dedicated support. Review enterprise capabilities and headless features: solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Ask to Buy create & share cart and SureCust ‑ Wishlist, the decision comes down to the specific problem being solved. Ask to Buy is best for stores that need a focused cart-sharing flow to enable third-party payments and track the revenue generated by those shares. SureCust is a straightforward wishlist option for merchants who want a fast, minimal wishlist experience tied to customer accounts.

However, both single-purpose apps leave gaps when the strategic objective is to increase customer lifetime value and retention across multiple touchpoints. An integrated retention platform reduces app fatigue, centralizes customer data, and creates opportunities to turn wishlist saves into loyalty, referrals, and reviews. For merchants ready to move from a collection of single-purpose tools to a unified stack, Growave offers an integrated approach that combines wishlist, loyalty and rewards, referrals, and reviews, which can produce better value for money and more predictable retention outcomes.

Start a 14-day free trial to see how a unified retention stack accelerates growth and reduces tool sprawl by consolidating wishlist, loyalty, referrals, and reviews in one platform: consolidate retention features.

FAQ

What are the main functional differences between Ask to Buy create & share cart and SureCust ‑ Wishlist?

• Ask to Buy focuses on sharing a pre-filled cart that sends invitees directly to checkout, ideal for gift or third-party payment scenarios. SureCust focuses on letting customers save items for later, supporting discovery and consideration rather than immediate purchase.

How should merchants choose between a focused app and an integrated retention platform?

• Choose a focused app when a single, high-impact workflow (e.g., gift checkout or B2B quoting) is essential and can be measured independently. Choose an integrated platform when retention, repeat purchases, and lifetime value are strategic priorities and when reducing tool complexity is important.

Does Ask to Buy or SureCust provide conversion attribution?

• Ask to Buy advertises tracking of cart shares, conversions, and generated revenue, making attribution straightforward for shared-cart scenarios. SureCust’s description highlights admin insights and activity logs, but merchants should verify whether it provides direct purchase attribution from wishlist saves.

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?

• An all-in-one platform consolidates data and features so wishlist saves, loyalty actions, referrals, and reviews can be combined into coordinated campaigns. This integration reduces maintenance overhead, creates unified analytics, and often provides better value for money than the sum of multiple single-purpose subscriptions. Merchants can explore consolidated options and pricing to evaluate the trade-offs: consolidate retention features.