ESC Wishlist vs. GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite: In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right apps for retention and conversion is one of the most consequential decisions a Shopify merchant will make. Wishlist and save-for-later functionality sounds straightforward, but features, integrations, analytics, and ongoing support vary widely — and those differences affect recovery of lost sales, average order value, and long-term customer loyalty.

Short answer: ESC Wishlist + Save for Later is a lightweight, low-cost option for stores that need a simple wishlist or "save for later" area under the cart; it has minimal reviews and a low rating. GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite is a more feature-rich toolkit that adds reminders, back-in-stock and price-drop alerts, upsells, bundles, and basic analytics — and it has stronger user ratings. For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and prioritize retention across loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists, a consolidated platform like Growave often delivers better value and faster impact.

This post provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite to help merchants choose the solution that best matches their goals, tech constraints, and budget. After the comparison, the article explains how an all-in-one retention platform can remove redundancy and improve lifetime value.

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later vs. GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite: At a Glance

*Ratings and review counts are sourced from the apps’ Shopify listing metadata as provided.

Deep Dive Comparison

Feature Set and Capabilities

Wishlist Core Functionality

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Provides unlimited wishlists so customers can categorize products.
• Adds a "save for later" area under the cart to keep saved items visible at checkout.
• Includes social sharing so customers can share lists with friends.
• Offers a range of styling/customization options for widget appearance.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Supports guest wishlists (no account required) and social sharing.
• Stores wishlist data for re-engagement and marketing exports.
• Adds automated re-engagement options like reminder emails, back-in-stock alerts, and price-drop alerts.

Analysis: ESC covers the baseline wishlist and save-for-later use cases well. The cart-level save-for-later placement can help recover near-checkout intent because those items appear at checkout. GP expands the wishlist into a retention funnel by turning wishlist activity into emails and alerts, making it more suited to stores that want ongoing reactivation from saved items.

Re-Engagement and Retention Tools

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Focuses on in-store visibility and sharing. No native automated reminders, price-drop alerts, or back-in-stock notifications listed.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Automated reminder emails to encourage purchase after a wishlist action.
• Back-in-stock and price-drop alerts, which address common purchase triggers.
• Ability to export wishlist data for marketing lists and targeted campaigns.

Analysis: Re-engagement requires more than a saved-item widget. GP offers multiple paths to bring shoppers back, which helps reduce lost revenue from intention that never converts. ESC lacks these channels and would force a merchant to add a separate email/alert app to achieve similar outcomes.

Upsells, Bundles, and Average Order Value (AOV)

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• No built-in upsell engine, bundling, or volume discount functionality.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Upsell offers on product and cart pages to push AOV.
• Product bundles with discounts and tracking.
• Tiered volume discounts to encourage larger carts.

Analysis: If increasing AOV is a priority, GP provides direct tools to do that without adding another app. ESC remains single-purpose and will require additional apps to achieve the same effects.

Analytics and Reporting

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• No advanced analytics or export functionality documented in the provided data.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Tracks clicks, orders, and revenue generated via wishlist and upsell channels.
• Provides export capability to integrate wishlist behavior into broader marketing flows.

Analysis: Data matters when deciding which saved items to promote, when to trigger reminders, and how to measure ROI. GP provides analytics that feed marketing and merchandising decisions. ESC appears limited on this front; merchants wanting measurement will need to rely on manual tracking or additional tools.

Pricing and Value

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Monthly plan: $5 / month.
• Value proposition: Very low-cost option for a basic wishlist/save-for-later experience.
• Considerations: A low price reduces upfront cost, but the limited feature set may force a merchant to install additional apps (alerts, email automation, upsells) — increasing total cost and complexity.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Free plan: Core features include guest wishlist support, customizable styling, back-in-stock alerts, automated reminders, upsells, bundles, volume discounts, and smart recommendations.
• Value proposition: Broad feature set available at no cost for core functionality is attractive for merchants wanting more features without immediate spend.
• Considerations: Free availability can be great early stage, but merchants should verify feature limits, sending caps, or paid add-ons in the app listing or during setup.

Value-for-money comparison: ESC’s $5 price point is attractive for stores that only need a simple, embedded save-for-later widget. GP provides more capabilities (re-engagement, upsells, analytics) often expected from paid products; for merchants who use those features, GP is likely better value for money because it reduces the need for separate apps.

Integrations and Platform Compatibility

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Works in the wishlist category but no explicit integrations or extended platform compatibility listed in the provided data.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Listed as “Works With: Checkout” which indicates compatibility with Shopify checkout extensions. This is important for features that interact with cart and checkout behavior.

Analysis: Integration with checkout is a technical advantage because it enables save-for-later visibility at the critical conversion point. Merchants should confirm expected integrations (email providers, flows, and analytics platforms) during evaluation. GP’s export capability suggests easier integration with marketing stacks.

Implementation, Customization, and Theming

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Positions itself around customization: a "broad range of options for customizing how the app looks on your store".
• The widget placement under the cart is a simple, predictable touchpoint that requires minimal theme edits for most stores.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Customizable styling for wishlists.
• Because GP offers features that span product pages, cart, and checkout, implementation can be slightly more involved but provides more placement flexibility.

Analysis: ESC is likely easier to install and maintain for merchants who want a single visible element under the cart. GP’s broader footprint across pages gives more merchandising control but may require careful theme testing and QA, particularly for custom templates or headless setups.

Support, Reviews, and Reliability

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Number of reviews: 2
• Rating: 1.0
• Analysis: Extremely small review sample and a low rating are red flags. A small review count means limited social proof; a low rating suggests issues with stability, support, feature implementation, or compatibility. Merchants should exercise caution and test thoroughly in a staging environment.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Number of reviews: 11
• Rating: 4.8
• Analysis: Stronger social proof with more reviews and a high rating. That suggests the app performs well for those users and that developer support and quality control are more reliable.

Support considerations:

• Review volume and rating are proxies for reliability and developer responsiveness, but merchants should also consider time zones, support channels (email, live chat), documentation quality, and SLAs for larger merchants.

Performance and Store Speed

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• Minimal feature set and a single widget generally imply low overhead, but the rating suggests merchants should check real-world performance.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Adds scripts across product, cart, and possibly checkout pages, which can increase client-side load. A well-built app will mitigate speed impacts, but merchants should measure Lighthouse or GTmetrix scores after install.

Analysis: Both apps should be performance-tested in context. A single-purpose widget (ESC) may be lighter, but GP’s broader feature set can be optimized to avoid perceptible slowdowns. Always test apps on production traffic patterns and use theme performance audits.

Data Ownership, Exporting, and Privacy

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

• No explicit mention of export or data portability in the provided data.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

• Allows export of wishlist data to support marketing campaigns.

Analysis: Export capability matters when building customer profiles or integrating wishlist signals into email automation. Merchants should verify how data is stored, retention policies, GDPR/CCPA compliance, and how exports are formatted (CSV, API, integrations). GP’s export function is an advantage for data-driven marketers.

Where Each App Makes Sense (Use Cases)

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later — Best for:

• Small stores that need a simple, low-friction save-for-later widget.
• Brands that prioritize a cart-level reminder and social sharing, and don’t yet need re-engagement automation.
• Merchants on an ultra-tight budget who accept trade-offs in analytics and alerts.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite — Best for:

• Merchants who want wishlists plus automated reactivation signals (price-drop, back-in-stock, reminders).
• Stores looking to lift AOV with upsells, bundles, and volume discounts without adding multiple apps.
• Brands that want to export wishlist data into their marketing stack for targeted campaigns.

Pros and Cons Summary

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

Pros

• Very low monthly cost ($5).
• Simple implementation with a save-for-later area under the cart.
• Unlimited wishlists and social sharing.

Cons

• Very small number of reviews and a low rating raise reliability concerns.
• No built-in reminders, price-drop alerts, or analytics.
• Limited integrations; likely need additional apps to cover behavior-driven re-engagement.

GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite

Pros

• Broad feature set covering wishlist, re-engagement, upsells, bundles, and analytics.
• Strong rating (4.8) and more reviews than ESC.
• Export and tracking features that feed marketing and merchandising decisions.
• A free plan that delivers many core features.

Cons

• Broader footprint can lead to more complex implementation and potential performance considerations.
• Merchants should verify limits or paid tiers if usage grows.

Practical Recommendations: How to Decide

When choosing between these two apps, merchants should align the decision to specific business goals:

• If the primary goal is a visible "save for later" area that reappears at checkout with minimal overhead, ESC may be an acceptable short-term choice — but proceed with caution and test thoroughly due to the low rating and review count.
• If the goal includes capturing wishlist intent, re-engaging shoppers by email, recovering carts via back-in-stock or price-drop alerts, and increasing AOV through upsells and bundles, GP is the stronger single-app solution.
• If the merchant wants to centralize retention channels (loyalty programs, referrals, reviews, wishlist signals) to increase lifetime value and reduce the number of installed apps, an integrated platform can outperform stitched-together single-purpose apps on both cost and operational efficiency.

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

Merchants often feel "app fatigue" as stores grow. That fatigue comes from:

• Increased maintenance burden for each installed app (updates, theme conflicts, QA).
• Fragmented customer data across tools, making it hard to act on signals.
• Multiple subscription fees that add up and erode margin.
• Integration gaps that require manual exports or middleware.

An all-in-one retention platform addresses those pain points by consolidating features and centralizing data. Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy is built around this concept: provide loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlists, and VIP tiers in a single suite so merchants can capture signals and convert them across multiple channels without adding separate apps.

Why consolidation matters for retention

• Unified customer profiles: When wishlist behavior, purchase history, reviews, and referral activity sit in one platform, merchants can create more relevant reward triggers and campaigns.
• Fewer theme edits and conflicts: One well-built app reduces risk of script collisions and reduces QA cycles during theme changes.
• Simplified analytics: Seeing how wishlist saves correlate with loyalty redemptions or referral conversions is faster when data is already connected.

To evaluate consolidation in practice, compare these concrete advantages against single-purpose alternatives:

• Faster time-to-value: Fewer installations and configurations mean merchants can roll out retention programs quickly.
• Operational simplicity: One dashboard, one permission set, and fewer vendor relationships.
• Better lifetime value outcomes: Coordinated programs (e.g., rewarding wishlist conversions with loyalty points, prompting review requests after a wishlist purchase) produce compounding effects on retention.

Growave’s Feature Set: How consolidation works

Growave bundles multiple retention tools. Highlights include loyalty and rewards, referrals, wishlist, reviews & UGC, and VIP tiers — which eliminates the need for separate wishlist, referral, and loyalty apps.

• Growave integrates loyalty, referrals, and wishlists so merchants can reward actions across channels and tie those rewards to purchase behavior. Merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and attach points or perks to wishlist actions.
• User-generated content and product feedback are centralized. Stores can collect and showcase authentic reviews and tie social proof into product pages and marketing campaigns, increasing conversion across touchpoints.
• For stores on Shopify Plus or those with advanced needs, Growave offers solutions tailored for scale. Merchants can explore solutions for high-growth Plus brands and ensure enterprise features and support align with technical requirements.
• For merchants evaluating cost and plan fit, it’s possible to consolidate retention features into a single subscription that often replaces multiple app fees and simplifies billing and vendor management.

Growave’s platform is also available on the Shopify App Store, which makes installation and initial setup straightforward and familiar to merchants used to that flow. Merchants can install the app from the Shopify App Store and take advantage of native integrations.

Evidence and Social Proof

Growave’s presence in the market is supported by a larger review base and consistent ratings. That matters for merchants who care about vendor stability and feature maturity. To see how other brands applied an integrated approach, merchants can browse customer stories from brands scaling retention for concrete examples of combined loyalty, wishlist, and review programs driving repeat purchases.

Pricing and Plans — Fewer Apps, Clearer ROI

Rather than buying separate subscriptions for wishlist, review, loyalty, referral, and VIP programs, merchants can choose a Growave plan that matches monthly order volume and feature needs. Detailed plan tiers let merchants scale up without adding discrete vendor contracts. For specifics, merchants can consolidate retention features and compare plan limits and benefits.

Growave is also available through the Shopify App Store for easy install and review of plan details. Merchants can install the app from the Shopify App Store to begin setup and test features in a sandboxed environment.

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How Growave Replaces Common Single-Purpose Workflows

• Wishlist to Email: Instead of exporting wishlist CSVs and building manual reminder sequences, Growave can connect wishlist signals to loyalty or automated notifications to re-engage shoppers and offer points for conversions.
• Reviews and Rewards: Growave combines review collection with reward incentives. A loyal customer base is more likely to leave reviews when rewarded, and those reviews can be surfaced across product pages.
• Referral + Loyalty: Referral activity can be tied to VIP tiers or point systems so top referrers receive VIP benefits without managing two separate apps.

These connected flows enable merchants to create compound retention effects: for example, reward a wishlist conversion with loyalty points, invite customers to review the product, and encourage them to refer a friend for additional points.

Implementation Considerations

• Migration: Moving from single apps to Growave requires mapping existing points, referral links, review histories, and wishlist data. Growave’s team provides documentation and, in higher tiers, a customer success manager to assist.
• Theming and Customization: As with any consolidated app, merchants should test in a staging environment. Growave supports advanced customization and integrations for merchants using headless storefronts or Shopify Plus.
• Integrations: Growave connects with major email platforms, SMS providers, and helpdesk tools. This reduces the need for manual exports and simplifies campaign orchestration.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite, the decision comes down to scope and strategic priorities. ESC is a minimal, low-cost widget primarily focused on save-for-later visibility under the cart; its tiny review base and low rating suggest careful testing before committing. GP offers a broader, more mature feature set — guest wishlists, automated reminders, back-in-stock and price-drop alerts, upsells, bundles, and analytics — and it delivers better value for merchants who want to recover lost intent and increase AOV without adding multiple tools.

Beyond the choice of single-purpose apps, consolidation into a retention suite reduces complexity and often yields stronger results. Growave’s integrated approach combines wishlist, loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers so merchants can build coordinated programs that raise lifetime value while managing fewer subscriptions and integrations. Merchants who want to see the difference an integrated retention stack makes can start risk-free — consolidate retention features and explore how a unified platform reduces tool sprawl while improving retention outcomes.

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FAQ

How do ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite differ in re-engagement capabilities?

ESC focuses on in-store visibility and sharing but does not list automated re-engagement features like reminders or alerts. GP includes automated reminder emails, back-in-stock alerts, and price-drop notifications, which turn wishlist interest into measurable reactivation flow.

Which app is better for increasing average order value (AOV)?

GP is explicitly designed to increase AOV with upsell offers, product bundles, and volume discounts. ESC does not provide upsell or bundling capabilities, so increasing AOV with ESC would require additional tools.

If a merchant is on a minimal budget, should they choose ESC?

ESC’s $5 monthly plan may be attractive for merchants who need only the simplest wishlist or save-for-later UI. However, merchants should weigh the potential hidden costs of adding multiple single-purpose apps later. GP’s free plan provides more built-in value, and a consolidated solution may ultimately be a better value for money as a store scales.

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

An all-in-one platform reduces the number of installed apps, centralizes data, and simplifies operations. This often leads to faster implementation, fewer theme conflicts, and clearer attribution across retention channels. Specialized apps can be lighter and targeted, but the combined cost, maintenance, and integration overhead frequently make consolidation the better long-term choice for merchants focused on retention and lifetime value.