There are over 6,000 apps available on the Shopify App Store and over 1.7 million merchants using the Shopify platform. We are constantly evaluating the e-commerce space for our clients and have found that on average, clients that use the Shopify platform to promote their e-commerce stores download around seven apps from the Shopify App Store. The space is massive, and it only continues to grow in scale. If you are looking for help deciding which platform to build an app on, take this as a sign to explore your options with the Shopify App Store.
In 2015, Shopify had 900 apps on their App Store. Since then, they have experienced growth of 15 times. Not only are more Shopify merchants flocking to use the Shopify platform amidst the continued boom of e-commerce in our era, app developers are also capitalizing on this frenzy by building, scaling and divesting of their Shopify apps.
Many developers have told us first-hand how positive their experiences have been building for the Shopify App Store. Time and time again we see developers shift to building for the Shopify platform because of the wide array of merchants that have started using the platform. Big brands and small mom-and-pop shops alike are creating Shopify storefronts—widening the market and giving app developers ample opportunity to solve merchants’ problems.
One such developer, Nemanja Popovic, built AmpifyMe and LightifyMe, two Shopify apps that enhance the quality of a user’s mobile shopping experience. I sat down with Nemanja to pick his brain on what it takes to build a successful Shopify app and what it takes to get to a point of divesting. Nemanja is a seasoned veteran of building apps for the Shopify App Store and has notable wisdom for those who are looking to follow in his footsteps. He divested of the UX Shopify apps in 2021 with FE International.
Building a Shopify App: 8 Tips from a Seasoned Shopify App Developer
Anyone looking to divest of their Shopify app should know that it is important in the beginning to develop a business based on an idea that will be popular among users. Nemanja started our conversation by stressing the importance of doing market research first – whether on different forums where developers talk about what is and what isn’t working for them, or on their own by asking consumers what they are after in a Shopify app. He stressed that after you have an initial idea, it’s important to develop and nurture it. When looking to exit, you’ll be glad that you took the time to develop your idea.
“If there is something you are thinking about building, you should start as soon as possible and just build on it,” said Nemanja, “E-commerce exploded at the time I was building my apps and Shopify was the clear market leader. It is super smart to build on Shopify right now, especially because Shopify dropped their partner fees.” Getting into Shopify is super easy and you immediately have access to almost 2 million store owners which is a huge market potential.
1. Do Your Research
Shopify changed the entire e-commerce game. The barrier to entry has been lowered so not only the big-guns have access to online storefronts. Now, lesser-known players can get into the space by opening stores and growing them. As a developer, “You have access to millions of store owners. Ten years ago, you used to have to pay huge amounts of money for a platform from Salesforce,” said Nemanja.
He continued, “You need to ask yourself: in the e-commerce space, what are the best platforms to position yourself on? Shopify is the only one where the entry is super easy.”
The process of building a Shopify app is fairly simple, as it is laid out in detail on their website but it is important that you keep in mind the time it takes for approval. Make sure you do your research on what goes in to building a Shopify app and what it takes to build something that merchants will love.
2. Leverage Your Network and Prospective Customers
Nemanja explained that he never took the time to market his Shopify app, AmpifyMe, because of the amount of demand there is for Shopify apps from Shopify merchants. That is one reason why Shopify is the way to go if you have been debating which platform to build your app on. The Shopify market itself is massive with millions of merchants running online storefronts. The Shopify App Store is growing increasingly more popular as merchants seek to enhance their e-commerce stores.
“My advice would be that instead of worrying about how you’ll market your Shopify app, think about how you can build something that stands out to the millions of stores. If you build something that merchants need, everyone will flock to it and marketing will happen naturally. That is the beauty of the Shopify App Store, and that is exactly what happened with AmpifyMe,” said Nemanja.
Build a product that fills a need and has great market fit, that is how you will guarantee a popular Shopify app on the Shopify App Store.
The Shopify App Store is expansive and anyone can go in and check out solutions to solve their own problems. If a user wants a faster loading storefront: there’s an app for that – it’s AmpifyMe. It was a bit of luck and strategic thinking on the front end. Shopify featured AmpifyMe and encouraged people to check out a few apps that they found valuable. Shopify featured Nemanja’s app only a week after it was put up on the Shopify App Store.
“At that point, a lot of people installed AmpifyMe and left tons of reviews. It then started snowballing on its own. I didn’t have to do marketing really in the beginning, instead I was doing support 24/7,” continued Nemanja, “The idea was to have three different Shopify apps that complimented each other. AmpifyMe, StorifyMe and LightifyMe. One concept with three different apps that complimented each other.”
3. Don’t Rush the Process or the Pricing Plans
Pricing plans can make or break your app so it is important that you do research to know what your audience will pay and what features they won’t budge on. At FE International, we’ve helped many entrepreneurs divest of apps so we are experts on pricing and can advise on if your business’ pricing aligns with your goals. When asked about pricing plans for AmpifyMe, Nemanja had quite a bit to say, “I built the apps and bundled the concepts to work in tandem, but they were each priced separately. I decided I could capitalize on this opportunity and cross sell across markets. I had a set price for each and had different tiers for each of them.”
He also mentioned a freemium option, and went into how it can be good and bad for your Shopify app. “I had a freemium option and that helped because you don’t really have to do marketing when you have a freemium option. People check out the app themselves and then they see if they like the return on investment—if they do—they upgrade. As customers would move to higher tiers, I would add more and more features and the early adopters often had ideas of how I could improve the app so I would make modifications based on their feedback, providing more value to the customer.” He finished his thought by adding, “When you do this, it makes it more likely that they are going to pay so it really helps to have a freemium tier. Then, start upgrading them slowly.”
The Good and Bad of Freemium for Shopify Developers
- Good: To get initial engagement, especially if you don’t have marketing.
- Good: Easier to get customers on board.
- Bad: It can give you a false sense of success since customers are not actually paying you.
- Bad: If it’s so great—why didn’t they pay for it?
- Good: If they go from freemium to a paid tier quickly.
- Bad: If they hit their limit and decide they are going to go somewhere else instead.
What works for some in terms of a pricing model won’t necessarily work for another. When you are talking about something niche, like a Shopify app, it is good to keep in mind that what works for some SaaS founders won’t necessarily work for you and vice versa. That is why it is so important to test different options, and test often. You can switch up your pricing to see what works for you. If freemium benefits your customers and your business, go for it, if it doesn’t, you don’t need to feel pressure to offer it.
Discussing pricing models with peers can sometimes rob you of something that is good that could be great.
4. Put Yourself in the Merchant’s Shoes
Sometimes developers build a Shopify app as a side-gig alongside their full-time job. Other times, app developers make a living solely out of building for the Shopify App Store. However you decide to build your app for Shopify, it’s important to keep these practical tips in mind.
Adam Wood, co-founder of RevenueGeeks, weighed in on what you should factor in before building on the Shopify App Store, “Produce a favorable and significant return on investment for the merchant. A merchant, at the end of the day, needs to know that if they spend $X to utilize your software, they will earn more than $X in return.” He continued, “Increase the merchant’s operational efficiency and avoid big difficulties. Inventory management, employee scheduling, and so on are examples of these. Provide customers with one-of-a-kind experiences. This might be an augmented reality (AR) experience for your products, tailored experiences, or something else entirely. When considering how to put your idea into action, keep these things in mind.”
5. Be Aware of Barriers of Entry
The first step, motivating yourself through the certification process, is the hardest part. Shopify has made it a bit easier now but the certification process is still tricky and I’d say it is a huge barrier to entry. If your product is only a side-gig, then you will likely find yourself working on weekends or late nights to get your app published. Once you have something on the app store—and it goes through the beginning certification process—you will get traffic and customers and the app will start gaining traction on its own but getting to that point can be challenging. Keep at it, it will pay off.
6. Slow and Steady Wins the Race
The approval process isn’t instant. It can take between two to three weeks for someone from Shopify to provide feedback on your app. They will let you know if something isn’t working as expected or share what you need to do to move your application forward.
Nemanja added, “They want to make sure everything is working as smoothly as possible because they don’t want anything on the Shopify App Store that would cause a bad experience for merchants. They want to make sure the app that you have built will add to the user experience, not take away from it. So, it makes sense that the approval process takes a while.”
7. Leverage a Community of Shopify App Developers
If you are developing a Shopify app for the first time or are a seasoned veteran in the space, it is important that you surround yourself with people who have walked the same path. There are so many spaces for Shopify app developers that you can leverage to talk to people who have built an app for the marketplace. Cross collaboration really opens you up for more innovative thinking and creative ideas and you can leverage the skills of others to put yourself in a better position for developing on the Shopify App Store. You need to hear from other partners and agencies who have already done this so that you can bring clients the best experience possible. The possibilities are endless when you bounce ideas off developers and see what works and what hasn’t worked in the past. Working with others in the Shopify community will help you ease into the Shopify app development process and might help avoid hiccups along the way.
8. Collaborate to Innovate
It is important that you do not despise the days of small beginnings. Nemanja stressed the importance of joining different forums so you can develop more market research. “There are Facebook groups you can join as well as closed Slack groups. Start mingling with other people and you will learn a ton. You will always be in the know on the latest and greatest. It is pretty easy to build meaningful relationships this way and the conversations you have will ultimately add value to your clients because you are able to innovate the app based on what’s worked before and what has not.” Nemanja continued, “Some ideas work and some ideas don’t. You can’t take it personally when you find out an idea you had will not land well on the Shopify App Store. Instead, you can exchange ideas with other developers and come up with something better.”
An Easy Exit and a New Venture Ahead
After divesting of AmpifyMe, Nemanja continues to work on his current Shopify app, StorifyMe. We ended the interview by discussing his experience divesting of a Shopify app through FE International. “I had no idea about the entire sales process going into this and I knew I was not going to be able to sell it myself. I knew I would need someone like FE International to help me even though they take a commission. The work the firm does outweighs the commission you pay in the end,” said Nemanja.
He was constantly getting emails from people who wanted to buy AmpifyMe, and he thought about selling it by himself initially but after working with an M&A advisor, he could see that it is truly not a simple process. “It makes sense to go with someone like FE, especially if it is your first time selling,” he explained.
Nemanja said that he was extremely skeptical about the process and is someone who questions everything. He said the entire team at FE was super patient with him while he got the answers to all of the questions that he had. He added, “There are free places out there, sure, but none of them hold your hand the whole time like FE does.”
It is an exciting time to be in and support the e-commerce world and our team is always happy to work with app developers in the Shopify space. Whether you are in the early stages of marketing your Shopify app or you know you are ready to sell and move on to a new venture, it is always wise to know where your business stands by getting a free valuation. Our team is always willing to coach you towards the right next step for you.