Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing well

Another email for our newsletter 🔥

And we are 1 month before The Wide Event.

In today’s email we’re going to talk about:

• My podcast with Jan

• Shopify partners exposed the truth

• I’m testing Youtube Ads

• Shopify Company going all-in on AI

Let’s go! 🔥

My podcast with Jan

Jan invited me again for a podcast.

During 47 minutes I shared value for Shopify App Founders.

I HIGHLY recommend you watch it!

The worst you can get is learning something 🫣

We answer questions like “Do you think it’s still possible to build an app in 2025?”

Just click on the video below 👇

Shopify partners exposed the truth

Last week I posted many polls on X.

What I wanted was to understand what partners think about the current ecosystem.

I asked 16 questions!

Some results are obvious, some others are unexpected!

Here they are:

1. Do you think Shopify cares about small app developers?
41% YES - 59% NO

2. Do you trust Shopify not to compete directly with partners in the future?
17.5% YES - 82.5% NO

3. Should Shopify promote partner apps more aggressively to merchants?
Results: 62% YES - 38% NO

4. Is building a Shopify App still a good idea in 2025?
66% YES - 34% NO

5. Should Shopify allow more transparency on app store ranking factors?
83% YES - 17% NO

6. Have recent changes in Shopify made it harder to grow as a partner?
67% YES - 33% NO

7. Do you think app reviews on the Shopify App Store are trustworthy?
38% YES - 62% NO

8. Is ranking on the Shopify App Store more about hacks than product quality?
80% YES - 20% NO

9. Do you believe Shopify gives unfair visibility to certain apps?
84% YES - 16% NO

10. Are Shopify merchants overwhelmed by too many apps solving similar problems?
87% YES - 13% NO

11. Is the Shopify app approval process too strict for new developers?
45% YES - 55% NO

12. Is Built For Shopify certification worth the effort?
48% YES - 52% NO

13. Have you avoided applying for BFS due to complexity or unclear ROI?
63% YES - 37% NO

14. Is Shopify moving away from being "partner-first"?
72% YES - 28% NO

15. Would you recommend a friend to build a Shopify app today?
55% YES - 45% NO

16. Should Shopify remove ghost apps?
89% YES - 11% NO

Which one surprised you the most?

I’m testing Youtube Ads

One of the most asked questions is “How do you get users?”

And I love testing new stuff.

As always, I will share my results about testing everything.

My goal is to create leads that I can then convert into users.

Here is the current game plan:

→ Offer something valuable you can get only with your app
(e.g. You’re a reviews app and you share value about how to get more reviews for Shopify Stores)

→ Use it as a lead magnet (you want to attract an audience)

→ Paying for ads will make the acquisition faster. It’s also a good way to either: validate an app idea OR scaling an existing app when organic growth is already kicking it

→ Let ads optimize themselves

IMPORTANT: Shopify are very strict regarding ads so you need to do it properly!

Whether it’s a success or not I’ll share the results

Shopify Company going all-in on AI

Tobi shared this post 👇

If you don’t want to read it all, he’s basically saying that AI will have a major role in his company

• Everyone will have to learn how to use it

• Before hiring someone, employees will have to prove it can’t be done with AI

What does that mean for YOUR business?

As always, the direction Shopify is taking is important for your Shopify App. Expect even more AI.

And do the same. Train your employees about AI.

Here is the game plan:

• List all your tasks and your employees’ tasks

• For each, can it be replaced by AI instead? Can it be done faster with AI?

The point is, everything is going faster and if you want to catch up, you need to be using the tools everyone is starting to use.

Shopify also recently released a tool that allows everyone to create GraphQL queries faster with AI by looking directly into their documentation

I repeat it: Following Shopify direction and vision ensures that your app stays alive.

Congrats for reading that far!

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See you in the next email!

Mat 😁