Genius Ways to Validate Your Shopify App Idea Before Development

Building a Shopify app is exciting, but diving straight into development without validation can be a costly mistake.

But how do you make sure the validation process is legit? 

How do the industry leaders who built extremely successful app did their validations?

Well, today, we’re unveiling just that, from the experience of validating some very successful Shopify apps.

Let’s explore the tried and true strategies to validate your Shopify app idea effectively and efficiently.

Why App Validation Matters

Validating your idea means making sure that your app has a market demand, and it’s worth giving a shot.

Skipping validation is like building a bridge without testing its foundation. It’s extremely risky for both your time and money.

When you take the time to validate your idea, you’ll:

• Confirm market demand: Know there’s a real audience who needs your app.
• Solve genuine problems: Focus on issues that merchants want to fix.
• Save money and time: Avoid wasting resources on features merchants won’t use.
• Gain confidence: Start development knowing your app has real potential.
• Attract early interest: Build a pipeline of potential users eager for your app’s launch.

You see, validation is the foundation for a successful, well-loved Shopify app. So, make a list of merchants to try your app once it’s live, because you know who needs it!

Validation Process For Your Idea

Before you even get to the validation process, you need to set some facts right. This will keep you on track later on.

Set Validation Goals and USP

Clearly define what initial outcome you want as a result of the validation. 

Is it the number of sign-ups?

Positive feedback from merchants? 

This clarity will help you measure your progress.

Also, identify your app’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What sets it apart from competitors.

This is where we start when serving our clients as well for Shopify app development.

Define Who Your Audience Is

Narrow down your target audience. Are you building for small independent merchants or enterprise-level Shopify stores? Focus your efforts to this specific group.

Write What Problem You’re Solving

Write down the exact pain point your app solves with the user journey. This will keep your messaging focused, and help merchants understand its value instantly.

Note that this should be in your mind while you come up with a winning Shopify app idea in the first place. 

Understand The Potential Market Size

You’re researching how big your market is and its growth potential. It is to decide if the effort and investment are even worth it.

Know The Validation Metrics

In a nutshell, keep these key metrics in mind as you start your validation process:

• User engagement (While doing surveys, interviews)
• Market demand (While doing competitor app analysis)
• Unique value proposition (To differentiate from the competition)
• User acquisition costs (To determine marketing estimates)
• Revenue potential (To set monetization strategies after validation)

Strategies to Validate Your Shopify App Idea

Validation is a step you can’t afford to skip if you want to do good in the Shopify ecosystem. 

That leads us to the burning question: 

what are the validation methods successful Shopify app founders used? 

Here are they, from our own experience of validating apps you might already know:

1. Conduct Merchant Interviews

The most reliable way to understand your target audience is to talk to them directly. 

Reach out to Shopify merchants to discuss their pain points and what they need in their daily workflows.

These insights can refine your app idea into a solution merchants will value.

Where Do You Find Merchants for Interviews?

• Use platforms like AppStoreResearch to connect with Shopify merchants. This tool allows you to hire merchants for one-on-one interviews for specific niches or store sizes.
• Facebook groups, and LinkedIn communities, and eCommerce forums can be ideal to find and engage merchants.
• Head out to Shopify forum, where you can make friends with merchants and talk about your idea. It’s a great tool for Shopify app idea research as well.

Example Questions to Ask:

• “What’s the biggest obstacle you face in running your Shopify store?”
• “How do you currently solve [problem your app solves]?”
• “Would you pay for an app that provides this solution? Why or why not?”

Pro Tip: Compensate for their participation with gift cards, free trials, or other perks to get more interest and ensure honest feedback.

2. Create a Pre-Launch Landing Page

A well-crafted landing page can help you validate your idea. It’s where you put your idea aligning the journey of your potential use so that they can relate to it. 

Tools like Carrd or Unbounce will help you create a page highlighting your app’s concept, key features, and benefits. They specialize for this use case.

What To Include In The Page:

• A headline that addresses the problem your app solves.
• Clear descriptions of features and benefits.
• Visuals like mockups or explainer videos.
• A strong call-to-action (CTA), such as:some text
  • “Join the waitlist”
  • “Reserve your spot now”

Drive Traffic to Your Page:

• Run targeted social media ads to reach Shopify merchants.
• Share the landing page in Shopify-focused groups, forums, or newsletters (paid and organic).

Track key metrics:

• Click-through rates (CTR): Indicates how compelling your messaging is.
• Sign-up rates: Shows the level of interest in your app.
• Bounce rates: Highlights areas where visitors lose interest.

A/B test headlines, CTAs, and visuals to identify what works for your audience and optimize for better conversions.

3. Use Surveys and Polls

Surveys help you validate your idea at scale by collecting data directly from the potential users. 

Use tools like Typeform, Google Forms, Pollfish, or SurveyMonkey to design your surveys. Make sure the questions you write, relate to the daily lives of merchants, not yours.

Example Questions:

• “What features would make this app indispensable for your store?”
• “How much time or money does [problem your app solves] cost you currently?”
• “What price point would you expect for an app like this?”

Distribute Surveys Effectively

• Share them in Shopify forums and Facebook groups where merchants are active.
• Use your email list if you have one, or partner with influencers to promote your survey.

Analyze the Results 

See the trends and recurring feedback to see what merchants want the most. Use this data to prioritize features and refine your app concept.

Pro Tip: Keep surveys concise and offer a reward, such as a discount on your app when it launches.

4. Research Competitor Apps

Research existing Shopify apps to find gaps and opportunities for improvement in the market. Browse the Shopify app store and note down things like:

• Apps with high ratings and downloads to know what are they doing right.
• Negative reviews to know what pain points and expectations can you address.
• Mid-tier reviews where merchants mention features they wish existing apps had.

How to Stand Out:

• Put your unique selling points (USP) to address the overlooked features.
• Explore niches that the current apps aren’t covering or not even noticing.

Use tools like Similarweb to analyze traffic and popularity trends of competitor apps.

5. Create Hype Before Building

A pre-launch campaign can help you steer people’s interest and attract early adopters. Use email marketing platforms like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to set up a pre-launch list.

What to Do:

• Share sneak peeks of your app mockups and concept through emails and social media.
• Offer exclusive perks, such as early access or discounted pricing, for signing up.

Monitor Engagement: Track open rates, click-through rates, and sign-ups to measure merchant interest.

Pro Tip: Collaborate with Shopify influencers to amplify your campaign’s reach.

6. Huddles for In-Depth Feedback

Do community huddle, webinars, or events and invite Shopify merchants from your target audience.

Provide them with the app concepts, its USPs, and observe how they interact with your solution.

Why It Works:

• Direct observation reveals usability issues beyond usual online surveys.
• Group discussions can spark ideas and insights you might not have considered.

7. Leverage Your Existing Networks 

Partner up with Shopify development or marketing agencies that work with merchants. 

Their experience and connections can provide valuable insights and access to potential early adopters.

Why It’s Effective:

• Agencies understand merchant pain points as they work closely.
• They can validate your idea with their clients or network with real life use cases.

Pro Tip: Offer a commission or revenue share to make the collaboration fruitful for them.

8. Industry Specific Deeper Validation

Industry specific apps are often overlooked but they can be extremely profitable with a very high margin. 

But it’s like a double-edged sword where you have no other option but to get it right. For that, you have to talk to the exact audience you’re targeting, not a general merchant. 

The more specific and deep you can get into your target audience, the more assuring validation you can get.

Let’s talk about some niches and their validation process. 

Fashion Stores: 

Conduct polls in niche fashion communities or partner with fashion influencers who work with Shopify merchants.

Health & Wellness: 

Engage merchants in wellness-focused Facebook groups or forums to validate solutions like subscription services or unique inventory challenges.

Wholesale & B2B Stores:

Use LinkedIn to reach B2B-focused Shopify merchants and validate solutions like:

• Custom order pricing tiers
• Bulk-ordering features
• Streamlining procurement processes 
• Integrating ERP systems

Subscription Box Services: 

Validate ideas related to recurring billing or subscription management with merchants in subscription-focused forums or attending industry webinars.

High-Ticket Items:

Talk to merchants selling high-ticket items (e.g., luxury goods, furniture) by validating apps focused on personalized user experiences. 

A good example could be advanced customer support features like AR previews.

Digital Products:

Run polls in digital creator communities about pain points like DRM or auto-delivery for digital files to validate your app idea.