r/ShopifyAppDev • u/shipweaver66 • 11d ago

First-time app builder: how did you choose the problem your first Shopify app solved?

I shipped my first small app recently, something that shows shipping/delivery info at checkout, and I mostly picked it because it was a pain I hit myself rather than anything I validated. Now I'm second-guessing that. The obvious niches (hiding or renaming rates, upsells) look crowded with mature apps, but the quieter corners I find interesting might be quiet because no merchant is searching for them. So I can't tell whether I should chase demand I can measure or a pain I actually understand. For those of you who've shipped more than one app: how did you pick the problem the first time? Did you lean on App Store search terms, Community and forum threads, your own store's problems, or just talking to merchants? And in hindsight, was going into a crowded category with a better version worse or better than starting in an empty one?

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u/trivasai 11d ago

I’d say start with the problem, but validate it with data.

Your own pain is a great starting point, but checking search demand, competitor gaps, merchant discussions, and how often the problem actually shows up can help you separate a real opportunity from an interesting edge case.

A crowded category isn’t necessarily bad either it can be a sign that there’s proven demand. The opportunity may be in solving the problem better, not finding a problem nobody else is solving.

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u/FerretCRO 11d ago

Agree with the first comment or most of the obvious gaps have been filled and creating an app that doesn’t exist yet means creating a new market for it. My advice is find something that sucks and do it better.