The Top 5 Shopify App Ideas

Are you a newbie freelance web developer eager to score big with a Shopify app? Then you need to find the right idea. If you didn’t know already, Shopify is a massive marketplace for web developers. There’s the Shopify App Store, where indie developers can create apps for merchants.

The key to creating an app that sells is solving a pain point for merchants. Another method is to create an app that adds a new capability to their page that they need.

If you’ve been struggling to find ideas for your first app, then we’re here to help you. Read on to learn our picks for the top 5 Shopify app ideas.

#5: Web Apps for Orders and Shipping

Our number five pick goes to web app ideas. In particular, web apps that make orders and shipping easier for merchants. A web app requires two things, a browser, and an internet connection. That’s why they’re so popular on the Shopify marketplace.

A savvy web app can provide merchants with important info about their business. They can also access the data anywhere and on any device.

While there are many applications for web apps, we think apps for orders and shipping are the best. You can design web apps that:

Enable merchants to assess international rates, stock, weights, and sizes

Navigate shipping details

Change rates for shipping costs on the fly

Much more

These are all significant needs to fill through web apps. Say you decide to create an app that integrates with popular local shipping services. That way, merchants can take advantage of local pick-up points. As a result, merchants will enjoy quicker delivery times for their customers.

Creating web apps such as these is a fantastic way to create an app that sells on Shopify. Merchants will always want to speed up delivery times and the ordering process.

#4: Inventory Management Apps

Running an online business comes with many challenges, and managing inventory is one of the most difficult. Poor inventory management can cripple businesses. An example would be a merchant that’s keeping too much of a low-selling product on hand. They’re wasting money by ordering too much of a product that nobody wants.

As an app developer, this is a golden opportunity. Why not design an app that can calculate the proper quota for each item? Doing so would save merchants a ton of time and money.

You can also design apps that help visually organize the inventory. Being able to incorporate things like color coding and images can help merchants stay organized.

Another idea would be to design an app that sends a notification whenever the supply gets low. That will save merchants the hassle of having to check their supply levels. They’ll also be able to avoid running out of their best-selling items.

Remember, the goal of designing these apps is to save merchants time and money. Try to build an inventory app that:

Creates quotas for all products

Keeps track of supply levels

Makes organizing inventory effortless

#3: Cybersecurity Apps

Next up on our pick for the top 5 Shopify app ideas are security apps. After all, trust and security are both vital elements of e-commerce. Nobody wants to shop at an online store if it isn’t secure.

Buying things online means putting your personal payment information out there.

That’s concerning for anyone, so merchants want to make their stores as secure as possible. That’s where you come in as an app developer. Cybersecurity apps are big sellers on Shopify, so it’s a great area to focus on as a developer.

You could design an app that adds extra layers of encryption to customer payment info. That will help merchants give their customers peace of mind about shopping with them.

Cybersecurity apps will help merchants build a solid reputation with customers online.

You could also create an app that automatically analyzes each order. It could check for fake accounts, spam, and potential fraud. To take it a step further, you can include badges for merchants to display on their front page. That will let customers know that their online store is extra secure, thanks to your app.

For cybersecurity Shopify apps, focus on:

Checking for fraudulent activity

Making customer payment information extra secure and encrypted

Automatically blocking spammers and fake accounts

Add to the trustworthiness of merchant stores

#2: Marketing Campaign Apps

Marketing is always on the minds of Shopify merchants. That’s because they’re always trying to increase their exposure and build their brands. As you can imagine, there’s a considerable demand for clever marketing apps on Shopify. If you’re an app developer with some marketing savvy, then you should focus on this niche.

Enabling affiliate marketing is always a fantastic idea for an app. Try to come up with ways for merchants to gamify an affiliate program. That will incentivize others to get the word out about what they do.

You can also come up with fun promotions like discount codes and special events. The more that your app can do to expose merchant stores, the better.

Try to design marketing apps that will:

Gamify marketing efforts

Incorporate affiliate programs

Make sharing links effortless

Exclusive offers, discounts, and freebies

#1: Financial Subscription Apps

Our final pick is to create a subscription app. In particular, finance subscription apps work best on Shopify. What is it?

It’s an app where merchants pay a monthly subscription fee to use your services.

For a subscription app, you could offer the help of world-class financial professionals. After all, merchants are always looking for advice on the struggles of running a business.

You could elicit the talents of:

Tax professionals

Financial coaches

Successful entrepreneurs

The model here is simple. Merchants get the value of connecting with financial experts by subscribing. When done right, you will end up with a best-selling financial subscription app.

A great tutorial on Shopify app Development

If you are interested in a great course to learn Shopify app development check out the Shopify app development course by CodingPhase. Codingphase by Joe Santos teaches you all about Shopify app development as you code alongside him to create an app. I highly recommend this course as it’s easy to follow and has tons of useful information. We recommend subscribing to the diamond plan so you can have access to both the Shopify app development courses and Shopify theme development courses , while also getting access to a huge collection of programming courses you can take. You can also buy courses individually but you will end up spending more money than if you bought the diamond plan and got access to all of the Codingphase courses. If you want to get access to the Shopify app development course and a huge collection of courses check out Codingphase at this link.