5 Shopify Plugin Success Stories [2024]
Attention all tech-savvy entrepreneurs: imagine helping ecommerce stores run smoother with a Shopify plugin. A Shopify plugin is a tool that you can develop and sell to enhance the functionality of online stores on the Shopify platform.
By creating a valuable plugin, you'll address common pain points for store owners, such as simplifying shipping, improving SEO, or integrating social media. Though there's a significant amount of coding and development work involved, the payoff can be substantial.
Start by researching high-demand features missing from Shopify's default setup. After development, market your plugin on the Shopify App Store and other relevant forums. If you have a knack for coding and understanding ecommerce needs, this could be a rewarding and profitable venture.
In this list, you'll find real-world shopify plugin success stories and very profitable examples of starting a shopify plugin that makes money.
1. Widebundle ($660K/year)
He used Shopify Facebook Groups and communities to read people’s problems and questions, add comments, and start conversations. It’s a long job that only a few people want to do, but it works.
At some point, Matt found 3 people who wanted the same thing but it didn’t exist in the Shopify App Store. They wanted features from a bundled app that didn’t exist. And if 3 people want it, maybe there are more.
How much money it makes: $660K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
How many people on the team: 6
WideBundle is a Shopify App founded in May 2020, that has grown to making over $40,000 monthly, with 5 people working full-time, and helps Shopify merchants create bundles and offers to increase their average order value.
2. Kiwi Sizing ($432K/year)
The founder of Kiwi Sizing used to run a dropshipping store that sold dog clothing and pet accessories, but he always struggled with setting up size charts for the pet products.
He faced two main issues when it came to sizing: each product had different sizing, and the vendor only provided sizing in centimeters.
As a result, he had to manually convert each number from centimeters to inches using Google search, which was a time-consuming process. At the time, there were two size chart apps available on the Shopify app store, but neither of them offered unit conversion features.
This meant that he had to waste hours adding up to 20-30 new merchandise each week. The business started because the founder, being an engineer, was highly motivated to create a tool that could help him automate this tedious process.
How much money it makes: $432K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
How many people on the team: 1
Kiwi Sizing is an e-commerce plugin that simplifies size charts and offers fit recommenders, generating over $36k/month in revenue with a 5% month-over-month growth, and serving over 13,000 active stores worldwide.
3. SuperLemon ($348K/year)
After 2 failed startups, the founders set their sights on working on something people want and are ready to pay for. Their priority even before they had decided on the idea for the product was to find an audience, a group of people who faced a problem, and who currently pay for a software tool to solve their problem. App marketplaces were a way to mitigate some of this risk.
They had some prior experience with building a Shopify store, and also had a friend who built a $20k/mo Shopify app without any employees.
To find problems worth solving, they browsed the entire Shopify app store, which at the time had 3,000+ apps. Going through every single app, jotting down interesting ones, especially ones that had poor reviews indicating that they could do a better job at solving the same problem, and picked 5 out of the 100s of those ideas they identified, based on their goals and constraints:
- An existing problem that people were already paying for
- Existing apps weren’t doing the best possible job at solving customer’s needs
- The app had the potential to grow to at least $3k in MRR, which after costs would allow the founders to live comfortably in Bengaluru
How much money it makes: $348K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
SuperLemon, a WhatsApp plugin for Shopify eCommerce stores, crossed $29,000 in MRR as of July 2020, with 20,000 users from 50+ countries and 1700+ paying customers, all acquired through organic marketing strategies and a relentless focus on customer service and satisfaction.
4. Rush - Ship, Track, Notify ($240K/year)
providing value and a unique experience through our app. We listen to our ideal customers and constantly work to improve and meet their needs. We also prioritize building strong customer relationships and offering exceptional customer support. As a result, we have received positive feedback and reviews, which has helped to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Additionally, our blog has been a valuable resource for e-commerce-related topics, further attracting traffic and potential customers to our website.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300K
How many people on the team: 9
Rush co-founder Kiril Kirilov has developed an all-in-one post-purchase solution for Shopify businesses that has achieved $20k in monthly recurring revenue, boasting impressive last mile updates and notifications, customizable tracking pages, and upselling and cross-selling options.
5. Analyzify ($144K/year)
DataPack, the founder's productized offer for data-analytics-related projects, had received too many requests from Shopify stores. So they decided to create a standalone product for the Shopify market.
How much money it makes: $144K/year
How much did it cost to start: $6K
How many people on the team: 3
Analyzify.app is a Shopify app that helps enable accurate and reliable data tracking and generates $12K+/month with over 350 stores empowered, thanks to a freemium version on YouTube and exceptional customer support.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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