EXPANDING MERCHANT ACQUISITION THROUGH THE SHOPIFY APP ECOSYSTEM

The Challenge

The Shopify App Store represented an opportunity to reach ecommerce merchants actively searching for solutions to improve their customer experience and gather customer feedback.

However, marketplace visibility alone wasn't enough. The company needed to differentiate its offering in a competitive app ecosystem, communicate its value to the right merchants, and create a path from initial discovery to meaningful product engagement.

The opportunity was to establish Shopify as a measurable acquisition channel—not simply a place to list the product, but an integrated experience that could attract, educate, and convert prospective

The Strategy

I independently developed and executed the Shopify acquisition strategy, owning the marketplace positioning, listing optimization, paid promotion, performance tracking, and merchant experience.

Optimized Marketplace Positioning & Conversion

  • Conducted competitive research to evaluate competing Shopify apps, marketplace positioning, keywords, messaging, and visual presentation.

  • Reworked the app listing title, description, keywords, and creative assets to better communicate Bizrate's value proposition and improve relevance to merchant searches.

  • Refined messaging around product capabilities, ease of implementation, and the value of customer feedback and insights.

  • Evaluated listing engagement and completed installs to understand conversion performance.

Launched & Optimized Paid Acquisition

  • Managed Shopify App Store advertising and monitored spend, listing engagement, and attributed installs.

  • Evaluated acquisition performance using listing clicks, completed installs, advertising attribution, and merchant quality.

  • Used performance data to assess the channel's potential as a source of active merchant acquisition.

Developed a Self-Guided Merchant Demo Experience

  • Led the strategy and implementation of a redesigned Shopify demo store, launched September 24, 2026.

  • Created a self-guided experience with sample products, embedded surveys, and product-specific notes designed to demonstrate how Bizrate's capabilities worked in a real ecommerce environment.

  • Removed checkout friction by eliminating the credit-card gateway and clearly communicating that the store was a demonstration environment with no real transactions.

  • Designed the experience to help prospective merchants explore product functionality without requiring an initial sales conversation.

The Results

212.5%

Increase in Monthly App Installs

42

Completed App Installs

11

Qualified Merchant from Ads

212.5% Increase in Monthly App Installs

Increased monthly installs from 8 to 25 following the initial marketplace optimization period.

42 Completed App Installs

Generated 42 completed installs from 555 App Store listing clicks during the tracked reporting period.

11 Qualified Merchants from Ads

Identified 11 additional qualified Shopify merchant prospects through the acquisition initiative and passed them to Sales for follow-up.

Building a New Merchant Acquisition Channel

Shopify emerged as akey acquisition drivers, demonstrating the value of reaching merchants directly within the ecosystem where they discover and evaluate ecommerce tools.

The initiative extended beyond marketplace visibility. By combining competitive positioning, paid acquisition, listing optimization, and a self-guided demo experience, I established a more complete path from merchant discovery to product evaluation and sales engagement.

The result was a developing acquisition channel with measurable marketplace engagement, completed installs, and additional qualified merchant opportunities.

More Key Accomplishments

More Performance highlights