The Shopify App Show

Martin Cox
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  • Entrepreneurship

The Shopify App Show goes deep with "indie" developers who build the most innovative stuff on the Shopify ecosystem. This is not a product demo show! Hosted by a 14-year ecosystem veteran, we skip the sales pitches, demos, and pricing talk. Instead, tune in for fun, 25-minute chats with founders about their craft, origin stories, and the specific use cases that help you win. Find the hidden gems that outperform the VC-backed giants. Real builders. No corporate fluff. Just great apps. Subscribe to build a better tech stack.

  1. 11h ago

    Why Offering Clothing Repairs Is Good For The World, And Good For Business

    Repairs and alterations are easy to care about. Particularly in fashion and retail. So many products go through returns, end up in landfill or sit in the back of our cupboards. We all want to reduce that, and we all care about what it costs our businesses. But when you dig into the logistics, it all seems too hard and too expensive, especially repairs and alterations that need a person to actually touch the product. When I came across Owen’s business, Hello Tailr, earlier this year, I had all those too-hard-basket thoughts. Then he walked me through the distribution network he’d built, using social enterprises to alter products bought online. Sounds a bit too good to be true. He’s now expanded into the US through Upkept, co-founded by today’s other guest, Robin Atkinson. It’s not all altruistic either. As well as being good for brand positioning, repairs and alterations can lift profitability and give you a real point of difference. And with regulation landing in Europe, California and beyond, brands will soon have to own what ends up in landfill. If your returns rate keeps you up at night, or you’ve ever looked at a perfectly good pair of jeans heading back to the warehouse because they’re too long, this one’s for you. The Support Heroes - This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes, dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they’re doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com. Native App Co - It’s not too late to get Fish Wishlist, Stork Credit or Omnibus Owl live on your store before BFCM. Wishlists that drive return visits, store credit that keeps customers coming back, and EU price compliance sorted. All built native to Shopify. Hello Tailr on your store: https://apps.shopify.com/hello-tailr (for transparency, I helped Owen build the app) In this episode: Why every Shopify store has a returns app but none have a repair buttonThe unit economics that make repairs a high volume, low margin problemLessons from Hello Tailr’s pilot with The IconicWhy denim hemming is the easiest place to start“Just do it in Iowa”: why small pilots beat big rolloutsEPR, California’s 2029 deadline and what’s coming for retailersYouTube Chapters 00:00 - Why repairs feel too hard (and why they're worth it) 01:55 - Meet Robin from Upkept and Owen from Hello Tailr 04:10 - Two repair founders on opposite sides of the world 05:30 - Why every store has a returns app but no repair button 07:01 - The unit economics problem 08:40 - Upfront pricing and no-printer drop-off 10:58 - Lessons from The Iconic pilot 13:15 - The dress that ran too long 14:00 - Handling repairs when you don't know what's coming 16:54 - Why denim hemming is the dream use case 18:31 - What stops brands from starting 21:20 - Just do it in Iowa 21:45 - The loose-button trial that turned a profit 23:50 - Regulation is coming: EPR, California and right to repair 27:00 - Greenwashing rules and claims you can back up 28:22 - The first closet: where the value really is 31:20 - The Dyson email brands should copy 32:11 - Tupperware and getting the economics right 33:14 - Wrapping up

    Why Offering Clothing Repairs Is Good For The World, And Good For Business

  2. Oct 27

    Revenue ≠ Profit: Peak Season Marketing with Carla Penn-Kahn & Cande Rybecky

    Black Friday isn’t just about having the best sales and making the most revenue. It’s about how to actually make money from it, and what to do once the sale’s over. I’m joined by Carla Penn-Kahn from Profit Peak and Cande Rybecky from SHERO Commerce. Between them they cover big growth brands and the small guys running on tight budgets, across Australia and the US. We get into: Why your discount should depend on when you started acquiring customersBundles vs sitewide discounts, and what kills your marginHow to plan for the Q1 slump nowWhy ChatGPT shoppers are spending more per orderCarla’s warning for Aussie brands: learn TikTok Shop now, or get smashed when it lands hereIf you’re running a Shopify store, listen before you lock in your BFCM plan. Seriously. Sponsors Thanks to SHERO Commerce for supporting the Global Compass Series. We’ve been chatting to some of the best ecommerce brains from all over the world, and you can check out the other episodes wherever you’re listening to this. This episode is also brought to you by Fish Wishlist by Native App Co. It’s the wishlist app that doesn’t feel like an app, because it blends right into your theme. It’s not too late to add it to your store for peak season. Head to fishwishlist.com. YouTube Chapters 00:00 - Profit vs revenue: why when you acquire customers matters 01:40 - Missed July? Balancing CAC and discount depth 02:34 - Bundles, gift with purchase, store credit: picking the right promo 04:05 - Building your list and creative before November 05:29 - When to ramp up ad budgets 06:21 - Retention after BFCM and the 12-month stock-up problem 08:23 - Planning for the Q1 lull, and January product drops 10:05 - Segmentation that actually changes what you sell 12:23 - The fastest growing Shopify categories (hello, caravans) 13:42 - Interest rates, consumer sentiment and zip code targeting 15:21 - Australia vs US: going from big fish to small fish 17:14 - Localised creative and the Eurosummer mistake 19:00 - Finding influencers in your own customer list 21:45 - ChatGPT as an ad channel, and why AOV is higher 25:01 - Carla's TikTok Shop warning for Aussie brands 26:37 - Google Ads then vs now 27:05 - Wrapping up

    Revenue ≠ Profit: Peak Season Marketing with Carla Penn-Kahn & Cande Rybecky

  3. Oct 23

    Muse, MCP and the Boring Stuff That Wins BFCM with Jake Casto from Layers

    Lately we’ve been going short and punchy for peak season. This one’s a return to our roots: a proper deep dive with Jake Casto from Layers, one of the most progressive search and merch platforms in the Shopify ecosystem. Jake’s an ex-agency guy who understands this ecosystem inside out, and he’s never short on a hot take. We get into Meta’s new Muse agent and whether it’s the future of agentic shopping, why Layers hit pause on building chatbots to go all in on MCP, and why being platform agnostic is now a disadvantage. Jake explains how a metaobject-based integration took half an hour instead of months, why he refuses to hog attribution, and how one brand turned six weeks of product data work into four days with AI. Then the boring-but-critical stuff: what merchants are doing to get ready for Black Friday, from hyper-niche segments to accessibility audits, buying flow tests and hunting down zombie landing pages leaking stacked discounts. If you’re heading into BFCM wondering what actually matters, this one’s for you. And check out our Black Friday series with SHERO Commerce for more quick wins this peak season. Like, subscribe, share - you know the drill. Shero Commerce - a Shopify Premier agency helping mid-market and enterprise brands migrate to, optimise and scale on Shopify. In the lead up to BFCM they've been helping me bring conversations with the people who can help your store have a successful campaign. The Support Heroes - This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes - dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they’re doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com. Product Pelican - Better product data makes everything better: search, merch, Google Shopping and agentic feeds. Product Pelican is the native PIM for Shopify, built to manage and audit your catalogue at scale, right inside Shopify. Get your catalogue BFCM-ready. In this episode: Meta’s Muse agent and the fight to own the customerWhy Layers paused its chatbots to go all in on MCPNative integrations in half an hour vs months of API workProving ROI without vanity metrics or attribution hoggingHow AI-enabled teams are building hyper-niche BFCM segmentsThe daily BFCM checklist: accessibility, core web vitals, buying flows and zombie discountsYouTube Chapters00:00 - Back to our roots: a deep chat with Jake Casto 01:34 - Meta's Muse: future of agentic shopping or another fad? 05:32 - Amazon goes its own way 09:02 - Layers and the 4G to 5G upgrade 11:36 - Chatbots are so last year 12:23 - Why Layers paused its agents to go all in on MCP 16:41 - Slack agents that need an MCP to buy 19:24 - Why platform agnostic is now a disadvantage 20:01 - A half hour integration via metaobjects 22:44 - No vanity metrics: proving ROI honestly 24:23 - Attribution hogging and the image search example 27:27 - Founder vision and never saying "we can't" 28:24 - 6 weeks of product data work done in 4 days 30:38 - BFCM prep: hyper-niche customer segments 33:56 - A custom GPT trained on 3 years of Black Friday data 35:25 - The daily checklist: accessibility lawsuits and Claude Code 37:38 - Core web vitals and impatient bots 38:55 - Test your buying flows (and kill the hidden mini carts) 40:15 - Zombie landing pages and stacked discounts 41:31 - Happy surprises in old pages 42:13 - Has anyone actually bought through an agent? 45:44 - Wrapping up

    Muse, MCP and the Boring Stuff That Wins BFCM with Jake Casto from Layers

  4. Oct 21 ·  Bonus

    The Shopify App-ocalypse: what it is and what it means for Shopify stores

    Over 450 Shopify apps have been pulled from the App Store, and plenty of them are reputable apps. Hackers found ways to inject code that sent shoppers to a fake checkout, right in the lead up to BFCM. Dylan Pierce from Very Bad Panda has been writing about Shopify security long before it became topical, and his site has become the go-to guide for what’s going on. We get into how the attack actually works (unprotected metafields and endpoints that let JavaScript run on the storefront), why vibe coding a replacement app can be worse than waiting it out, and why code is a liability, not a one and done. We also cover how merchants should choose apps now, why SOC 2 isn’t realistic for a $10/month app, and how AI has flipped the security pyramid so Shopify stores are now worth targeting. If you’re a merchant with apps in limbo, an app dev getting your house in order, or an agency fielding nervous clients, this one’s for you. Links Very Bad Panda: https://verybadpanda.dev/Shopify - Securing your app, together: https://community.shopify.dev/t/securing-your-app-together/38752List of delisted apps: https://heyapps.dev/apps/delisted?sort=reviewsIn this episode: How the fake checkout hack worksShould you switch apps fast, vibe code a replacement, or sit tight?Testing your store with apps and JavaScript turned offWhat to look for when choosing apps nowSOC 2, small app shops and why incident response mattersThe inverted security pyramid and the next wave: AI agents holding your keysYouTube Chapters 00:00 - The Shopify App-ocalypse: 450 apps down 00:40 - How the hack works: unprotected metafields and endpoints 01:33 - What it means for store owners 02:12 - Why vibe coding a replacement can be worse 03:23 - Switch apps fast or sit tight? 04:52 - Turn off your apps and JavaScript: test your critical path 05:39 - Why merchants need better checkout testing tools 06:35 - How to choose apps now 07:55 - SOC 2, small app shops and incident response 09:24 - The silver lining for the app ecosystem 10:36 - The inverted security pyramid: AI and phishing 12:15 - Back to basics: passwords, API keys, dodgy emails 12:43 - The next wave: AI agents holding your keys 13:32 - Wrapping up

    The Shopify App-ocalypse: what it is and what it means for Shopify stores

  5. Oct 14 ·  Bonus

    shop.md: Quick Crash Test of Shopify's Personal Shopping Assistant

    I jumped under the hood to road test Shopify's new shop.md, which lets anyone create a personal Shopping agent. Shopify just gave AI agents a credit card. Shop MD lets ChatGPT, Claude or any agent search Shopify’s catalogue, build a cart and check out with Shop Pay, without ever touching a store’s website. Martin Cox put it through a crash test by getting Claude to buy his next pair of running shoes. He covers the setup, the vague prompt that went nowhere, the specific one that found his exact shoe on sale in seconds, and how much better results have got since he tested agent shopping a few months back. Plus what merchants lose in this flow (checkout upsells) and what they keep (the customer and the data). If you’re feeling buried by Shopify announcements before Black Friday, this one’s for you. Agents can only sell what they understand. Product Pelican is the native PIM for Shopify. Manage and audit your catalogue at scale so your products are ready for every channel, AI agents included. In this episode: What Shop MD is and how it worksSetting it up in Claude (2FA and all)Vague prompts vs specific promptsHow much agent search results have improvedWhy merchants shouldn’t panicWhat to do before Black Friday

    shop.md: Quick Crash Test of Shopify's Personal Shopping Assistant

  6. Oct 12 ·  Bonus

    ChatGPT as a Sales Channel: What Merchants Need to Know this BFCM. Mini Episode

    It feels like every day there is a new way of selling via AI. A new integration, a new model, a new type of agent. The next few months is when we'll see some real numbers on what is working and where to invest. But one thing that's certain, is there's opportunities for businesses of all sizes to cash in on new sales channels. In this conversation, I chat with Carla Penn-Kahn from ProfitPeak, and Cande Rybecky, CMO or Shero Commerce, discussing strategies for e-commerce merchants to get the most out of platforms like ChatGPT and TikTok Shop this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This chat is part of the Global Compass Series, presented by Shero Commerce and Native App Co. Bringing actionable insights for Shopify merchants as we head into peak season.

    ChatGPT as a Sales Channel: What Merchants Need to Know this BFCM. Mini Episode

  7. Oct 6

    Test Now or Pray Later: Peak Season CRO with Georgi Petrov & Blake Waldron (Global Compass Series)

    Perfect preparation equals peak performance for peak season. Now is the time to be running the tests and optimizing your store for the busiest ecommerce trading period of the year. It's not the season for think pieces. Merchants just want to make more money. That's why we built the Global Compass series: short, sharp chats with the best of the Shopify ecosystem, from all over the world. Episode 3: making your store perform when it counts. Blake Waldron, founder of Checkout Components, joins from Melbourne, Australia. Georgi Petrov, co-founder of Uxify, joins from Sofia, Bulgaria. We cover what to A/B test right now, why mobile is more important than ever, how 404s and rage clicks kill conversions and why store credit is beating discounts. The countdown to BFCM is on. Sponsors The Global Compass Series is brought to you by: Shero Commerce - a Shopify Premier agency helping mid-market and enterprise brands migrate to, optimise and scale on Shopify. Since 2010 they've built e-commerce experiences across platforms, with expertise spanning migration, B2B, D2C, SEO, AEO and growth marketing. Their approach is simple: understand the challenge, build the right solution, and help brands grow for the long term. Native App Co - Blake made the case for store credit over further discounting in this one, and it's exactly why we built Stork Credit. Stork turns native Shopify store credit into cashback, loyalty and rewards automation. Cash, not points, and no theme edits.  In this episode: What to A/B test now, from trust badges to upsellsMobile is hundreds of devices, not oneWhy ChatGPT shoppers need brand content at checkout404s, dead ends and rage clicks: the silent conversion killersStore credit as the answer to "we don't want to discount further"Shopify Canvas: Squarespace-ification or the start of something big? 00:00 - Why CRO matters for peak season 00:34 - What to A/B test right now 01:48 - Testing the whole journey: devices and friction 02:52 - Mobile isn't one device 04:02 - Multiple Shopify checkouts live at once (and foldable phones) 05:08 - Different content for mobile vs desktop 05:59 - Checkout content for shoppers arriving from ChatGPT 07:06 - Broken links, 404s and rage clicks 08:57 - Does code freeze actually exist? 11:25 - Sponsor: Shero Commerce 11:54 - Store credit instead of deeper discounts 14:11 - Uxify's revenue-per-visitor program 15:30 - Automation vs hands on the wheel 16:51 - Shopify Canvas: first thoughts 19:37 - Who Canvas is really for 22:35 - Wrapping up

    Test Now or Pray Later: Peak Season CRO with Georgi Petrov & Blake Waldron (Global Compass Series)

  8. Oct 2 ·  Bonus

    Shopify Canvas: What Does it Mean For Store Owners, Apps and Themes? Mini Episode

    Shopify Canvas is a new visual, AI-powered design workspace that allows Shopify merchants to build and customize their online stores by chatting with Shopify's AI assistant, Sidekick. In this mini episode I chat with Blake Waldron from Checkout Components and Georgi Petrov from Uxify about their initial reactions, what it means, and what the future of Shopify storefronts looks like.

    Shopify Canvas: What Does it Mean For Store Owners, Apps and Themes? Mini Episode
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About

The Shopify App Show goes deep with "indie" developers who build the most innovative stuff on the Shopify ecosystem. This is not a product demo show! Hosted by a 14-year ecosystem veteran, we skip the sales pitches, demos, and pricing talk. Instead, tune in for fun, 25-minute chats with founders about their craft, origin stories, and the specific use cases that help you win. Find the hidden gems that outperform the VC-backed giants. Real builders. No corporate fluff. Just great apps. Subscribe to build a better tech stack.

Information

  • Creator
    Martin Cox
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Martin Cox
  • Show Website
    The Shopify App Show

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