Podcast
The Shopify App Show
Hosted by Martin Cox · EN
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.
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12episodes
Episodes
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"Data is oil, but it's also toxic waste": Owning your customer data with Danny Phillips from Omneo
1w ago00:38:36Tap to summarizeEvery episode we cover a different part of the ecosystem. We’ve talked bundles, subscriptions, point of sale and lots more.But what’s more important than any of these? Customers!Customer data is your biggest asset. If you don't own it, or it's scattered across a dozen platforms, someone else can take it away from you whenever they like. Danny Phillips has spent his career proving that on the customer side. He co-founded Omneo, a platform that helps omnichannel retail brands own, control and actually use their customer data properly, and he was building zero-party data tools before "zero-party data" was even a term anyone used.We get into what owned data actually means beyond the buzzword (Danny's zero-party data framework), why the humble newsletter pop-up is dying and what Omneo's QR-code Profile Portal replaces it with, the "red napkin theory" for turning one-off buyers into repeat customers, and why most loyalty programs are boring because they only offer stuff instead of status, access and power. Plus Danny's line of the episode - data is oil, but it's also toxic waste - and why that means you should be deleting more of it, not hoarding all of it.LinksThis episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes - dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com. You can learn more about Omneo and how it helps you grow sales and retain your best customers at omneo.io. Check out my apps, including Fish Wishlist, Product Pelican and Stork Credit at nativeappco.com. Apps that don’t feel like apps.In this episode:What "owned data" and zero-party data actually mean, and why Danny built Omneo around themThe Profile Portal QR code that's replacing the newsletter pop-up in physical storesWhy "pick up where you left off" experiences matter more than AI recommendation enginesThe red napkin theory: how to turn one-time buyers into repeat customersWhy points-based loyalty is stale, and what status, access and power look like insteadDanny's take on Black Friday, and the four weeks after it that most brands waste00:00 — Owned data: why it matters01:09 — Sunny Torquay and the shiny topic of data01:24 — What "owned data" actually means04:30 — The payoff: a "receipt for their time" for every shopper06:51 — Product data and customer data: two sides of the same coin10:02 — Profile Portal: swapping the newsletter pop-up for a QR code12:30 — Uniqlo, login with Shop and the "80% brand, 20% me" homepage14:31 — Buy it again: the win that doesn't need an algorithm16:55 — Winning the one-and-done customer with the red napkin theory21:29 — Stop burning margin on first-purchase discounts22:38 — Clean data starts on day one25:53 — "Data is oil, but it's also toxic waste" (the headline moment)26:06 — Status, access and power: fixing stale loyalty programs30:26 — Why surprise loyalty credit annoys customers more than it delights them31:00 — When loyalty turns into a retail media program in disguise33:45 — Black Friday: the race to the bottom nobody wants to run35:33 — The four weeks after Black Friday nobody uses properly37:21 — Wrapping up
Transcribe →Live at DotDev Toronto: AI Product Discovery with third-time founder Jay El-Kaake
2w ago00:21:32Tap to summarizeIf recording one episode of my mid life crisis podcast at DotDev in Toronto wasn't enough, I got an email at 10.30pm at night saying that they had an extra slot open up. Kurt Elster, the OG of Shopify podcasting, wasn't able to make it, so they asked me if I'd fill the slot.Obviously I said yes, and then I had to find someone to talk to. So I thought I should have some fun with it and do it my way, but wasn't quite sure who to have as a guest.Then, I got chatting to this bloke after a DotDev session on AI Product Discovery, and it turns out we're both product data nerds. It turns out "this bloke" is Jay El-Kaake. Three time founder. Co-founded Smile back when it was Sweet Tooth, built and exited Fera.ai, and now he's running Osello, getting Shopify stores onto Nordstrom and Macy's.We covered two main topics: • Why 90% of "agentic optimisation" is stuff you should already be doing with your product data and content, and the value of taste when you're letting AI write your content.• What it's like to be a founder in 2026. Jay is obviously a pro, I'm just starting out, so we shared our different perspectives.This episode's brought to you by The Support Heroes, who support Shopify Apps all over the world.And I would be remiss not to plug my own app, Product Pelican, which is helping stores enrich their product data for this new AI world.This was the second Episode we recorded at DotDev, you can also catch our episode where we chat with Shopify's Head of Product Jonathan Zazove wherever you're listening to this.YouTube Chapters00:00 - Live from Dot Dev (definitely not a Toronto love story) 01:19 - From a refugee family's retail shop to falling for computers 02:44 - Osello: getting merchants onto Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Target 03:05 - Why every marketplace "AI" claim didn't add up 04:22 - Where Product Pelican and Osello's pipelines meet 05:18 - Cleaning your data and building the pipe are two different jobs 06:16 - The Dot Dev talk on AI enrichment 07:42 - Buzzwords fade, fundamentals don't 08:27 - Why 90% of agentic optimisation is stuff you should already be doing 09:24 - The Hailey Bieber quote and the value of taste 09:57 - Why AI wants to feel human too 11:21 - Choosing a lane matters more than ever 12:25 - Hyper-niche apps, and why enterprise pricing doesn't scare people anymore 14:54 - Toronto's deep bench of founders 15:55 - Distribution is still the hardest part 16:45 - Your first customers should basically be your best friends 17:57 - Authentic video reviews over polished social proof 19:17 - Wrapping up
Transcribe →Live at DotDev Toronto with Jonathan Zazove and Mike Rossi
4w ago00:28:54Tap to summarizeThis is a big moment for my little podcast...Shopify invited me to record the podcast from their special studio on the floor at DotDev!Shopify's Director of Product, Jonathan Zazove, and an OG app founder, Mike Rossi of Smile (fresh off a Shopify Build Award) caught up with me to chat all things Sidekick, the future of Shopify apps and what is being done to make life better for app developers.If you weren't able to make it to Toronto, or want to head back there, tune in!SponsorsThis episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes - dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com.It's also brought to you by my company, Native App Co - apps that don't feel like apps. That's Product Pelican, Stork Credit, Fish Wishlist and Omnibus Owl. Check them out at apps.nativeappco.com.In This EpisodeShopify's new penalty for incentivized reviews: apps lose the reviews outright, not just the listingThe push to stop copycat apps trading on real brands' namesWhy Built for Shopify became more important, not less, as Smile moved upmarketAdmin UI extensions, admin actions, and how apps stopped being "second class citizens" in the adminSidekick app extensions explained: data access plus the "action experience" that fills in forms for youSmile's real-world Sidekick build: turning it into an AI loyalty program managerWhy Jonathan modeled Sidekick extensions on MCP, and why most of Smile's users won't touch MCP directlyThe shift in loyalty from cheap acquisition to proving lifetime value, plus the POS/retail expansion playJosh Bitossi and POS Cafe as proof that niche, unsexy problems can be a whole businessWhere to actually start an app business today: agency-first, or go hunting for niche enterprise problemsChapters00:00 - Shopify App Show Live in Toronto 01:23 - Building Trust in the Shopify App Store 06:33 - Building Native Shopify App Experiences 10:39 - Sidekick, UI, and Merchant Workflows 14:15 - MCP and AI Integrations for Apps 15:57 - Proving Loyalty Program Value 17:47 - Loyalty Innovation and Retail Growth 20:03 - Where to Find App Opportunities 25:52 - What Apps Would They Build Next? 27:24 - Why B2B Is Still Underserved
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"The Future Isn't A Chat Box" Inside the Product Discovery & Agentic Commerce Brain of Michael Tutek
Jul 800:33:03Tap to summarizeAgentic shopping is already here. While Shopify rolls out things like the global catalogue, UCP and Agentic Channels, some platforms are already a couple of years into that journey. Michael Tutek is one of them. I remember loading up the Arc'teryx site one day and there it was - an AI shopping assistant, live and working, while most of the industry was still writing think-pieces about whether this stuff was even real.Michael is the founder and CEO of Preezie, the guided-selling and agentic commerce platform working with brands like Puma, Lorna Jane and Arc'teryx. He started on the sales floor at The Good Guys, clocked that 30% of in-store visitors bought something against barely 1% online, and has spent the best part of a decade trying to close that gap.We get into why Michael thinks a chat box bolted onto your store isn't the future, and why agentic commerce is. Plus how you stop an AI assistant confidently making things up, why feeding it your old human chat transcripts can make it worse not better, and the out-of-stock feature that's worth 20-30% of the whole tool's value on its own. We also get into why Michael flatly refuses to build products that try to change shopper behaviour.This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes - dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com.Also brought to you by Product Pelican (https://apps.shopify.com/product-pelican), the native PIM for Shopify. Michael's whole point is that good AI starts with good data - Product Pelican keeps your catalogue clean and consistent at scale, so whatever you bolt on top of it, agentic or not, has something solid to work with. Install it from the Shopify App Store.In this episode:From throwing-water-on-your-face mornings to The Good Guys sales floor: the 30% vs 1% insight that started everythingWhy Preezie pivoted from e-commerce quizzes to a full agentic shopping platform after one day with MicrosoftThe case against conversational commerce: why agentic beats a chatbot boxKeeping AI honest: onboarding it like a new hire, and why your old human chat logs can make it worseThe out-of-stock play worth 20-30% of the tool's value on its ownWhy it still matters to let shoppers scroll through 10 pages of productsTurning real shopper questions into user-generated FAQs for SEO and GEOWhy Michael refuses to build products that try to change shopper behaviourThe roadmap: an "e-commerce brain" built natively for the AI eraYouTube chapters:00:00 — Cold open: agentic shopping is already here 01:51 — From bricklayer's son to The Good Guys sales floor at 14 03:19 — The 30% vs 1% conversion gap that started the obsession 04:44 — Quizzes first, then Microsoft's tap on the shoulder about AI 07:04 — Spotting Preezie live on Arc'teryx before anyone else had it 07:48 — Sit and wait, or do something: why agentic beats conversational 10:30 — The out-of-stock feature worth 20-30% of the tool alone 13:40 — Training AI like a new hire, and performance reviewing it 16:56 — Killing support tickets with a mini AI on the contact form 18:12 — How much instruction is too much (it depends on the brand) 20:37 — Turning shopper questions into content: transcripts, FAQs, SEO and GEO 23:59 — Why the paradox of choice means discovery isn't going anywhere 28:17 — Don't try to change shopper behaviour: the electric car test 31:19 — The roadmap: building an e-commerce brain for the AI era 32:01 — Wrapping up
Transcribe →"By the time they realise it's usually too late" - Support For Shopify Apps with The Support Heroes
Jul 700:10:00Tap to summarizeIf you've tuned into The Shopify App Show, you'll know that The Support Heroes have been great supporters of the show, and also great supporters of Shopify Apps all over the world.When they approached me to sponsor the show, I couldn't have thought of a better fit. The Shopify App Show is all about showcasing independent apps, founder-led businesses who have built their business from the ground up. And for those who are successful enough to hit scale, maintaining a customer support team who can deliver as good a service as the founders of the business is nearly impossible.That's where The Support Heroes come in.So I thought it was worth catching up with Anggy from The Support Heroes to talk about how they work, where they fit in and what they do for Shopify app developers all over the world.It's a bit of a different format to our usual episodes, but if you're an app founder, this one is for you.
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Picking Up Shopify Editions, Sidekick Apps & Uber Eats for Shopify with Emili Horncastle of Zapiet
Jun 1800:42:27Tap to summarizeShopify Editions is basically tech's twice-yearly keynote moment now. The Everywhere Edition dropped 150+ updates, and landed on the same day I'd booked Emili Horncastle of Zapiet, so we hit record three hours later and got the early takes while the dust was still settling. Emili's the real deal: Zapiet invented store pickup and local delivery on Shopify! She now runs six apps including Zapiet Eats (you guessed it, basically Uber Eats for Shopify).We get into what Editions actually means for developers - why Sidekick makes good UX more important, not less, the gap between cool catalogue-API demos and genuinely useful experiences, and the glaring silence around the online store and themes. Then we go deep on Zapiet Eats: how it lets restaurants ditch the brutal Uber/DoorDash margins for their own loyal customers, why one app became six, the new Shopify billing API and per-order pricing, and the Zapietosaurus - the dragon-meets-T-Rex mascot Emili designed that kids now drag everywhere.If you build apps and you're trying to work out where to actually point your energy after Editions - and after the Mantle news - this one's for you.This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes - dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com.In this episode:Editions three hours in - Sidekick, the catalogue API, and why "everywhere" is the whole pointThe Sidekick paradox: why AI-driven setup makes clean UX and consistent terminology more criticalWhat Editions left out - nothing for the online store or the theme ecosystem that's still most merchants' lifebloodThe Mantle wind-down, the scramble to replace it, and rebuilding reporting in-house with AIThe new billing API - per-order vs percentage, and why Zapiet won't take a cut of every orderHow one app became six, and why merchants need a bike, not a rocket shipZapiet Eats: restaurant ordering on Shopify, ditching aggregator fees, and pulling Wendy's onto the platformThe Zapietosaurus - and why a dragon-T-Rex mascot matters more than you'd thinkYouTube Chapters00:00 — Editions drops: early takes, and why we recorded three hours later 02:17 — Emili joins: 150+ updates and what excites a developer 04:47 — Inventory, catalogues and metafields: faster data processing 06:23 — The Sidekick paradox: why UX and terminology matter more, not less 09:30 — Getting app data into Shopify reports (so Sidekick can find it) 10:48 — The Mantle wind-down and what app developers do now 14:43 — Mantle, the dev dashboard, and rebuilding reporting in-house 15:40 — The new billing API: per-order vs percentage pricing 18:43 — Why Zapiet won't take a percentage of every order 20:31 — Zapiet's origins: pioneering pickup and delivery on Shopify 23:07 — One app becomes six: giving merchants a bike, not a rocket ship 26:03 — Zapiet Eats: restaurant ordering and ditching aggregator fees 30:55 — The real cost of Uber Eats fees for restaurants and diners 33:54 — The Shop app, Shop Minis and untapped potential 36:00 — Token bills, vibe coding and racing your co-founder 36:26 — The Zapietosaurus: designing a dragon-T-Rex mascot 39:38 — A 300-year-old store, kids, and a mascot that took on a life of its own 41:27 — Wrapping up
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The Plankton of E-commerce: Product Metafields & Data with Ole Thorup
Jun 1500:33:41Tap to summarizeProduct data is the plankton of ecommerce — the bottom of the food chain that everything else feeds on. Your content, your search rankings, the LLMs, the marketplaces: they're all eating what's at the bottom. Feed them junk, get AI slop. Few people understand this better than Ole Thorup, who built Accentuate Custom Fields as a solo developer back in 2016 — when metafields were just strings and booleans.Ole's also just launched Kairos Protect — bot detection and checkout protection that keeps card testers and price scrapers out of your store and out of your analytics.If you've ever fought with a 30,000-product catalog, managed product data in a spreadsheet you're scared to open, or wondered how the merchandising teams at big stores actually do it — this one's for you.We've put together a playbook to go with this episode: Your Shopify Products Are Being Read By Machines. Find it on Substack, and if you're not subscribed yet — do the thing.This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes — dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com.And if you're talking product data, you should be managing yours properly. Product Pelican is a native PIM for Shopify — manage and audit your entire catalog at scale, with missing data, broken images and SEO gaps flagged before your customers find them. Install it from the Shopify App Store.In this episode:Building Accentuate in 2016, when metafields were strings and not much elseGrowing to 20,000+ merchants and the Shop Circle exitHow Live Metafields works (and the lesson about not over-engineering)Conversion and merchandising use cases merchants loveMetafields as the trigger for Shopify Flow automationsInventory, ERPs, PIMs and getting data into the right shapeAI, MCPs and where apps still winKairos Protect: bots, card testing and checkout protectionChapters:00:00 — Why product data is the plankton of ecommerce 02:27 — Building Accentuate in 2016: strings, booleans and stringified JSON 07:12 — 20,000 merchants and the Shop Circle exit 07:59 — Live Metafields: data that updates itself 11:37 — Use cases: bestseller collections, conversion data, review filtering 14:21 — Metafields as Shopify Flow's biggest unlock 16:38 — Warehouse stock vs store stock: the inventory puzzle 18:37 — The Omnibus directive: boring stuff, solved for you 20:05 — ERPs, PIMs and 30,000-product catalogs 22:09 — Shopify's Claude and ChatGPT apps: threat or opportunity? 24:35 — A crowded App Store and why service wins 30:02 — Kairos Protect: bots, card testing and checkout protection 33:00 — Wrapping up
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Accept All Cookies: Making Compliance Fun With Elena Tsacheva from ConsentMo
Jun 400:33:04Tap to summarizeCompliance. It's the 4PM Friday conference slot that clears the room faster than a fire alarm. But get the right person talking about it and suddenly it's actually kind of fascinating. Elena Tsacheva from ConsentMo is that person — she makes cookie banners and GDPR regulations genuinely watchable, and she's built one of the most sophisticated consent platforms in the Shopify ecosystem to back it up.We get into why 20 US states now have their own privacy laws (and why that number keeps climbing), what's actually broken about the vibe-coded cookie banner approach, and why Shopify's built-in banner is fine right up until it isn't. We also discussthe Digital Omnibus directivewhy compliance and AI are increasingly at odds with each otherwhy the future of consent might not involve cookie banners at all.Outside the product, we hear about running team brainstorms in a toddler café, dressing for Paris Fashion Week at an e-commerce conference, and getting surprised with a birthday cake by the Zapier team in the middle of the Wide event.We've put together a Compliance Playbook to go with this episode. Search for The Shopify App Show on Substack. And if you're not already subscribed, do the thing — like, subscribe, share, all of it.This episode is sponsored by The Support Heroes — dedicated Shopify support agents who actually know what they're doing. Head to thesupportheroes.com.Checkout Consentmo for your privacy compliance needs, and for Price Tracking compliance, check out one of my apps, Omnibus Owl.And most importantly, we featured my daughter's cookie business, Sophies Cookies, on this episode.YouTube Chapters:00:00 — Introduction01:29 — Making compliance content people actually watch03:12 — What ConsentMo actually does (it's a lot)06:56 — What drives the roadmap — and what gets a hard no10:02 — Saying no: the art of not shipping everything13:34 — Will merchants just vibe code their own cookie banner?16:19 — Why hasn't Shopify just built all of this?20:35 — Why human support still matters (especially in compliance)21:32 — What's next: Germany's cancel law and the Digital Omnibus25:16 — Will cookie banners eventually disappear?27:00 — Martin's daughter's cookie website makes an appearance27:38 — The Wide Paris event: fashion week for e-commerce31:12 — Wrapping up
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Going Deep on Subscriptions with Gavin Ballard of Submarine
May 2700:32:26Tap to summarizeSubscriptions are the holy grail if you get them right: recurring revenue from your best customers.Gavin Ballard has spent 15 years tackling the hardest problems in the Shopify ecosystem, founded Disco Labs, and now runs Submarine — the platform powering subscriptions, memberships and pre-orders for some of the most complex Shopify brands out there.This chat's timely - Gavin just got back from Sub Summit in Kansas City (the only conference dedicated entirely to subscription commerce), and Recharge just aquired Skio for $100M, a massive deal in thhe Shopify Subscriptions space.We get into why slapping a "subscribe" button next to "add to cart" doesn't work anymore, what AI is actually unlocking (A/B testing your cancellation flows in real time, infinite personalisation segments that used to be impossible), and why you're not just competing with other Shopify subs — you're competing with Netflix, Spotify and every other line on your customer's recurring bill.If you run a store, build apps, or you're an agency talking to merchants about retention — this one's loaded. Bonus: The Shopify Subscriptions Playbook goes with this episode.Sponsor: The Support Heroes — trained Shopify support specialists who plug into your help desk, learn your brand voice, and handle your tickets like they actually give a shit. Tell them I sent you.And one from me — Product Pelican. Audits your whole product catalog, finds the gaps — missing alt text, weak descriptions, uncategorised products, FAQ generation — and helps you fix them in bulk. Free to try or HMU for a demo!In this episodeWhat Gavin learned at Sub Summit in Kansas CityWhy "add subscribe button" isn't a subscription strategyYou're competing with Netflix, not just other Shopify storesAI unlocking infinite personalisation segmentsA/B testing your cancellation flows in real timeThe Recharge–Skio deal and what it meansBuild vs buy your own subscription platformMemberships — the Qantas and Costco modelHow to actually get a subscription program off the roadmapChapters0:00 Intro 1:37 Recap of SubSummit Kansas City 4:34 Why merchants get subscriptions wrong 6:39 You're competing with Netflix, not other stores 8:04 AI in the subscription space 8:57 The personalisation segments AI unlocks 12:01 A/B testing your cancellation flows 13:39 Sponsor — The Support Heroes 13:59 The Recharge–Skio acquisition 15:49 Where Submarine sits in the new landscape 18:36 Build vs buy your subscription platform 21:29 Where AI actually adds value — connectors and custom logic 23:23 Membership programs vs subscriptions 24:03 The Costco & Qantas models 26:13 What makes a membership program actually work 27:55 How to get started if it's been on your roadmap for years 30:34 Wrap up 31:46 Product Pelican Promo
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Spilling the Beans on Shopify POS for Cafes with Adam & Carmel Wooding
May 1500:29:01Tap to summarizeShopify POS is one of the biggest unlocks on the platform, but most merchants are scared to make the move — and honestly, a lot of POS apps are half-arsed. So this episode I'm going proper niche: POS Cafe, built by Carmel and Adam, who run the whole thing out of remote Queensland and service merchants all over the world.We get into how two ex-agency operators stumbled into a gap nobody was filling (a merchant wanted to open a coffee shop inside their store), why the "do one thing well" advice broke down for them almost immediately, and how they've ended up with what's basically 5–10 apps in one, including an Uber Eats–style online ordering extension.If you run a retail or food business, build apps, or you're weighing up a POS migration — this one's worth your time. Bonus: I've put together a Mastering the Move to Shopify POS Playbook drawing on this chat plus my earlier ones with Josh Bitossi and Jordan Finneran.Sponsor The Support Heroes — trained Shopify support specialists who plug into your help desk, learn your brand voice, and handle your tickets like they actually give a shit. Carmel and Adam set night alarms to check their tickets — they could use these guys. Tell them I sent you.And one from me — Product Pelican. Audits your whole product catalog, finds the gaps — missing alt text, weak descriptions, uncategorised products — and helps you fix them in bulk. Free to try.In this episodeHow an agency side hustle became a Shopify POS appThe cafe gap nobody was fillingWhy "do one thing well" didn't work for POS CafeModifiers, KDS, print servers and online orderingBuilding the "Shopify way" — metafields, metaobjects, draft ordersWhy POS apps have to be stable 100% of the timeThe POS APIs they're still waiting onWhere Shopify POS caps out (and why they think it doesn't)The other niche POS devs worth knowingChapters0:00 Intro 1:05 From custom furniture to Shopify — Adam's origin story 3:40 The cafe request that started it all 4:22 What a food service business actually needs 5:00 Launching POS Cafe and 18 months of feedback 6:13 What POS Cafe does that Shopify POS can't 6:57 Modifiers done properly 7:26 KDS, print servers and receipt printing 8:30 Native discounts and online ordering 9:33 Why "do one thing well" broke down 10:58 Sponsor — The Support Heroes 11:27 Product Pelican 12:07 Why good service is what makes the product 13:08 Building for scale and stability 14:30 The "Shopify way" — metafields, metaobjects, draft orders 16:07 What's still hard to do on Shopify POS 18:42 Bringing merchants into the feedback loop 20:00 Where does Shopify POS cap out? 21:14 POS as the front door to Shopify 22:04 Other niche POS devs worth knowing 23:54 The Shopify dev community 25:08 Marketing a product from remote Queensland 25:25 Building trust from the other side of the world 27:17 Why passion cuts through 28:26 Wrap up
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