r/shopify
Store owners running on Shopify
- Size
- Large
- Buying intent
- High
- Promotion
- Conditional
The highest-intent ecommerce community by a clear margin. App and integration questions are continuous, and members are already accustomed to paying monthly for software that solves one specific problem, which removes the hardest objection before you arrive.
It is also saturated with app developers doing exactly what you are considering doing. Moderation against developer self-promotion is heavy, reports are frequent, and disclosure is not optional. The bar is real but it is clearly marked.
What people actually post
The app request
Looking for something that does a specific job, often with a price ceiling attached. The most directly commercial post type on this list.
The app stack complaint
Paying for too many apps and wanting to consolidate. Names the incumbent spend and the frustration together.
The store review request
Feedback on design and conversion. High volume, social, and not a place to pitch software.
What people get wrong about it
Developers assume the community is hostile to apps. It is hostile to app developers farming threads, which is a different thing and easily avoided.
Can you promote in r/shopify?
Conditional and enforced. A disclosed mention answering a direct app request is accepted. Anything that looks like an app developer farming threads is removed and the account is noted.
What gets you removed
An app developer account whose entire history is recommending its own app. Members check profiles here more than in most communities.
A good first contribution
Answer an app request thread by naming three options including competitors, then disclose yours last. The structure is what makes it acceptable.
Products that fit here
- Shopify apps and integrations
- Conversion and checkout tooling
- Inventory and fulfilment
- Anything with a visible monthly price
What does not work
Anything requiring a sales call. Store owners expect to install, try and decide within the hour.
Timing
August and September are the buying window, as owners prepare their stack for peak season. November is the worst possible moment to propose a change.
How it compares to the neighbours
The communities closest to r/shopify, and how they differ on the three things that decide whether one is worth your time.
| Community | Size | Intent | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|
| r/shopify | Large | High | Conditional |
| r/ecommerce | Large | High | Conditional |
| r/woocommerce | Mid-size | Medium | Conditional |
| r/AmazonSeller | Mid-size | High | Conditional |
Where this fits in a wider plan
r/shopify appears in our list of the best subreddits for ecommerce brands, which sets it against the other communities worth watching in that market. If you are starting from nothing, the six-week plan in finding your first 100 users covers how to build standing before you mention a product at all.
Watch r/shopify without reading it.
Lidar reads it every day, scores each post against what your product does, and sends you the ones worth answering. Along with the rest of ecommerce and marketplaces.