We have published one app in the Shopify App Store and built custom apps for individual merchants. The public app came out of a requirement every store selling in Germany meets sooner or later.
German price law, the Preisangabenverordnung (PAngV), requires stores that advertise a price reduction to show the lowest price of the last 30 days. We developed Best Price Indicator (PAngV) to show that price in the store and published it in the Shopify App Store, where any merchant can install it. The Shopify App Store also lists Sphen.ai, a joint product of getSichtbar and NICCOS. The app audits the product catalogue and storefront signals for gaps in search and AI visibility and drafts changes at field level, which your team approves before they are applied. Both apps are presented under technologies and apps.
Gusti Leder sells handmade leather bags and accessories. Its previous Shopware store had no engraving configurator on the product page. We built one as a custom Shopify app. Customers see the engraving on the product image in real time, without a page reload, and the configurator works for every product that can be engraved. The Gusti Leder case study reports a 45% higher conversion rate from improved UX and the configurator.
Sirocco, a Swiss brand for tea and coffee, moved from Magento to Shopify Plus. For the SiroccoClub we developed a custom app for newsletter management and club benefits, with login-based logic that connects registration, loyalty discount and member offers. The Sirocco case study has the details.
A store needs an app as soon as logic has to be protected or has to run outside a page view. That covers credentials for an ERP, pricing rules nobody should read in the browser, interfaces in the Shopify admin, scheduled jobs and rules in the checkout. Anything that is pure presentation and works with data already in the store belongs in the theme.
The line follows the data. A badge, a filter or a new section on the product page is a task for Shopify development. Discounts, shipping rules and payment methods with logic of your own run through Shopify Functions and checkout UI extensions, and both require an app. Our Shopify checkout page shows what is possible there.
Extensions are the parts of an app that appear inside Shopify: blocks in the admin, theme app extensions in the storefront and, on Shopify Plus, extensions in the checkout. They sit at positions Shopify provides, so they keep working when Shopify updates the platform. We use them in place of direct changes to theme or checkout code.
Before development we define the permissions. Every app receives access scopes that determine which data it may read and write. We limit them to what is necessary and document webhooks and stored data. Extending the permissions later has to be approved in the store again.
Buying is the better choice while an existing app covers your process and the missing parts are not the core of your business. Building pays off when several apps only solve one task together, when they interpret the same data differently, or when the vendor changes prices and features without you having a say.
We start with an app audit. For SMILODOX we assessed the existing app stack by value, overlap and technical relevance and connected the streamlined stack to the new store. According to the SMILODOX case study, the store went live after two months. An audit like this often ends with fewer apps, and sometimes with the advice not to build one. Shopify consulting covers the decision before any code is written.
A public app is a product for many merchants. It has to keep the data of each store separate, bill through Shopify, answer the privacy webhooks and pass the review by Shopify. After that the real work begins: support, further development and adjustments to new API versions.
We have gone through this ourselves with Best Price Indicator (PAngV). We recommend the public route when many merchants share the same problem and you are prepared to carry operations permanently. For an internal requirement, a custom app installed in your store alone is the simpler and safer way.
An app is not finished at launch. Shopify releases new API versions regularly and retires old ones. An app without an owner ages and stops working once its API version is no longer supported. Before development we therefore settle who is responsible for hosting, who sees errors and who keeps the app on a supported version.
Apps for the DACH market often exchange data with an ERP or warehouse system. If the task is only that orders arrive in the ERP and stock levels in the store are correct, that is system integration. On request we take over the operation of a finished app through Shopify support.
We are not the right partner when the app is meant to fix a process that has not been defined yet, or when master data is incomplete. An app automates a workflow. It does not improve the quality of the data.
Apps installed in your store only: interfaces in the admin, automation and connections to other systems.
Extensions at the positions Shopify provides: blocks in the admin, theme app extensions in the storefront and checkout extensions on Shopify Plus.
Apps for the Shopify App Store with separation of stores, billing through Shopify, privacy webhooks and listing.
A new section, a badge or a filter over existing data does not need an app.
Without credentials and without other systems there is no need for a server.
Displays and calculations nobody can change to their advantage stay in the front end.
Reviews, newsletters or returns are covered well enough by existing apps in many cases.
Maintaining, approving and reporting need an interface embedded in the Shopify admin through App Bridge.
API keys, ERP access and protected pricing logic belong on a server and not in theme code.
Rules for discounts, shipping and payment run through Shopify Functions and checkout UI extensions.
Scheduled jobs, webhooks and bulk changes need a running process.
We record which workflow is affected, who uses the app and what happens if it fails.
We check whether an existing app covers the workflow.
Access scopes, webhooks and stored data are documented before development.
Admin API through GraphQL, interface through App Bridge, extensions as app extensions.
Rate limits, error cases and retries are checked before the app is installed.
The app stays on a supported API version, and errors are monitored.
Subscriptions for several apps often grow with revenue or order volume. A custom app costs development and then maintenance.
Every installed app can load scripts and assets. One app for one task loads them once.
An app built on your process model removes the daily reconciliation between several tools.
The code is yours. So is the duty to maintain it.
The process already runs
The workflow the app should take over exists. Today it runs on spreadsheets, word of mouth or manual work in the Shopify admin.
The standard is exhausted
You have worked with a bought app and can name where it fails to cover your process.
Operations are settled
It is clear who sees errors after launch, who is responsible for hosting and who follows new API versions.
The data is maintained
Product master data, metafields and stock levels are correct. The app can build on them.
Build or buy is still open
If it has not been decided internally whether to build at all, the decision comes first and the code second.
To Shopify consultingOnly data needs to flow
If products, stock or orders should move between store and ERP, the integration is the topic.
To system integrationIt only concerns the checkout
Many adjustments to shipping, payment and discounts can be solved with existing configuration before custom logic is needed.
To Shopify checkoutSome projects start with an assessment, others with development, and finished apps need operations. That gives three shapes of work.
For projects where it is open whether theme, existing app or custom development is the right route.
Ends with a reasoned recommendation including scope, even if it speaks against a custom app.
For a clearly described workflow that should run as a custom app in your store.
Ends with an installed app your team uses day to day without us.
For apps that are in use and have to keep up with new Shopify API versions.
Runs for as long as the app is in use and can be handed over to your team.
Every figure appears in the case study, where you can verify it.
Groundies, MYCR7 and Gusti Leder are three of thirteen projects we have published with starting point, delivery and result.
We tell you whether a change in the theme is enough, an existing app will do or a custom app is the right route.
NICCOS
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