6 Months In: Why I’m Not Giving Up on My Shopify App

Mehmet Tekin

Mar 20, 2025 — 4 min read

6 months in - no paying users!

Six months ago, I launched Sold So Many: Sold Counter, a Shopify app, with the goal of helping store owners showcase their sales data in a way that builds trust and increases conversions. The app provides merchants an online store theme app extension, which helps merchants display the number of units a product sold in the last 30 days.

I built it, listed it on the Shopify App Store, and waited to see what would happen.

Here’s what the numbers look like after half a year:

700 visitors to the app listing
240 installs (a 35% install conversion rate)
0 paying users (so far!)

If you look at these numbers, one can quickly declare the app is a failure. Many would say, "If you haven't made a single sale in six months, it's time to move on." And yet, I’m doubling down instead.

Why? Because despite the lack of paying users, there’s enough organic interest to prove that the merchants are interested. The problem isn’t demand—it’s execution. And after analyzing where things went wrong, I realized one major thing: onboarding was killing conversions.

This blog post is a breakdown of why I’m not giving up, what I’ve learned, and how I’m improving the app’s UI and onboarding experience to turn installs into paying customers. If you’re an indie developer struggling with early traction, this might just help you too.

2. The Biggest Validation: Organic Traffic & Installations

Despite zero paying users, the numbers tell a different story:

700 visitors to the Shopify App Store listing
240 installs (35% install conversion rate)

Without marketing, merchants are finding and installing the app—which means the idea has demand. The issue isn’t awareness or interest; it’s onboarding. Users aren’t seeing the app’s value fast enough to convert.

3. UI & Onboarding Fixes: What’s Changed?

Revamped Plans Page

The old pricing page was too plain and didn’t properly guide users to the right plan. To fix this, I:

✅ Improved the visual hierarchy – clearer layout, making it easier to compare plans.
✅ Added background colors – success tones to highlight key benefits and nudge users toward upgrading.

Spring Campaign: Limited-Time Offer with Live Progress Tracking

To encourage more merchants to try the app, I launched a Spring 2025 Special Offer:

✅ 90-day free trial for new subscribers
✅ Limited to 30 spots – creating urgency
✅ Live progress bar dynamically updates as merchants claim spots

Here’s how it looks:

New Banners: Clearer User Feedback & Upsell Prompts

To improve user experience and guide merchants more effectively, I introduced new banners that:

✅ Confirm successful actions – Clear green success banners for actions like subscribing.
✅ Encourage upgrades – A blue call-to-action banner for activating premium features, with a preview of what users unlock.

These banners make interactions more intuitive, reducing friction and subtly nudging users toward upgrading.

Here’s how they look:

Improved ‘Select Blocks’ Section

One of the biggest UI pain points was the Select Blocks section, which allows merchants to choose which widgets to display on their product pages. The old design lacked clarity, making it harder for users to understand what they were enabling.

What Changed?

✅ More prominent block previews – Now clearly labeled as “Block Preview” for better visibility.
✅ Better visual separation – Clean, structured layout makes it easier to scan and toggle options.
✅ More intuitive controls – Dropdowns and checkboxes are now more distinct, reducing confusion.

These changes help merchants instantly recognize what each block does, making the core functionality more obvious and actionable.

Here is how it looks now: