Shopify and widgets
Shopify is a distribution channel for retailer tools, not the home of the consumer product. Sniffopotamus the app stays independent; Shopify merchants install a merchant-facing app that uses the same corpus and fuzzy match engine.
What to build first
| Product | Surface | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Gift Finder | Shopify app plus storefront theme extension | Easy merchant value and clear conversion use case |
| Fuzzy Search | Storefront widget or API | Fixes bad search and messy fragrance titles |
| Catalogue Cleanup | Admin upload and review queue | Boring, paid, immediate B2B wedge |
| Feed Enrichment | Export files for ads and shopping feeds | Makes retailer data more visible in Google, Meta, TikTok |
| Merchant Dashboard | Shopify App Home | Shows usage, recommendations served, top matched products |
Architecture
- Same monorepo as the consumer app.
/shopifyroute group for embedded app pages.- Shopify OAuth and session tokens for merchant context.
- Supabase remains the shared data layer.
- Theme app extension injects storefront widgets without editing merchant theme files.
- Shopify Billing API handles public App Store app charges later.
- Direct Stripe can still handle non-Shopify commercial API contracts.
Official Shopify constraints to remember
- Embedded app UI should use App Bridge and Polaris web components.
- Shopify App Store apps need Shopify billing unless exempted.
- Storefront widgets should use theme app extensions, not fragile direct theme edits.
- Request only necessary scopes.
- GDPR webhooks and clean uninstall are required before public submission.
Reference:
Current decision
Do not apply to Shopify yet. Build, test, monetise, document, and validate internally first. The immediate goal is Shopify-readiness, not App Store submission.