Editor's Note
This one might be a little controversial, but it’s important.
Most Shopify apps don’t lose because someone out-built them.
They lose because they never built something that’s hard to replace.
A prettier UI is not a moat.
A longer integrations list is not a moat.
“AI features” is not a moat.
Built for Shopify is not a moat.
Even pricing isn’t a moat.
Those are advantages. Temporary ones.
Today’s issue is a clean breakdown of fake moats vs real moats, plus a quick audit you can run in 15 minutes.
Let’s go..
Most Shopify Apps Don’t Have a Moat.
They Have a Feature List.
Hello Founders,
If your app disappeared tomorrow, would your merchants fight to keep it?
Or would they install the next option from the App Store and move on?
That question is the moat test.
In today’s issue, we break down:
The 5 fake moats founders rely on: UI, integrations, “AI”, BFS badge, pricing
The 4 real moats that actually hold: workflow ownership, per-merchant data loops, distribution, switching cost
A 15-minute moat audit to spot where you’re truly strong and where you’re exposed
What to do next if your moat is weak, without panicking or rewriting your whole product
👉 Read the full playbook here: Most Shopify Apps Don’t Have a Moat. They Have a Feature List.
Podcast update:
Our latest podcast episode with Elena, Founder at Consentmo is live here:
https://youtu.be/_OMHNkn1oUQ
If you watch it, please drop a thoughtful comment.
Those comments help the episode reach more Shopify founders.
Till next time,
Best- Yuvraj Kewate