Wondering about that blue diamond next to our app in the Shopify App Store?
We’re Ablestar, a Shopify app developer with a vision to make managing a Shopify store faster and easier for store owners. We launched our first app, WooCommerce Importer, in 2016, followed by four other apps for store productivity and reporting. In 2017 we launched our most popular app, Bulk Product Editor, as the fastest and safest way to edit products on Shopify.
We’ve improved and added features to the app each year, but this year we tackled our biggest challenge and overhaul of the app to date— achieving the Built for Shopify certification.
To get there, we had to rebuild the user interface from scratch to make it the best version possible, as a seamless extension of the Shopify interface. Follow along as we share our “why” for pursuing Built for Shopify and what the journey looked like for us.
What is Built for Shopify?
Built for Shopify is the platform’s certification demonstrating that an app has the highest level of quality. Merchants can filter for ‘Built for Shopify’ apps in the app store to narrow down to ones recognized by Shopify as the best. Here’s what Shopify looks for when certifying an app for Built for Shopify.
Built for Shopify criteria
- Trustworthy: In good partner standing, in compliance with app store requirements
- Embedded: App is available in the Shopify Admin
- Fast: Doesn’t slow down store performance or checkout speed
- Useful: Meets Shopify’s standard of review ratings and minimum installs
- User-Friendly: Meets Shopify’s design and accessibility standards
Why did Ablestar want to achieve Built for Shopify?
This year, it became clear to us that Built for Shopify was a priority for Shopify as they encouraged developers to apply. This initiative shows that Shopify cares a lot about giving stores the best quality apps to get the most out of the platform— just like we do. With over 11,000 apps on the Shopify app store, the badge helps merchants discover apps that will give their stores the most value.
So in March 2024, we began the process of evaluating, rebuilding, and enhancing Bulk Product Editor to apply for certification.
What did the Built for Shopify certification process involve?
To understand the process, we started with one of our simpler apps, Link Manager, which helps merchants monitor and fix broken links. Within three months, we were able to update the app to Shopify standards and apply for and receive certification.
Taking what we learned, we turned our attention to Bulk Product Editor. The entire process— including rebuilding the app, testing, and approval— took about six months. Here are the steps we followed to get the app ready and earn certification.
1. Planning and development
First, we reviewed Bulk Product Editor to determine what changes would be needed to meet Built for Shopify’s standards. We have about 40 different pages within the app, ranging in complexity from pretty simple to complex. Our search page, for instance, has many filtering options for different product fields, prices, metafields, images, and more.
We identified some back-end and front-end changes to meet Shopify’s best practices. Once the UI design changes were mapped, we went in and rebuilt the entire app so it could be embedded in the Shopify Admin. The planning and development phase took several months.
One benefit of recoding the app from scratch? We were able to fix bugs and edge cases we learned about through user research and feedback. We also created the new version to be embedded within Shopify Admin, a requirement for Built for Shopify stores.
2. Testing
Once the new user interface was ready, we created a system where we could gradually test the new interface by switching individual stores to the new design. This cautious rollout let us gather feedback, fix bugs, and smooth out any usability issues before launching to more users.
3. Rollout
Next, we switched 50% of new installs to the new app and progressively moved backward to cover existing users. This approach minimized disruptions and allowed us to gather feedback and make improvements as we went.
Finally, in September we switched all new and existing users to the new versions of the app, communicating about the change through our Changelog and newsletters. Since many of our longtime users were comfortable on the old app, we managed the transition through:
- Technical monitoring for unexpected errors
- 24/7 email support for customer use cases
- Temporary rollbacks to the old interface when needed
4. Applying for Built for Shopify Certification
Once users were on the new version of the app, we were ready to apply for Built for Shopify. The approval process took about five weeks and involved a couple rounds of feedback from Shopify. After our first application, they came back with some small changes like adding an overview dashboard with metrics and help documentation, plus other minor UX and text adjustments. We were able to make those changes quickly and reapply. After just a few short weeks, Bulk Product Editor was approved as Built for Shopify.
What’s next?
We’re excited to offer the new version of Bulk Product Editor to store owners. For merchants, the benefits are that it’s more integrated in the Shopify Admin. If you constantly switch between multiple applications, it will now be one less. The app is faster now than ever before and has a more consistent user interface.
Achieving Built for Shopify is a big step in making the app the fastest and safest way to bulk edit your products on Shopify. The badge also helps merchants discover us with the “Built for Shopify” search filter and highlighted rankings for certified stores.
Our other apps— WooCommerce Importer, Automatic Order Tags, and Email Reports— won’t be far behind. We’re going through the same process of rebuilding and improving them. Stay tuned!