A good Shopify prospect list starts with a clear customer profile, then uses technology data in three ways: required filters that define who qualifies, optional filters that raise priority, and exclusions that remove merchants you cannot help. After that, you check freshness, find one suitable contact per account, and order the list so the best-fit, most recent accounts are contacted first.
This guide covers each step and ends with three hypothetical examples: a subscription app, a returns platform and an ecommerce advertising agency.
Start with a clear customer profile
Write your profile before you open any data tool. Otherwise the available filters end up defining your customer instead of the other way around.
Use this template:
We help [vertical] merchants in [countries] that are [size indicators], already run [required technology], and do not yet have [what we replace or add]. The person who cares is usually the [role].
Base it on your best existing customers. If you have fewer than ten, base it on the conversations that went furthest and revisit it every month.
Required, optional and exclusion filters
Sort every criterion into one of three buckets.
| Filter type | Purpose | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Defines eligibility. A merchant missing one is off the list. | On Shopify; in a supported country; runs an app you integrate with |
| Optional | Raises priority without removing anyone. | On Shopify Plus; larger catalog; runs a complementary app; recent signal |
| Exclusion | Removes merchants you cannot help or should not contact. | Already your customer; runs your app; uses a tool that makes yours redundant; password-protected or closed store; on your do-not-contact list |
Keep required filters few. Each one shrinks the list quickly, and a list that is too narrow hides good accounts. Put "nice to have" criteria in optional filters, where they change order rather than eligibility.
Competing apps and complementary apps
Technology data is most useful when you separate apps by relationship to yours.
- Competing apps mean the merchant already pays for your category. These accounts understand the problem, but switching has a cost. They are worth contacting when there is a recent change. See tracking competitor installs and uninstalls.
- Complementary apps mean the merchant has a workflow your app supports. These accounts often convert on integration value, without anyone having to switch.
- Suites that include your feature as one module are partial competitors. Decide whether you sell alongside them or against them, and filter accordingly.
Technology combinations that make a merchant relevant
Single apps are weak filters. Combinations are stronger, because they describe a situation.
| Combination pattern | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Has A, lacks B (where B usually follows A) | A gap your app may fill |
| Has an app that integrates with yours, no competitor of yours | Easy add, no switch needed |
| Has your competitor and a complementary app you integrate with better | A specific switching argument |
| Many apps in one category | Overlapping tools; a consolidation conversation |
| Advanced stack (several paid apps, Plus, international setup) | A merchant that invests in tooling |
Check that a "lacks B" gap is real. Shopify and some large apps include built-in features that cover simple needs without a separate app.
Data freshness and verification
Technology lists go stale. Before outreach, check:
- When each detection was last observed. Prefer recent observations. An app seen six months ago may be gone.
- That the store is live. Remove password-protected, closed and redirecting stores.
- Duplicates. One brand can run several domains or regional storefronts. Keep one account per brand unless regions buy separately.
- A sample by hand. Open 10 stores from the list and look at them. If the list says they run an app you cannot find any trace of, or the stores do not match your profile, fix the filters before you send anything.
Remember that storefront detection only sees apps that put something on the storefront. Backend-only apps will not appear, so do not treat their absence as proof.
Find suitable contacts
Choose one primary contact per account based on who owns the problem you solve.
- Founder-run stores: the founder.
- Mid-size: Head of Ecommerce, Ecommerce Manager, or the functional lead (retention, CX, operations).
- Large or Plus: the director or VP over that function, often with an agency involved.
Verify that the person still holds the role, prefer a named and verified work email over a generic inbox, and note which you have. The outbound guide covers contact selection in more depth.
Prioritize the list for outreach
Sort in this order:
- Fit, using optional filters as tiebreakers (best-fit first).
- Recent signals such as an app change, Plus upgrade or relevant hire (see the buying signals reference).
- Contact quality: accounts with a named, verified contact before accounts with only a generic inbox.
Then take the top 25 to 50 for this week. A long list is an asset; a long weekly batch is usually a mistake.
Three hypothetical examples
These examples are illustrative. They describe how a team might reason about filters. They do not describe real merchants, real customers or measured results.
Example 1: A subscription app
Profile: Consumable product brands (coffee, supplements, pet food, skincare) in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, with repeat-purchase products and a catalog large enough to bundle.
| Filter | Setting | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Country in supported list; vertical in consumables | Subscriptions fit repeat-purchase products |
| Required | Runs an email or SMS marketing app | Subscription programs depend on lifecycle messaging |
| Optional | Runs a reviews or loyalty app | Signals investment in retention |
| Optional | On Shopify Plus | More complex needs, more budget |
| Optional | Recently removed a subscription app with no replacement detected | Possibly evaluating options |
| Exclusion | Already runs a subscription app with no recent change | Active switching cost, no timing reason |
| Exclusion | Current customers; closed or password-protected stores | Not a prospect |
Next action: Contact merchants with a recent subscription app removal first, offering a migration checklist for subscriber data. Then contact consumable brands with no subscription app, leading with one concrete example of what a subscription program changes for a product like theirs.
Example 2: A returns platform
Profile: Apparel, footwear and accessories brands with size-driven returns, shipping to several countries, large enough that returns are a staffing problem.
| Filter | Setting | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Vertical in apparel, footwear or accessories | High return rates in sized products |
| Required | Catalog above a size threshold you choose | Small catalogs often handle returns by email |
| Optional | Runs a helpdesk app | Returns volume is visible to the CX team |
| Optional | Runs a shipping or order tracking app you integrate with | Easier implementation |
| Optional | Hiring for CX or operations roles | Growing post-purchase workload |
| Exclusion | Already runs a returns app, no recent change | Switching cost, no timing reason |
| Exclusion | Stores whose returns policy states final sale only | Little to automate |
Next action: Prioritize accounts hiring for CX or operations, and contact the operations or CX lead with an exchange-first angle (keeping revenue rather than refunding). For accounts already running a returns app, wait for a change and track them separately.
Example 3: An ecommerce advertising agency
Profile: Growing brands in two or three verticals the agency knows well, actively advertising, and showing signs of investing in growth.
| Filter | Setting | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Vertical in the agency's specialties | Case studies and creative experience carry over |
| Required | Active ads visible in a public ad library | Already spending on paid social |
| Optional | Recent Plus upgrade | More budget and complexity |
| Optional | Hiring a growth, performance marketing or ecommerce lead | A change in who owns growth |
| Optional | Runs analytics or attribution apps | Comfortable with measurement |
| Exclusion | Brands the agency has worked with before or competes with for clients | Conflicts |
| Exclusion | Hiring a full in-house paid media team | Less likely to outsource |
Next action: Review each brand's current creative before contacting it, then send the marketing lead one specific, useful observation about their creative or landing page, with an offer to share a short teardown. Agencies should expect fewer, longer conversations than apps.
Where Alert fits
Alert covers the data side of this workflow for teams selling to Shopify merchants:
- Filtering: browse the Shopify store universe by detected apps, Shopify Plus status, country and vertical, and add your competitors and complementary apps to a watchlist. Target Accounts lists every merchant running a watched app; Install Base shows the installer list for any app.
- Freshness: Alert re-scans stores on a rolling basis, so detected apps reflect recent observations and app changes appear as dated events.
- Timing: App Moves, Reviews, Plus Upgrades, Job Postings and Ad Radar add recent signals to the accounts on your list.
- Contacts and export: merchants carry a named contact where available, with generic inboxes labeled. Signal export sends a list to CSV, with presets for common CRM and sending tools.
Start a 14-day free trial and filter the store universe by the apps in your own profile.
FAQs
How big should a Shopify prospect list be?
Big enough to keep a weekly batch going for a few months, small enough that every account fits your profile. For many apps that is a few hundred to a few thousand accounts. If yours is much larger, your required filters are probably too loose.
Should I filter by estimated revenue?
Use it carefully if at all. Revenue figures from outside a company are modeled, not reported. Observable facts such as Shopify Plus status, catalog size and the depth of the app stack are often more dependable size indicators.
How often should I rebuild the list?
Refresh it at least monthly, and refresh signals weekly. Merchants add and remove apps continuously, so a list built once and used for a quarter drifts out of date.
Can agencies use app data to find clients?
Yes, but agencies usually get more from Plus upgrades, leadership hires, advertising activity and clusters of app changes than from any single app. Those point to projects, which is what agencies sell.