We're one of Shopify's Top 25 Built for Shopify apps: here's how we got there

A few weeks ago, we got a message from Shopify asking us to swing by the Editions booth and pick up some exclusive swag. We showed up, curious and slightly confused. That’s when they told us:

“You’re one of the 25 best Built for Shopify apps on the App Store.”

No application. No heads-up. Just a quiet little moment that meant a lot. This is the story of how we got here, and what we’re building next.

How it all started

Both Kartik and I are serial entrepreneurs. STOQ is the third business we’ve built together. Our first Shopify product was an invoicing app called Invoice Falcon, which we launched in 2019. We eventually sold it, and after I left Shopify a few years later, we started thinking seriously about what to build next.

Having worked inside Shopify, I saw how much thought went into even the smallest details—how merchants use the admin, what they struggle with, and what great product design really looks like. It changed how I approached building entirely. I took those learnings and got back to work with Kartik. We started digging into merchant problems again. Everyone was focused on email, abandoned carts, or paid marketing. But we kept noticing another quiet issue: stockouts. Inventory always runs out. And when it does, most stores just… stop selling.

Back-in-stock alerts existed, but they were often expensive, hard to customize, or built with assumptions that didn’t reflect the reality of most merchants—especially small stores. We felt there was a better way to solve this. So in 2022, we got to work.

Getting it off the ground

We built our first version, kept it simple, and shipped it fast. The early version of STOQ helped merchants capture demand for out-of-stock products through back-in-stock alerts. That was it.

But even from day one, we knew we wanted to solve this problem end to end—not just add a widget or feature. So we listened. Different types of merchants had different needs: some wanted more customization, others cared deeply about analytics and understanding what people were waiting for.

As we grew, we added pre-orders in 2024. Once you’re solving out-of-stock, pre-orders are a natural extension. We focused on making them simple to set up, deeply integrated with Shopify, and friendly for merchants who didn’t want to spend hours fiddling with settings.

Today, STOQ powers over 20,000 Shopify stores. We’re fully bootstrapped, profitable, and still learning every single day.

Milestones that mattered

2022
Launched our first version. Started onboarding merchants and validating what worked.

2023
Crossed 1,000 active stores. Rebuilt the product as an embedded app inside Shopify Admin. Adopted Polaris. Became one of the first apps to fully comply with Build for Shopify.

2024
Launched pre-orders. Built out our 24/7 support team. Began investing in analytics.

2025
Selected as one of Shopify’s Top 25 Built for Shopify apps.

Why we build the way we do

The thing we always remind ourselves is: most Shopify stores are run by one person. Sometimes they have a small team. Sometimes they’re doing everything themselves. But at the end of the day, the people using our app are just real humans trying to build something that works—not massive operations with dedicated teams. We’ve always believed that software shouldn’t get in the way. It should just work.

So we obsessed over the details. We used Shopify’s design system from the start. We followed the Build for Shopify guidelines closely. We spent months making sure STOQ felt native and intuitive. No tutorials. No guesswork. You click a button, and it works! That’s the bar we’ve set.

Support matters just as much. Our team is trained on Shopify, not just STOQ. We run 24/7 support. And our 1,800+ five-star reviews mean more to us than any metric.

Real merchants, real impact

One merchant had just been featured in a major magazine, but her store was out of stock. She was in a panic. We helped her switch to STOQ, set up pre-orders in minutes, ran a few tests, and within hours, she had orders coming in again. She ended the week with $1,500 in pre-order revenue—starting from zero. These stories are why we show up every day.

Another merchant, selling $1,500 sofas, was running ads when he ran out of inventory. His old pre-order app failed him.

“I installed STOQ. Clicked a few things. It was live. Pre-orders started coming in right away.”

He didn’t just recover sales—he used those orders to decide whether to reorder inventory in real time. That’s the kind of leverage we give merchants.

What Shopify looks for and why it matters

The Top 25 list wasn’t based on votes or submissions. Shopify’s internal team reviewed thousands of apps to find the ones that best represent the Build for Shopify standard.

They looked at:

• How deeply embedded the app is in Shopify Admin
• Whether it follows Polaris and Build for Shopify best practices
• The impact it has on real merchant workflows like orders, inventory, and product management

We didn’t build STOQ for recognition. We built it this way because it makes the product better. But getting selected, especially without even knowing we were being considered was an incredible surprise to say the least! We’re proud of what it means. And grateful for what it says about the kind of experience we’ve always tried to create.

What’s next: from stockouts to smart inventory

Our goal is simple: help merchants make money even when they’re out of stock. Today we do that through pre-orders, back-in-stock alerts, and inventory insights. But there’s a lot more to build.

We’re working on:

• Smarter analytics: not just charts, but actual insights on where customers come from and what they want
• Forecasting tools to help merchants reorder with confidence
• A conversational interface that feels more like a helpful assistant than a traditional app

We also want to go deeper on everything we’ve already built. Better reporting. Cleaner workflows. Fewer steps, more clarity. Whether you're a small store just getting started or a large brand with global logistics, STOQ should feel like it was built for you—because it was.

Thanks for reading. And thank you for trusting us with your store! We’ll keep building quietly, thoughtfully, and always with your challenges in mind.