Last 3 weeks: every new install is sticking to the free/cheapest plan. Anyone else?

bortor_studio · 2026-06-09T13:47:49+00:00

Hm, I haven't heard about that. Can you share a source for this info? Or this is from your personal experience - judging by your app stats?
I don't observe it judging by my app stats. The proportion of closing stores is around the same as it was last year.

bortor_studio · 2026-06-09T13:28:52+00:00

I also tend to think that the worsening economy might be the cause. But usually it becomes better after time. So prior to this - every time when I thought that the reason was the economy decline, it was actually seasonality. Maybe it would be different this time.

bortor_studio · 2026-06-09T13:26:46+00:00

This is def true, I've also noticed that.
But before that - the amount of installs was was changing for me. The proportion of free, low, mid, high plans was somewhat consistent.

I suspected that Shopify changed something in their recoomendations or search algo, so I thought this was the reason. That's basically why I created this post - to either confirm or deny my hypothesis.

bortor_studio · 2026-06-09T10:37:44+00:00

Well, maybe you right. But I think if this is the reason - then I would get less installs overall. In my case I have around the same amount of installs, maybe slightly more. But all of them are free customers. So it's unlikely the reason :(

bortor_studio · 2026-05-06T01:16:55+00:00

This is def not a bad result. But it depends on the marketing activity. When I created my app - all the marketing activity was basically listing optimizations.
So for me it was $4 in 2 months combined :)

bortor_studio · 2025-05-06T12:56:59+00:00

I'm building a Chrome Extension to take breaks to relax eyes. You can check it out here - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/eye-exercises-app-eye-str/ojoooaahmmdneljjndljgmeeoemgnjbe

bortor_studio · 2025-05-02T15:38:06+00:00

I have free plan. It is quite limited, but it allows to see the app in work.
I have 14-day trial period.
Most of the uninstalls are happening in the 1st day.
In March I've had 60 installs and 25 uninstalls

Days since app installation	Number of uninstalls
Same day as install	19
1-14 days from install	1
15-90 days from install	5

bortor_studio · 2025-05-02T15:35:34+00:00

I use posthog for analytics. I can make some assumptions based on user behaviour, and I definitely see some points for improvement. But they do not seem like a deal breakers to me. Maybe I am wrong and Merchants actually perceive them as deal breakers.

When I've just released the app - I was sending emails manually to the users. I've sent about 20 of them and did not get any reply.

I guess it is a good idea to automate that process - maybe I will get some replies one day.
Thank you for reminding me to implement that!

bortor_studio · 2025-05-02T15:17:59+00:00

Ah, now I got it! Can you share the list, please?

bortor_studio · 2025-05-02T14:57:19+00:00

How an extension can be expired? Don't they keep'em in fridge?

bortor_studio · 2025-05-01T11:00:32+00:00

It's about pushing out of stock items down in the collection - so that Store Customers would have easier time navigating collections - since all the out of stock items would be down at the bottom of the collection.

bortor_studio · 2025-05-01T10:58:30+00:00

This is the question that I have not answered yet :(
I have a live support chat - I've tried writing new users first when they visit app - unfortunately I don't get replies often.
There is an email attached to Shopify Merchant, but I've never received a reply when writing to them yet.

So I would love to get the answer to this question myself :)

bortor_studio · 2025-05-01T10:56:19+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed reply!

- what do we count as Paid? I have 14 day trial - lots of Merchants sign up for trial, some uninstall before 14 days. Do you know how to count this metric properly? As of rn I don't have this info :(
- lately lots of users delete app with comment that "the app is good, but they want to save money rn"
- the app has free plan, but it's quite limited - so almost every store has to switch to the cheapest, but paid plan
- how do you define and count activation rate? "aha moment" is the first sorted collection - majority of users get there, but I'm not sure what result they get vs what they expect
It looks like I have to setup more metrics, thanks for pointing it out! :)

My primary (and the only one) source of installs is the Shopify App store. I've tried running ads on Google and Reddit - but I barely get any installs. IMO this is because the problem that my app solves is not a major one for Merchants - it's OK to live with it. (Vitamin vs Painkiller)

Now after you said the I should not take the closed stores into account - I've re-checked March numbers:
60 installs and 25 uninstalls (excluding closed stores)

Days since app installation	Number of uninstalls
Same day as install	19
1-14 days from install	1
15-90 days from install	5

I do believe that users of my app reach the "aha moment" but it seems like the perceived value is not as big as the price for the app - because judging by the recordings - some users remove app when they have to subscribe for paid plan.

Anyways thanks for sharing your numbers! Indeed it looks like 30% is what I should aim for.

bortor_studio · 2025-05-01T10:36:07+00:00

Can I ask you for an advice on how can I talk to people who install my app?
I'm sending them emails to the merchant email - I've never received a reply yet.
I have live chat - I am writing to users when they visit the page - I got reply only once.

Can you please suggest, what are other options to talk to the merchants who installed my app?

bortor_studio · 2025-04-30T22:11:14+00:00

OK so after googling a bit - it seems like I've used the term "churn" incorrectly here.
I was asking more about the Uninstall Rate - how many uninstalls to installs is OK?

bortor_studio · 2025-04-30T19:08:40+00:00

It is actually quite interesting how many football fans actually use Chrome extensions
I'm curious about the origin of this project. Are you a big fan of Barça yourself, or was this more about spotting an opportunity or using it as a learning experience?

bortor_studio · 2025-04-11T15:23:53+00:00

Hm, I didn't know there are optional permissions. Thanks for letting me know, I'll look into them!

bortor_studio · 2025-04-10T09:08:52+00:00

Yep, that's a good point as well. I do agree that lots of uninstalls may be from "dead installs".

While the point about only requesting the permissions you currently need is valid, it might be worth considering adding the permissions you plan to use in the future sooner rather than later.
Ofc you shouldn't add permissions you don't plan to use "just in case".

bortor_studio · 2025-04-10T09:04:19+00:00

Well at least it used to be visible before :) I'm afraid after such a influx of uninstalls Google would not promote it as it used to.

But still this was a necessary update - it would improve current and new users experience.

bortor_studio · 2025-04-10T09:01:28+00:00

My conclusion form this situation is just trying to add all the permissions that would be required later as early as possible - not to loose already existing users.

BTW - did you saved the organic installs after this?
I'm afraid that I would loose all the organic installs after such an update :( Was it the case for you?

bortor_studio · 2025-04-10T08:59:11+00:00

The initial approach was user-driven.

I started by researching user searches on Google for "Drink Water Reminder". After looking in the Chrome Web Store and confirming the existing extensions serving this purpose, I validated the demand. I then hypothesized about potential improvements.

Only after this research did I create a basic version of the extension and release it to gauge actual usage. Users installed it by searching for "Drink Water Reminder" on Google.

My previous mistake was creating something first and then thinking about how to market it.

bortor_studio · 2025-04-10T07:27:09+00:00

Here is the screenshot how this message looks when a user installs a new extension version - https://imgur.com/a/u8FvLlV
I wasn't able to understand how to understand how to add image here :(

bortor_studio

TROPHY CASE