# Documentation

> Source: https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/readme

A record of the process of building a Shopify app from scratch. Numbered to be read in order.

| File | What it's for | Time |
|---|---|---|
| [00-SHOPIFY-101.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/00-shopify-101) | The Shopify ecosystem, what an app is, how the money flows. **Start here.** | ~30 min |
| [01-ECOMMERCE-GLOSSARY.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/01-ecommerce-glossary) | AOV, CAC, LTV, ROAS, churn… with formulas and worked examples | ~20 min |
| [02-SHOPIFY-ANATOMY.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/02-shopify-anatomy) | Depth: why Shopify, its position worldwide, industries, community, **the architecture behind it** and API rules | ~45 min |
| [03-ECOSYSTEM-DATA.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/03-ecosystem-data) | The economics of the market: revenue distribution, price bands, churn, discovery, gap analysis — **read before picking an idea** | ~30 min |
| [04-SOURCES-AND-EARLY-WARNING.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/04-sources-and-early-warning) | Where do I learn about new/beta features, where does the ecosystem feed from, **how do I know in advance if Shopify is going to swallow my category** | ~30 min |
| [05-PEOPLE-AND-VISION.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/05-people-and-vision) | Who Shopify's leadership is and what they're saying; people and companies with a proven name in the ecosystem; the strategic message | ~25 min |
| [06-MERCHANT-PSYCHOLOGY.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/06-merchant-psychology) | Merchant segments, **how much they pay at each level**, why they install and why they uninstall, which tools they actually use | ~35 min |
| [07-SHOPIFY-EVENTS.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/07-shopify-events) | **Shopify-only** events: DotDev, Editions, Connect, partner meetups, app vendor events + sources to follow | ~20 min |
| [08-ECOMMERCE-EVENTS.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/08-ecommerce-events) | **General e-commerce/DTC** conferences (Turkey, the Balkans, EU, US), price wall analysis, open CFPs + calendar sources | ~25 min |
| [09-PODCASTS.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/09-podcasts) | Shopify/DTC/indie-SaaS podcasts — latest episode dates verified, dead ones marked + discovery tools | ~20 min |
| [10-CASE-STUDIES.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/10-case-studies) | Reading Shopify case studies through a money lens: the value pool, the slice an app can take, the number the merchant will pay | ~25 min |
| [11-BRAND-AND-SCALE.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/11-brand-and-scale) | Branding and scaling: Ali Aslan's funnel/email steps + Gürkanzone's "premium price is a result" sequence: pain-point funnels, offer, proof, email/SMS flows, the founder's face; 2020+ brand use cases and people to model — for both stores and apps | ~45 min |
| [12-PROBLEM-SELECTION.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/12-problem-selection) | **The painkiller workshop**: pick the niche, mine competitor reviews for real pains, interview, and write the one-sentence problem. Run before building anything in Phase 5 | ~25 min |
| [13-APP-ORIGIN-STORIES.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/13-app-origin-stories) | The apps merchants actually have installed: what each founder saw, what v1 did, how the first 100 customers arrived, and where it got to; plus six 2020+ app use cases (Zipchat, Wide Bundles, WideReview, Kaching, Selleasy, Trustoo) | ~40 min |
| [LEARNING.md](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/docs/learning) | Roadmap + session-by-session learning log | ongoing |

**Reading order:** 00 → 01 → 02 → then hands on the keyboard with Session 2 in LEARNING.
Phase 5 (idea/problem selection) has its own arc, and the order matters — it builds an argument:
**03** (the market's economics) → **06** (who pays and how much) → **10** (where merchants already
pay) → **13** (how winning apps found their one problem) → **12** (the workshop where you do it) →
**05** (who to follow while you do). Don't start at 12; it assumes 03 and 06. Read 04 before publishing your first app (set up
the RSS feeds, run the early-warning system). 05 is the answer to "who should I listen to" — no rush,
but high return.

**⚠️ Data-reading rule:** Shopify doesn't open up the inside of the App Store. Most of the third-party
numbers here are measured by **storefront scanning**; admin-only apps are structurally invisible. Every
penetration figure is a **floor value**. The same metric can vary up to 3x from source to source —
contradictions are explicitly marked in every file.
00 builds the mental model, 02 fills in what's underneath it; don't mix the two — keep 00 short.

Notes that mature turn into blog posts under `content/posts/` and are published at
[shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com](https://shopifyjourney.cemalbuilds.com/).