Building a Shopify app because everything started looking the same

Over the past year I’ve been building a Shopify app called Lunar Sections.

The idea didn’t start from a big “problem statement”. It started from something more subtle.

After looking at multiple Shopify stores, I kept noticing how everything started to feel the same. Different brands, different products, but the structure, the sections, even the way testimonials or announcements looked it all followed a very safe, predictable pattern. I am not saying its bad in any way but i found the motivation to build something for people who are looking for something different design-wise.

Even when using apps, it felt like you were just choosing between slightly different versions of the same thing.

At some point it stopped being about “adding a feature” and more about wanting to bring a bit more personality into storefronts without overcomplicating things.

That’s where Lunar Sections came from.

Instead of trying to build a big page builder or an all-in-one tool, I focused on small, well-designed sections that you can drop into the theme and tweak easily. Things like testimonial layouts, announcement bars, content sections, but with a bit more attention to how they actually look and feel.

The journey itself has been interesting.

I’m not new to development, but building something of my own felt very different from client work. There’s no spec, no deadline, no one telling you what “done” looks like. That freedom is nice, but also overwhelming.

I launched it, got a few installs, even one paying user, and then kind of lost momentum for a while.

Mostly because I didn’t really know how to approach the whole “getting users” part. I tried a bit of cold outreach, didn’t work, and ended up pausing.

Recently picked it back up again, but this time trying to be more intentional and a bit more patient with the process.

Right now I’m experimenting with a few things, especially around reaching Shopify developers instead of going directly to merchants.

Still early, still figuring things out.

If anyone here has built in the Shopify ecosystem or gone through something similar, would love to hear how you approached early traction.