Are third-party marketplace feed apps no longer allowed in the Shopify App Store?

Shopify App Store
1

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some clarification from other Shopify Partners or anyone who has dealt with this recently.

I built an app that generates marketplace-specific product feeds from Shopify products.

The app does not operate as a marketplace itself. Its purpose is to help merchants export structured product feeds for external marketplaces. In our case, the app was built for the Greek market and supports the four largest Greek marketplaces, so merchants moving to Shopify can continue using distribution tools similar to what they already rely on elsewhere.

After waiting more than a month in review, the app was rejected with this explanation:

Shopify is not currently accepting apps that connect to a marketplace system outside of Shopify. This applies to all apps that connect to a marketplace outside of Shopify.

After contacting Partner Support, the clarification I received was:

… here are the documentations that I checked for you regarding this situation:

  • App Store requirements
    • Specifically requirement 1.1.6:
      Build single-merchant storefronts. Marketplaces should be sales channels.
      This is the exact policy behind his rejection.

And then:

Here’s the confirmed answer from our specialist: your app, falls under what Shopify classifies as a marketplace connector, an app that generates and sends product feeds to external marketplaces not owned by the developer. Under Shopify’s current policy, this app type is not accepted in the App Store, and this decision was confirmed by Shopify’s escalated App Review team.

What I’m trying to understand is this:

If Shopify requires sales channel apps to be built by developers who own and operate the destination marketplace, and third-party feed apps are now treated as marketplace connectors, does that mean apps that generate or sync product feeds to external marketplaces are no longer accepted in the App Store unless the developer owns the marketplace?

This is confusing because similar apps already exist, including apps for individual local marketplaces. Our app was built to support multiple Greek marketplaces and help more merchants move to Shopify, not to replace Shopify checkout or operate a separate marketplace.

I’m also trying to understand how this applies to apps that were already submitted before this policy interpretation was communicated.

Has anyone else experienced this recently?

Is there any accepted path for this type of app today, or is the only realistic option to operate outside the Shopify App Store as a custom/private integration?

More broadly, is there a public list of app categories that are no longer accepted, so Partners can avoid investing months into apps that may be rejected based on policy interpretation rather than technical, security, or quality issues?

2

More details:

To recap our discussion regarding your app submission (Reference: 106635):

  • Policy Clarification: The rejection is not a reflection of your app’s quality or functionality. It is due to a firm Shopify policy regarding marketplace connectors. Apps that send product feeds to external marketplaces are now required to be submitted as Sales Channel apps.

  • Sales Channel Requirements: As we noted, Sales Channel apps have strict criteria, including the requirement that the developer owns and operates the destination platform. Since Agora Feeds connects to external Greek marketplaces, it currently falls into a difficult gap between standard app policies and Sales Channel requirements.

  • Firm Enforcement: This policy is currently enforced by the App Review team without exceptions. Apps you may see currently listed were likely approved before these specific guidelines were put in place.

  • Advocating for your Case: I’ve officially submitted internal feedback to our development team highlighting your specific use case and how your app is designed to attract more Greek merchants to the Shopify ecosystem.

3

Hey @Poseidon, there can be some nuance in how these app types get classified, however based on what you have shared, your app sends product data to marketplaces you don’t own, which puts it under requirement 1.1.6 as it’s applied today. The Sales Channel path exists for marketplace integrations, but it currently requires the developer to own the destination platform.

The underlying use case for helping merchants in a growing market connect to the platforms they already rely on is useful. I’ll pass that context along with a feature request on your behalf. :memo:

4

Thanks for the response @KyleG-Shopify . In my opinion, this is partially true, as 3 out of the 4 marketplaces my app supported are price comparison engines, which basically send customers back to the Shopify store to complete the purchase. I’m not sure if that changes the overall picture.

I totally agree that such apps should be treated as sales channels. That was actually the first thing I checked when I started creating the app, as it makes the most sense, to me at least. However, after seeing the requirements, I decided to go the regular app route as they dont belong to me and I am not even sure there will be hundreds of merchants onboarded in the first year or ever (which is one of the requirements). Greece is pretty small market.

I have taken down the app for now, but I’d be happy to re-upload and re-submit it again in case anything changes.

5

I was rejected for an app that imports products TO shopify from a different marketplace. The reason given was “Shopify is not currently accepting apps that connect to a marketplace system outside of Shopify. This applies to all apps that connect to a marketplace outside of Shopify.” This blanket statement seems like it will disqualify a ton of apps. Can we get some sort of clarification here? Thank you @KyleG-Shopify !

6

We’re facing the exact same issue with our app in a similar context.

We’d love clarification on two points, any response would be greatly appreciated.

  1. Is this a permanent policy change, and are marketplace connector apps forbidden going forward?
  2. Will the official documentation be updated to reflect this? Currently nothing in the public requirements prohibits this app type, we are only finding out through rejection.

@KyleG-Shopify

7

Hey everyone, Thanks for the replies here.

For apps connecting to 3rd party marketplaces, the clearest place this is outlined is in the API terms of service:

not, except with Shopify’s prior written consent, develop or distribute any Application that has as its primary purpose the transfer, sharing, selling, disclosing or otherwise providing of Merchant Data to any third party. In addition, any such third party must be bound by these Terms or another written agreement acceptable to Shopify addressing the use of Merchant Data. For the purposes of this section, the “primary purpose” of the Application shall be determined by Shopify in its sole discretion;

As for importing products into a store from a third party marketplace, lots of apps (dropshipping as an example) do that. Can you share more on how your app is structured @rjjwebdev that could lead to the app review classifying your app differently?

8

@KyleG-Shopify thanks a ton for getting back to me/us here.

That clause seems tp be about apps whose primary purpose is moving Merchant Data out to a third party. Mine doesn’t. The primary purpose is importing the merchant’s own Reverb listings into Shopify (title, price, photos, condition) — same inbound flow as the dropshipping apps you mentioned. FWIW - Reverb.com is a place where people like myself sell music gear. The goal of this app is to get users to move their inventory over to Shopify.

The only thing that goes toward Reverb is a stock signal when a unit sells (“this SKU is sold → delist”). No order details, no customer details, no PII leaves Shopify. It’s just an app that prevents overselling, like the 100s of others in the app store today.

It’s inventory reconciliation on the merchant’s own stock, under their own Reverb credentials - not a data-transfer pipe from Shopify to anywhere else. And I’m blanketly not using customer data at all throughout anything. Just purely relying on product IDs via webhooks.

Is there anything that can be done here? This review process has been way different than when I’ve submitted apps in the past. There’s no room for nuance/discussion (I can’t reply to the rejection/reviewer) - so myself and others have to resort to posting here.

Again - appreciate your time!

10

Thanks for sharing that. If you haven’t already, I would suggest making sure that in your submission you lean in to the reviewer notes to ensure that the reviewer has all of this context. The more details they have the better.

Based on what you have shared, your app does sound like it’s potentially an inventory management app. It could also help to ensure that your app listing, and review notes are centered around that core functionality.

If all else fails, you can always reach out to our support team through the help center. That way we can take a look at your app review directly and help clarify some of these points with the app review team.

11

Thanks @KyleG-Shopify , will do - appreciate your help