How to find Shopify stores: 8 Best Methods

Finding Shopify stores can be incredibly useful for inspiration, competitive analysis, or exploring niche markets. With thousands of online shops running on the Shopify platform, knowing how to discover these stores can give you an edge.

In this guide, NextSky’ll explore 8 best methods to find Shopify stores, ranging from using tools like BuiltWith and MyIP.ms, to using Google search operators and Shopify directories. These methods will help you uncover stores that match your interests, whether for business research or market analysis.

Why it is important to find other Shopify stores

Finding other Shopify stores is crucial for business growth and strategic planning. 

By analyzing competitors, you can gain insights into their pricing, marketing, and design strategies, helping you refine your own approach to stand out in the market. It also offers inspiration for user experience and design, enabling you to create a more engaging and visually appealing store that attracts more customers.

Moreover, you can learn from successful stores profitable niches, and trending products.

You can also learn from their marketing techniques and tools they use, which can help you implement similar strategies to improve your store’s performance and customer experience.

8 ways to find Shopify stores

1. Use BuiltWith to explore Shopify stores

BuiltWith is a powerful tool that lets you discover websites based on the technology they use, including Shopify. Simply search "Shopify" or relevant keywords, and BuiltWith will generate a list of active Shopify stores. 

You can simply enter the list of Shopify stores on BuiltWith to see the list of stores or download the list to your PC. The list provides detailed information for every company, including their products, contact information, industry, and more.

2. Search “site:myshopify.com" on Google Search

The “site:myshopify.com" search operator allows you to search for websites with the term “myshopify.com" in their URL.

By using this search operator you can narrow Google’s search results to websites using Shopify’s default domain. This is an easy way to explore stores on Shopify's platform.

If you are searching for specific industries, you can include that industry in the search bar as well. For example, you can use “car site:myshopify.com” to find Shopify stores that are related to cars.

3. Search “inurl:myshopify.com" on Google Search

Similar to the above method, the "inurl:myshopify.com" search operator targets Shopify's unique domain structure, giving you a list of websites using Shopify’s default URL format.

4. Find stores on Shopify Theme Store and Shopify App Store

Many Shopify themes and apps showcase example stores that use their products. By browsing through these stores, you can find a variety of Shopify businesses in different industries and styles.

Each theme on the Shopify Theme Store can feature up to 4 stores. As for the Shopify App Store, you can find the stores in the review section of each app.

5. Use MyIP.ms tool to find Shopify IP address

MyIP.ms is another tool that can help you find Shopify stores. This is a tool that uses the IP address of a store to get information about that store, including registration dates, IP locations, average daily visits, and the host of the website. 

You can find Shopify stores by entering the Shopify IP address (23.227.38.65) into the search bar. Then the search result will show a list of stores that are hosted on the Shopify IP address.

6. Search “Powered by Shopify” on Google Search

Typically if the store owner doesn’t make any changes to the footer of a Shopify theme, it will contain a "Powered by Shopify" label. 

So by searching for inurl:/collections/ “Powered by Shopify” in Google Search, you will be able to find Shopify stores that still have the “Powered by Shopify” label on their footer. 

However, this label can be removed easily by the store owner so you cannot find Shopify stores who removed it.

7. Find Shopify stores from listing blog articles

There are many blog articles that feature successful examples of Shopify stores to help merchants copy their success. To find these articles, you can just type “industry name + Shopify store examples” on Google.

8. Find stores on Shopify Expert Directory

The Shopify Expert Directory is where merchants can find high-quality Shopify developers and experts. You can check out their review section to find the names of different Shopify stores that used their service.

How to tell if a store is built on Shopify

1. Check the URL

Many Shopify stores use the myshopify.com domain as part of their default URL, especially if they haven't set up a custom domain. If the store's URL contains “myshopify.com,” it’s definitely a Shopify store.

But it is also possible for a Shopify store URL to not contain myshopify.com. This method doesn't work if a Shopify store is using a custom domain.

2. Inspect the Page Source (HTML)

You can check the store’s HTML source code for references to Shopify:

• Right-click anywhere on the page and select View Page Source or press Ctrl+U.
• Look for terms like "/cdn.shopify.com", "/shopify.js", or "Shopify" in the code. If you see these, the store is likely powered by Shopify.

3. Look for Shopify-Specific Elements

Many Shopify stores have a Powered by Shopify label in the footer, especially if the store owner hasn’t removed or customized it. This is an easy way to identify a Shopify store.

4. Use BuiltWith or Wappalyzer

BuiltWith and Wappalyzer are tools that detect the technology used to build websites. Simply enter the store’s URL into one of these tools, and they will tell you if the store uses Shopify.

5. Check the Payment System

Shopify stores typically use Shopify Payments or integrated payment gateways such as Stripe or PayPal. During the checkout process, if you see Shopify Payments, it’s a clear sign that the store runs on Shopify.

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