Shopify order context inside Gmail support inbox

B2B1 weekChrome extension

StackChrome extensionShopify APINext.js API

Search demandLowFew people are searching for this.
CompetitionLowThere are few direct competitors.
Customer valueLowCustomers are likely to spend a little.
How scoring works

The idea

A store doing 10 to 50 support emails a day answers most of them from Gmail, and every reply starts the same way: copy the sender’s address, switch tabs, search Shopify, find the order, copy the tracking number, switch back. Two minutes of friction, dozens of times a day. Gorgias and the other helpdesks solve it, but at 60 dollars and up they are built for teams these stores do not have.

The wedge is refusing to be a helpdesk. No tickets, no macros, no migration: just the order context appearing next to the email it belongs to, with the two actions (copy tracking, resend confirmation) that cover most replies. Installation to value is under five minutes, which is the whole pitch.

Who pays

The store owner or the single support person pays 15 dollars a month per store, billed through Shopify so it sits on the invoice they already pay. That price is an easy yes for anyone doing more than a few support emails a day. Distribution is the real asset: the Shopify App Store search for ‘gmail’ plus the Chrome Web Store both bring intent-driven installs with no outbound effort.

MVP scope

  • Gmail sidebar matching sender email to Shopify customer
  • Order cards with items, payment, and fulfilment status
  • One-click copy tracking link and resend order confirmation
  • Manual order search for unmatched senders
  • Shopify OAuth and billing, listed in both app stores
  • Skip for v1: refund actions (needs risky write scopes; add after trust), Outlook support, multi-store accounts, reply templates
// Build prompt — paste into Cursor / Claude Code / Lovable / Bolt
Build OrderPane, a Chrome extension that puts Shopify order context inside Gmail. Stack: a Manifest V3 Chrome extension with a content script injected into Gmail, and a Next.js API backend that holds Shopify OAuth tokens and proxies Admin API calls (never expose tokens to the extension).

Core flow: the merchant installs the extension, signs in, and connects their store via Shopify OAuth (build as a public Shopify app so it can list in the Shopify App Store). When they open any email in Gmail, the content script reads the sender's address from the DOM and asks the backend for a customer match. A sidebar panel renders on the right: customer name, lifetime order count and value, then order cards newest first with order number, date, line items, payment status, and fulfilment status. Each order card offers: copy tracking link (one click, confirmed with a tick), resend order confirmation, and open in Shopify admin. Unmatched senders get a manual order-number search box.

Screens: the injected sidebar, an extension popup for account status, and backend pages for OAuth callback and a minimal /settings (store connection, billing).

Implementation details: Gmail's DOM is unstable, so locate the sender via multiple selector strategies with graceful fallback rather than one brittle selector; cache customer lookups in the backend for five minutes to respect Shopify rate limits when a merchant grinds through an inbox.

Pricing: 15 dollars/month per store via the Shopify billing API. 14-day trial. Distribute through both the Shopify App Store and the Chrome Web Store.

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