--- title: "Put Shopify intelligence to work." description: "Five practical Shoplist playbooks for finding target accounts, researching review themes, monitoring brands and writing an evidence-led account brief. Pick a job and produce something useful." canonical_url: "https://shoplist.co/playbooks" markdown_url: "https://shoplist.co/playbooks.md" last_updated: "2026-10-26" --- # Put Shopify intelligence to work. Five practical Shoplist playbooks for finding target accounts, researching review themes, monitoring brands and writing an evidence-led account brief. Pick a job and produce something useful. ## What can I do with the Shoplist playbooks? Use the Shoplist playbooks to build a competitor-account shortlist, find complementary-app prospects, research review themes, run a weekly account watchlist or prepare an evidence-led account brief. Each recipe gives you the inputs, supported steps and a useful output to carry into your next growth move. ### Find the fit: Choose accounts Start with competing or complementary app usage, then inspect the brands worth pursuing. ### Sharpen the angle: Research the market Use merchant review themes and relevant changes to improve your next question or demonstration. ### Finish the work: Produce a brief Keep the account fit, evidence and next action together in a reusable research brief. ## Research that ends with a next move Illustrative output from the prospecting and account-brief playbooks. **Research inputs:** App-stack context, Brand research, Review themes, Observed changes. **A qualified account brief** (Your next target segment) - **Why this brand:** The observed app stack matches the segment your team wants to pursue. - **What to show:** A specific product workflow that improves the merchant’s current approach. - **What happens next:** Inspect the account, record the evidence and prepare a relevant discovery question. - **Next action:** Keep the brief with the account and use it to prepare the next conversation. ## Find the brands your app should win. Choose the growth motion first. A competitive campaign starts with brands using a competing app, followed by an account-level fit check. A complementary campaign starts with the app that makes your integration or shared workflow relevant. Both recipes finish with an inspected shortlist. Use the steps to select the segment, check the brand context and save the accounts your team has a reason to work. Pick the prospecting job that fits your offer | Your job | Start with | Produce | | --- | --- | --- | | Win a competitive account | A competing app and a clear reason to switch | A shortlist checked for fit and your own app’s footprint | | Sell into a complementary stack | An app your product works alongside | A shortlist with a specific integration or workflow angle | - [Build a competitor-account shortlist](https://shoplist.co/playbooks/competitor-without-your-app) - [Find complementary-app prospects](https://shoplist.co/playbooks/complementary-app-prospects) ## Know what deserves your team’s attention. Review research sharpens what you say. Read the merchant language behind recurring praise and pain, then turn a theme into a product question, positioning decision or demonstration. Keep the source examples attached to the finding. A weekly account watchlist keeps the active campaign in view. Follow the relevant brands and apps, inspect meaningful changes and finish the review with a concrete next action. - [Research merchant review themes](https://shoplist.co/playbooks/review-theme-research) - [Run a weekly account watchlist](https://shoplist.co/playbooks/weekly-account-watchlist) ## Give the next conversation a stronger starting point. Bring the work together in an account brief: why this brand fits, what you observed, where your product adds value and what to ask next. Use the copyable template to keep the facts, source links and working hypothesis easy to review. Start with one segment and run the full loop. The shortlist chooses the accounts. Market research sharpens the angle. The brief prepares the conversation. Return to the watchlist when new context changes the next move. ### Finish with something your team can use. A saved shortlist, a sourced review finding, a weekly review or a clear account brief. Choose one useful output and follow the recipe through to it. - [Write an evidence-led account brief](https://shoplist.co/playbooks/evidence-led-outreach-brief) - [See the workflow in action](https://shoplist.co/demo) ## Frequently asked questions ### Which Shoplist playbook should I start with? Start with competitor accounts if your app has a strong switching proposition, or complementary-app prospects if an integration or shared workflow makes the offer relevant. Inspect the shortlist, then use the account-brief playbook to prepare the next conversation. ### Do I need to use all five playbooks? Choose the recipe that produces the output you need now. The playbooks work together: prospecting builds the shortlist, review research improves the angle, monitoring keeps the accounts current and the brief records the next action. ### What access do the playbooks require? Each recipe identifies the product surfaces and access needed for its steps. Filters, lists, exports, monitoring and Market Voice have plan-specific access. Check the recipe and current pricing before choosing your workflow. ## Sources & further reading - [Shoplist brand discovery](https://shoplist.co/features/brand-discovery) - [Shoplist Market Voice](https://shoplist.co/features/market-voice) - [Shoplist data methodology](https://shoplist.co/data-methodology) ## Make your next target list worth working. Choose a segment, find the right brands and put your first playbook to work in Shoplist. - [Find my next target accounts](https://shoplist.co/app/login?ch=web%3Afeature-page&intent=brand-discovery) ## Related guides - [Shoplist for app growth teams](https://shoplist.co/solutions/app-growth-teams) - [Watch the product workflow](https://shoplist.co/demo) - [Competitive intelligence for Shopify app vendors](https://shoplist.co/guides/competitive-intelligence-for-shopify-app-vendors) - [Set up app-change alerts](https://shoplist.co/guides/shopify-app-change-alerts)