Why We Spent $140k on Shopify Apps - And What AI Taught Us About Simplicity
Darius Baltunis
CEO & Founder, InterioApp
16 April 2026
When things are going easy, it helps you live a comfortable life. When it gets hard, it kicks you in the ass and forces you to search, innovate, and find a better way to win the game you are in.
That is exactly how I would describe this new app we are launching soon on the Shopify App Store and as an API integration with our quoting software, InterioApp.
The $140k lesson
Over the last few years, we spent well over $140,000 just on Shopify apps. Building, testing, rebuilding. Three separate apps - the Curtain and Blind Calculator, InterioApp Curtains, and even the Wallpapers app. Each one solving a piece of the puzzle, but none of them solving the whole thing.
And crying out loud, it is painful when someone now shows they can build something similar within hours using AI.
I love AI. But it is still a painful medicine when it does something that took me the hard way to build.
"We invested over $140,000 in Shopify apps. AI can now build something similar in hours. But here is the thing - AI also helped us find the real problem nobody else was solving."
The real problem - the bloody setup
The biggest issue across all three apps was exactly the same. The setup.
Setting up thousands of fabrics and materials to sell made-to-measure blinds and curtains was taking months. Not days. Not weeks. Months. And it was costly - not only for my team but for our clients as well.
Imagine you are a curtain shop owner. You have 2,000 fabrics. Each fabric has different pricing, different widths, different making-up charges, and different lead times. Now multiply that by the number of product types you sell - roller blinds, roman blinds, curtains, shutters, vertical blinds.
That is not a setup. That is a full-time job for weeks.
Satisfaction rates were low. Conversion was not strong enough to clear the pain store owners had to go through just to get started.
The AI paradox - fancy does not sell
Now here is where it gets interesting. AI has changed the game in many ways. But not all of them are good.
We used AI not to make the calculator super fancy, animated, overcrowded, and non-converting. By the way - those fancy and overcrowded calculators that are now trending thanks to LLMs? They are not converting at all.
We have tested this many times. We invested a major part of our R&D budget to see what works and what does not.
Simplicity is still the king.
The fancy UI and UX might satisfy CEOs and owners who finally see their made-to-measure products looking the way they dreamed of for years. Big images, 3D renders, interactive color pickers, animated transitions.
But it is a different game for customers.
A customer wants a simple 1-2-3 step workflow and to get the final product into their cart fast. They do not want to explore. They do not want to play with 3D tools. They want to buy blinds.
What we actually used AI for
Instead of using AI to make things look fancier, we used it to solve the setup problem. The hard, boring, unglamorous problem that nobody else wanted to touch.
The newest app we are launching has fixed one of the biggest gaps we had across all three Shopify apps. Here is what changed:
- Setup time went from months to days. AI-assisted fabric import means you can upload a spreadsheet or even a supplier PDF and the system maps it automatically.
- Pricing rules are smarter. Instead of setting up each fabric individually, you set rules. "All fabrics from Supplier X use this pricing matrix." Done.
- The calculator stays simple. Three steps. Pick your product. Enter your measurements. Add to cart. That is it.
- It connects to everything. Shopify. InterioApp quoting. Your workshop. Your installers. One system.
See it in action
Here is a quick walkthrough of how the new app works. No fluff, just the product doing its thing.
MeasureRight - the simplest way to sell made-to-measure online
What is next
The app has already been submitted to the Shopify App Store and should be deployed in the next few weeks. But it is already available as a custom project if you do not want to wait.
If you sell made-to-measure curtains, blinds, shutters, or wallpapers online - and you are tired of spending months setting up products that barely convert - this is worth a look.
No pressure, no pitch. Just a conversation about what you are trying to do and whether this fits.
Interested? Let's chat.
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