AI helped these founders fast-track their way to first sale
April 22, 2025
by Shopify
Often, founders are launching all on their own, counting down the minutes to their very first sale. But as some entrepreneurs have discovered, getting this far is easier with a helping hand.
There's a moment right before a merchant sets their online store to “live” or opens the doors of their retail shop for the first time. A pause. This is it.
In this moment, they feel a mix of emotions—everything from exhilaration to terror to hope. It lasts for just a second before reality hits: Did the months or even years of planning actually pay off? Because everything comes down to this.
And then: ‘cha-ching.’
That instant gratification is impressive considering, on average, Shopify merchants make their first sale within 35 days* of signing up. And many founders make this journey from idea to that initial sale all on their own. They tackle everything from brand creation to product development to store setup, sometimes with no experience and no help. They scour YouTube tutorials, learn from their mistakes, and still keep going.
With capital spread thin and no way to clone themselves (yet), many of these intrepid builders turn to AI to help them get more done—and achieve their ambitious goals.
The modern entrepreneur’s not-so-secret ingredient
AI is getting more powerful every day, helping new entrepreneurs reach customers, create on-brand content, and understand data. And Ben Attwood can’t live without it. “I use AI every single day,” he says.
Ben, a designer by trade, started working for a beauty client and the experience piqued his interest in skincare. However, the options marketed to men were woefully subpar. “I felt like there was a gap. If I wanted to buy it, surely someone else wanted to buy it too,” he says. Ben took a leap of faith to develop Clubhouse Skin, a 3-step skincare routine for men.
TikTok became Ben’s go-to for connecting with potential customers—men like him who felt left out of the self-care market. Between building his brand on social, finding manufacturers, and designing his website, other tedious tasks started piling up.
“I'm a big picture thinker. I've been considering getting a freelancer to help with that stuff,” Ben says. “But I feel like I probably don't need to anymore.” That’s because he enlisted help from another source. Sidekick, an AI-powered commerce assistant nestled right inside Shopify, helped him better understand his data and reach his customers. It bought Ben more time to focus on the parts of the business that mattered to him most.
Every hero needs a sidekick
These tools also offer a helping hand when things go wrong. And sometimes things can go very wrong. Just ask Shari Gail Chua. She spent months developing a soft cotton and bamboo pajama line that didn’t skimp on quality. The day she launched Soft Life Sleepwear, though, customers who’d been anticipating the occasion flooded her inbox. They couldn’t check out—and Shari Gail didn’t understand why.
A problem that might have taken hours to troubleshoot took only moments to resolve. Shari Gail turned to Sidekick and asked for help. “The way it was integrated was just so easy to use,” she says.
The issue was simple: She forgot to turn off payments test mode. “I was able to get support very quickly at such a stressful time,” she says. In the end, the relationship and goodwill she fostered with her audience for months paid off. “Once I explained it, everyone was really, really nice, actually.”
In part due to Shari Gail’s content strategy—bringing social followers along on her business building journey and asking for feedback—fans were invested in Soft Life even before launch. She asked her audience to weigh in on everything from sizing to material to style. And they did.
But Shari Gail underestimated her products’ popularity. The sales flooded in instantly and inventory sold out in the first week. This time she had a good problem—and she turned to Sidekick once again.
“I asked, ‘What I should restock more of?’” she says. “And based on that, I felt comfortable placing a second order with my manufacturer since I knew that it was data-driven.”
It’s not the last time Shari Gail has relied on the tool to support her business. “More recently, I’m using it to understand my analytics,” she says. “I love seeing how I can improve. I ask it questions like ‘How can I increase my conversion rates?’”
Like Shari Gail, Ben was surprised at the reception to his new line, which also sold out of its first run quickly after launch. It was a high for the new founder. But a low point quickly followed: Clubhouse Skin’s manufacturer ghosted Ben, forcing him to start over. While he scrambled to find a new supplier, his website—and his business—remained at a standstill for months.
Not wanting to lose momentum, he jumped into damage control. “I asked Sidekick to break down my customer list by who was the most engaged and most valuable to us,” Ben says. “I reached out to the top 10% one by one. They were such loyal customers at the beginning that I really couldn't afford to lose them.”
This move made sure Ben’s second launch was even more successful than the first.
More done in less time? It’s Magic
While Ben and Shari Gail spent most of their pre-launch time developing a few select products, Delaney Rhoads was building out a robust catalog of SKUs. “I had wanted to own my own store for years. Our main street is lacking retail,” she says of her hometown Suffolk, VA. “There's not a ton happening down here, but I felt like there was so much potential.”
Her dream? Create a lifestyle boutique that catered to a younger demographic and breathed life into the city’s downtown. Delaney, along with her mom and her longtime friend and store manager Bree Copeland, had the arduous task of creating a collection of fashion and lifestyle products sourced from a number of vendors—enough inventory to support a whole retail store and online shop.
The technical aspects of running a commerce brand were new to Delaney and Bree, but they stumbled upon Shopify Magic to help them manage the massive catalog.
“I've used it for our product descriptions,” says Bree, “It's very convenient just having it right there, and it definitely saved us a lot of time and energy.” But it’s the personalization of the tool that particularly resonates with the team. “We love how you can change the tone. We're trying to be a very retro, lively, bubbly kind of shop so being able to pick the tone is really nice.”
In August 2024, Darla’s Downtown debuted with a pre-launch event for select friends, family, and community members. The store made $6000 in sales that night alone—before opening to the public. “Our website was launched at the same time, and pretty quickly we had people doing online orders,” says Delaney. “We're shipping to over a dozen states by now.”
From first sale to scale
Shari Gail finds new ways to use AI daily. When she polls her social media audience on their pajama preferences, the comments flood in. To help her manage the influx, she exports the comments into a spreadsheet and asks AI to analyze it. “I would be like, ‘Hey, can you summarize what the majority of people want?’” she says.
She's using this data to help grow her product line, following the pattern of Shopify merchants who typically expand their product range by 50%** within a year of making their first sale.
As merchants like Ben, Delaney, and Shari Gail build their businesses, Sidekick continues to evolve alongside them. The tool now works across all 20 languages in the Shopify admin, adapting to the one being used in conversation. It can connect multiple data sources to help merchants understand complex issues and provide solutions. And for those without design experience, it offers simple image creation capabilities—putting professional visuals within reach for entrepreneurs at every stage.
So far, Shari Gail and Ben are navigating their newfound success on their own. And Delaney is keeping it all running smoothly with a small team. They’re achieving more in less time than the entrepreneurs before them. And in those critical weeks leading up to their big moment, AI helped these founders launch to a cacophony of cha-chings, not crickets.
*Data is based on global sign ups on shopify.com during 2024. Shops are considered launched when they are able to sell via their storefront.
**Data is based on historical performance of Shopify's global merchants over the past 5 years.