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Your first customers for an ecommerce analytics tool are store owners and operators who already lose hours to spreadsheets every week. Good interviews find out what they track, where it breaks, and what they pay for today. Here is how to find those people with no audience and run calls that end in a decision.

All guidesFor founders of an ecommerce analytics tool

1. Pick one narrow buyer

Choose a single profile, like Shopify store owners doing roughly $20k to $200k a month, or the ecommerce manager at a small DTC brand. Narrow beats broad because their problems will sound the same across calls. Write the profile in one line before you contact anyone.

2. Find them where they already talk

Search r/shopify, r/ecommerce and r/FulfillmentByAmazon for posts complaining about reporting, attribution or profit tracking. Search LinkedIn for titles like 'Ecommerce Manager', 'Head of Growth DTC' or 'Founder' plus 'Shopify'. Try the search: "Shopify" ("profit" OR "attribution" OR "spreadsheet") on Reddit and X.

3. Send a short, honest ask

Ask for 20 minutes to learn, not to pitch. Example: "Hi Sam, saw your post about reconciling Meta and Shopify revenue. I'm building a tool in this space and want to understand how you track profit today. Could I ask you a few questions on a 20 minute call this week? No pitch." Send 20 of these a day and expect most to go unanswered.

4. Ask about their current workflow

Start with what they do, not what they want. Ask: "Walk me through the last time you checked whether your store was profitable." Then: "Which tools and tabs did you open?" and "How long did it take?" Get them to describe a real recent week.

5. Dig into pain and cost

Ask: "What number do you wish you trusted more?" and "When did a wrong number cost you money?" Follow with: "What have you tried to fix it, Triple Whale, Lifetimely, a VA, a Google Sheet?" If they have tried nothing, the pain may be too small to pay for.

6. Ask about money and decisions

Ask: "What do you pay for analytics or reporting tools now?" and "Who would approve a new tool?" Find out whether an agency, a cofounder or the founder alone decides. This tells you your price range and who to sell to.

7. End with a concrete next step

Close every call with an ask: "If I built X to solve the problem you described, could I set it up on your store for a 2 week trial?" Or ask for one intro: "Who else running a store has this problem?" A yes to a trial or an intro is worth more than any compliment.

8. Log patterns and follow up

After each call, write down their exact words about the pain, what they pay now, and the next step. After 10 calls, group the repeated problems and build for the top one. Hulby can run the daily search, outreach and follow ups for you so you spend your time on the calls themselves.

Mistakes to skip

  • Pitching your product in the first ten minutes instead of listening.
  • Asking "Would you use this?" which gets polite yeses and no buyers.
  • Talking to anyone with a store instead of one narrow buyer profile.
  • Ending calls without asking for a trial, a payment or an intro.

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Questions

How many interviews do I need?

Start with 10 to 15 in one buyer profile. Stop when you hear the same problems repeated.

Should I offer a gift card for their time?

Not at first. People who take a call for free because the problem bothers them are better leads.

Can I interview Amazon sellers and Shopify stores together?

Keep them separate. Their data sources and problems differ, so mixing them muddies the results.

What if nobody replies?

Rewrite the message to quote their specific post or problem, and send more. Low reply rates are normal at the start.