Judge.me

Research

The Judge.me research hub

The Judge.me research hub

Research to
make things better.

Academic rigour. Open to everyone.

Academic rigour. Open to everyone.

At Judge.me, we pursue excellence through research: making things better for our customers, our partners and our industry. We work with academics and share what we learn openly.

At Judge.me, we pursue excellence through research: making things better for our customers, our partners and our industry. We work with academics and share what we learn openly.

FROM THE RESEARCH

FROM THE RESEARCH

PUBLISHED PAPER

PUBLISHED PAPER

88%

88%

88%

of 50 categories favoured later entrants.
Growth measured July–September 2025.

Rethinking the
first-mover advantage

Rethinking the
first-mover advantage

IWSiB 2026 · Proceedings paper

IWSiB 2026 · Proceedings paper

Find your starting point

Find your starting point

01

01

For commerce operators & researchers

For commerce operators & researchers

What does it take to build a world trading with confidence?

02

02

For founders & engineering teams

For founders & engineering teams

How can AI help businesses scale and work more efficiently?

How can AI help businesses scale and work more efficiently?

03

03

For Shopify app founders & analysts

For Shopify app founders & analysts

How do you launch a successful SaaS business in the Shopify ecosystem—and where do opportunities remain?

How do you launch a successful SaaS business in the Shopify ecosystem—and where do opportunities remain?

01 / FLAGSHIP RESEARCH PROGRAMME

01 / FLAGSHIP RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Funding awarded · Research forthcoming

Funding awarded · Research forthcoming

The Trust Gap
research programme.

The Trust Gap
research programme.

The Trust Gap
research programme.

×

×

Research towards a world trading with confidence—where shoppers can trust what they read and merchants can earn the trust they deserve.

A planned 36-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership investigating the information, outcomes and review attributes that shape trust in commerce.

A planned 36-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership investigating the information, outcomes and review attributes that shape trust in commerce.

FROM THE RESEARCH LIBRARY

FROM THE RESEARCH LIBRARY

Publications & working papers

03 / Shopify Ecosystem

Preprint

Extends the original snapshot with weekly app observations from 2019–2026 to examine platform governance, competition and application survival.

F. Assabese, P.-J. Celis · Judge.me; G. Destefanis · UCL

F. Assabese, P.-J. Celis · Judge.me; G. Destefanis · UCL

02 / AI & Engineering

Preprint

Argues that an agent skill is a software artefact and should be built with single responsibility, low coupling, and evaluation-driven authoring.

G. Destefanis · UCL

G. Destefanis · UCL

02 / AI & Engineering

Whitepaper

Keeping a project workable across resets and usage limits by treating state as files on disk, with disjoint roles for a Producer and a Composer.

03 / Shopify Ecosystem

Published paper

A September 2025 snapshot of 4,213 active apps and 55 categories, examining concentration and the relationship between entry timing and recent growth.

F. Assabese · Judge.me, G. Destefanis · UCL

F. Assabese · Judge.me, G. Destefanis · UCL