Shopify Acquires Kit CRM To Bolster Messaging Commerce

It would appear that Shopify has chatbots on the mind.

A day after the eCommerce platform announced its integration with Facebook Messenger (as part of which it will be building bots), Shopify released the news yesterday (April 13) that it has agreed to acquire Kit CRM, a virtual marketing assistant that leverages messaging to help businesses market their online stores.

“We believe messaging apps are the gateway for the Internet on mobile, and conversational commerce represents a huge opportunity for Shopify,” Craig Miller, CMO of Shopify, stated in a press release. “Kit addresses a real pain point for merchants and is one of our most highly rated apps in the Shopify App Store. We look forward to having the Kit team join Shopify and help us define the future of conversational commerce together.”

The press release goes on to explain that Kit, founded in 2013, facilitates businesses’ use of text messages to numerous ends, including running targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram, posting updates to their Facebook Page and making recommendations based on store activities.

Last year, Kit released an API that allows it to interact with other apps in the Shopify App Store.

“As an entrepreneur, you dream of building a company that makes an impact. Our partnership with Shopify has helped us positively change how businesses run in more than 30 countries,” commented Michael Perry, founder and CEO of Kit, in the release. “We’ve witnessed firsthand Shopify’s commitment to business owners, and it is a privilege to be a larger part of it. This is a big step and incredible opportunity for Kit to be joining Shopify. We couldn’t be more thrilled about making our impact felt amongst business owners everywhere.”