KUKApp Wants To Help Shopify Merchants Publish Apps

White-label solution KUKApp announced Monday (July 19) it is now available to merchants on Shopify, allowing businesses to publish apps with the App Store and Google Play inside of a day.

The company says it aims to “replace both development teams and app builders” by providing a shorter release cycle than other solutions.

The current process, which involves preparing apps for submission with the app stores, can take up to several weeks and may end with the stores declining to carry the apps, said Aleksandr Iurev, co-founder and CEO at KUKApp.

“The process also requires some IT skills,” he said in a news release emailed to PYMNTS. “Not to mention the fact that many app builders charge fees for additional features. We created a solution that helps businesses save time and money.”

KUKApp doesn’t require merchants on Shopify to have those skills or register an account with either app store. They can create an app in less than three hours, integrate it with their online store’s content management system and have it approved by Google or Apple within 24 hours.

“At the core of Shopify’s Ecosystem is our community of developers, who give merchants access to critical commerce technology,” said Shopify Director of Partnerships Fatima Yusuf. “We’re happy to welcome KUKApp to the Shopify App Store, bringing its insight and experience in no-code technology and mobile apps design to Shopify’s 1.7 million merchants.”

The integration with KUKAapp comes less than a month after Shopify unveiled several new updates to its platform, including a reduction in the revenue share to 0 percent for the first $1 million — down from 20 percent — a change that goes into effect Aug. 1.

The shopping platform also added new customization options that let merchants showcase brands in new ways, a feature called Payments Platform that lets merchants integrate third-party gateways into checkout. There are also new features called Hydrogen, which lets developers make custom storefronts, and Oxygen, the hosting platform for those storefronts.