Cloud-based accounting software company Xero launched its own app store Wednesday (Aug. 4), allowing small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers access to new apps to help them run their businesses.
“Our vision for the Xero App Store is to be the place where small businesses go to discover and buy apps that complement Xero, and the place to help developers grow their business,” said Xero CEO Steve Zamos. “Today’s milestone is exciting because better connecting Xero’s platform to external apps — whether it’s to manage inventory, receipts or their customer relationships — is a powerful enabler for small businesses looking to grow, manage their workflows or digitally transform their business.”
Beginning Wednesday, Xero app partners in Australia, United Kingdom and New Zealand will get access to new subscription and billing APIs that let them offer Xero customers the ability to trial, purchase and manage their app from the Xero App Store.
Xero pointed to its own research that showed firms in these three countries who used five or more business apps performed better than companies that used no apps.
They saw their sales rise by 4.3 percent last year, while the businesses who didn’t use apps saw sales fall by 3.4 percent. These businesses also saw job losses decline by 1.8 percent, while non-app firms experienced job losses of a little more than 5 percent last year.
Xero says its app store will let customers find the right Xero-connected app thanks to improved, machine learning powered search functions. There’s also a new app partner dashboard that offers analytics and insights to track customer conversion.
The app store arrives during a busy year for Xero. As reported in March, the company announced that it planned to purchase Planday, an employee scheduling platform used throughout Europe and the U.K.
Read more: Xero To Purchase Employee Scheduling Firm Planday
Three weeks later, the company announced plans to buy Tickstar, a Swedish eInvoicing tech business whose product would give Xero clients in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand quicker and safer transactions.
See also: Xero Plans To Buy eInvoicing Company Tickstar
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