In August, Xero launched its new App Store, where small businesses go to discover and buy Xero connected apps, and app developers go to grow their business. Nick Houldsworth, EGM of Ecosystem, shares with XU Magazine what it’s all about.
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Nick Houldsworth, Exec GM Ecosystem, Xero
ur vision is to become the most insightful and trusted small business platform, and we’re on a mission to get more apps in the hands of small businesses. Why? Because we know they support increased revenue and resilience. In fact, Xero’s report, The Job Ahead: Small businesses and the global economic recovery, revealed firms in Australia, New Zealand and the UK with five or more apps grew their sales by 4.3% in the year to December 2020, while those without apps saw a decline of 3.4%. Yet, a lot of small businesses still aren’t making the most of apps. For many, the choice can be overwhelming, while others don’t know what’s available, or lack the time to find out. The Xero App Store aims to solve this challenge by making it easier for small businesses and their advisors to discover, choose and buy the right apps to run their businesses. What’s new? We’ve made a number of changes
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to the design layout of the storefront to make it easier to navigate and find the right apps to solve your business’ unique challenges. But it’s what’s under the hood that is much more exciting. Find the right Xero connected app, when you need it With improved search capabilities and personalised recommendations, powered by machine learning, the new Xero App Store uses insights to surface the right apps for you, based upon your industry and unique profile. This also benefits our app partner community by better ‘matchmaking’: connecting their apps to the right clients.
Choose the right app through enhanced app reviews and greater insights New, more detailed and relevant app reviews are now front-andcentre to help small businesses
decide on the right app for them. Sophisticated analytics have been introduced to support app developers to improve their offerings. Buy the right app through a new Xero App Store Subscriptions offering The new Xero App Store makes it possible to start a trial and securely purchase apps in just a few clicks, all using your single Xero login. And to make life even easier, you can manage all of those subscriptions in one place. This particular functionality is now available for our app partners to start using and offering to their customers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and we already have some early adopters taking it up. Over time, we expect more and more of our app partners offering this functionality and as we make it available in other markets.
XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users.
