Introduction
This is a partnership article that is sponsored by Wix.
In today's rapidly changing digital landscape, the concept of traditional employment is undergoing a significant shift.
As freelancing gains popularity and people seek alternative sources of income, there is a growing trend of individuals looking to monetize their skills.
Wix has created Wix App Market to bring new opportunities! It's a platform that encourages developers to showcase their talent and earn money from developing apps for Wix users, while also offering businesses to connect their services to Wix.
In this article, we will look at how the Wix App Market works, how to submit and price your applications, how you could leverage business solutions, and what types of apps are in demand by Wix users.
I also interviewed Billy Kovalsky, the Head of the Wix App Market, for insights on stats, monetization, growth tips, and plans related to the future.
What's Wix App Market?
The Wix App Market is a platform that hosts a huge collection of third-party applications for Wix users to enhance the functionality, appearance, and performance of their sites.
Some of the categories include contact forms, booking, analytics, marketing, customer support, e-commerce tools and so much more.
The installation apps do not require any coding knowledge and can be set up on Wix websites by just selecting the application and clicking 'Add to Site'.
Wix App Market receives a lot of traffic. B.Kovalsky reports that there were over 2.5 million app installs in 2022 alone.
How can developers submit their apps?
To create and submit an application for the Wix App Market, developers must first create a new account in Wix Dev Center.
Wix allows developers to reuse existing code and apps from other platforms.
For example, developers can use the Wix REST API to access JSON data from a third-party service and use it to populate content on a Wix website or app.
To use Wix APIs, site owners must explicitly grant you permission to collect this data when installing your app on their site or by providing an API key.
Another alternative is to build apps from scratch using Wix Blocks in a low-code environment. Blocks offer you all the tools you need to design professional widgets.
It comes with Editor X which provides powerful layout and design tools for customization to create responsive and precise widgets.
You can further customize the logic and interactivity of elements via Velo Code.
For example, you can trigger the behavior once specific events are detected for page elements like buttons, text, and inputs.
To support developers during the development and submitting process, Wix App Market offers a variety of materials that developers can use. According to B.Kovalsky:
"First of all, we offer robust documentation for APIs and a knowledge base. In addition, there is a support team in place to help developers during the development or before if they want to consult about their solution and check its validity."
"Also, at every point of the development, the developer has access (in the dev center) to all the issues blocking him from submitting the app in addition to recommendations to make the app better."
What are the ways to monetize them?
Wix App Market comes with four different pricing models you can choose to monetize your application: free, freemium, premium, and dynamic pricing.
The freemium model lets you offer basic features for free while keeping encouraging users to upgrade to access advanced features.
The premium model requires all of the app users to pay for it. You can still offer a free trial for a limited time, so users can test the app before making the decision.
If any of the previous pricing models do not fit, you can apply dynamic pricing where you are allowed to create customs plans, like pay-per-use or similar.
During the first year, the developer of the app receives 100% of the revenue, and after that 80%. There are no processing fees and payouts are done every month when the $200 threshold has been reached.
A couple of useful monetization tips from B.Kovalsky:
"As Wix is a global platform with ~40% of revenues out of non-NA, localizing your app can help you increase your conversion rate." Also, he suggests using "Wix billing APIs to keep a native and smooth checkout flow."
How you can leverage Wix business solutions?
WIX App Market can be equally important for larger business owners, as well. I've listed some opportunities on how you can leverage it for businesses:
Wix Stores: Integrate with Wix's full e-commerce platform to enable online selling, manage inventory, process payments, and track orders, ensuring that your customers have a pleasant online purchasing experience.
Wix Bookings: Connect with Wix's booking system to provide the ability to offer appointment scheduling, class registrations, and service bookings directly on their websites, complete with customizable calendars, notifications, and payment options.
Wix Events and Tickets: Integrate with Wix's event management system to allow business owners to easily create and promote events, sell tickets, manage RSVPs, and send event-related notifications.
Wix Blog: Integrate with Wix's blogging platform to allow website owners to create and manage blogs, publish articles, and engage with readers through features like comments, social sharing, and SEO optimization.
What are the benefits?
Wix has an audience of more than 248 million users, meaning your apps will have a massive user base for a higher reach. This will also give you an opportunity for branding promotion and increased exposure to your services.
Wix users are not restricted in their choice of website niche or business logic, which means there will always be new ideas for developers to build to improve the experience of building websites with Wix.
Wix provides its API, SPIs, and webhooks, making it easier for devs to integrate their solutions with Wix services. Those are actively being maintained and improved to provide developers with the best experience.
If you ever get stuck or need additional knowledge about the implementation, Wix has great docs and real-time support, where you can always reach out for help.
Ideas and what's in demand?
Wix is evolving rapidly and with it comes the demand for various apps in different niches. Here are some ideas about what Wix users are looking for:
E-commerce utilities: cross-border shipping, order management, advanced shipping rules, purchase order management, trust badges, shipping tracking systems, chargebacks management, shopper identity verification, and more.
Support and performance tools: SEO tools, shift management, chatbot builders, food delivery providers, food POS integrations, as well as service marketplaces like Tripadvisor, and Airbnb.
B.Kovalsky also mentions some additional niches:
"AI is trending right now, and I believe that image creation and editing tools (like changing product backgrounds, eliminating/adding elements to an image, etc) can work very well."
"In addition, integrating feeds and product catalogs with marketplaces such as Walmart, eBay and local ones like Kafland.de, Flipkart, Rakuten, and Mercado Libre can work great as we have users demanding that."
Advice for developers
Finally, I asked B.Kovalsky for his advice to aspiring developers who are new to the platform and looking to create apps through the Wix App Market:
"I suggest developers use the diversity of Wix by creating solutions that cater to different types of users/websites, so not only stores but also service providers using Wix Bookings, using Event or Restaurants."
"Second thing, once you are live, collect reviews from your customers, and ask them to review the app on happy moments so you could showcase your happy user voice."
When asked if there is a secret method to optimize their app listings on the Wix App Market for improved visibility and profitability, B.Kovalsky recommends "following the guidelines. Design good images and add a good intro video."
Related to the future plans, B.Kovalsky notes that "we are currently focused on adding more platform abilities for developers to allow deeper integrations."
Join the WIX Dev Center and start building today!
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