A question about Kit

[Amaisd]

Is there ANYONE that can give me a LEGITIMATE answer and response to the app "Kit" that used to be a great app. It doesn't exist in the Shopify app market anymore but can it still be used on our Shopify sites and where can I find info that can help us. Shopify I'm assuming bought out the app but WHY???? To kill the app??? Why would they take away a great app and not have something compatible to replace it? Facebook ads can be complicated for new folks. Kit was our saving grace. THEN...Shopify comes along and screws that up for us! What's next?

[Ivy]

Hi there @Amaisd! Ivy here from Shopify.

You are correct that Shopify did make the decision to sunset our Kit App recently, and I do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Kit has been one of our own in-house Shopify apps, one which we offered support for directly. Any merchants who have been actively using Kit over the previous 60 days were sent out an email on March 16th regarding setting up SMS support for Kit - did you receive this email? Would you mind confirming with me please which country you are located in?

The decision to sunset the Kit app was made because Shopify is focusing on other ways to help merchants grow their business through messaging and chat. As the Marketing section and Shopify Email have evolved, our merchants can now find most of Kit’s marketing capabilities there. I have this quick guide on where to find what resource:

• Retargeting ads = use Facebook Sales Channel (admin/marketing)
• Facebook = use Facebook Sales Channel (admin/marketing)
• Email marketing = Shopify Email (admin/marketing)
• Business reports = Analytics section (admin/reports)
• Discount codes = Discounts section (admin/discounts)

I can definitely relate that Facebook ads can feel overwhelming at first! I have some really useful resources to share which may be useful for you. We have this full, free of charge online course given via our learning hub Shopify Compass: Facebook Ads for Beginners: Retention and Loyalty. I hope this helps. If there is anything I can help or advise you on please do let me know as I'd love to help you through this transition! Is there something in particular you feel worried about? Looking forward to hearing from you soon. 

[Lokah_Luv]

@Ivy kit was an assistant.  Nothing replaces it.  Kit allowed us to ask for reports and ask for help setting up ads, send personal thank you messages (not automated ones) and gave us a huge relief for not having to constantly go into admin and try to remember which app does what.  Shopify took away the one app that saved small business owners time.  I don’t think Shopify realized the value kit had for the stores who used it.  Possibly Shopify should have done a better job marketing it to get more stores using it.   It was the best part of Shopify and now it’s gone. 

[Ivy]

Thanks so much for this feedback, @Lokah_Luv. I can definitely appreciate that the alternatives I mentioned are not exactly the same thing. I will be passing your thoughts about this onto our development team. Any changes made to our platform are done based on feedback from you, our merchants. While I cannot guarantee the change you are hoping for will 100% definitely happen, the more "votes" we get for a certain change then the more likely it is to happen. You can keep an eye on what feedback has been actioned into updates via our changelog at:  https://changelog.shopify.com/

Thanks so much again for this valuable insight! 

[hacketyapps]

If you're looking to send personalised thank you emails on the 1st and 2nd purchases, SMS integration to come soon too, you can look at Engagely