FAQ about public applications

Q: What types of apps can I build for the App Market?

A: You can develop apps that help merchants to become visible online and seamlessly move between online and offline sales channels. These can be apps for marketing, store design, inventory management, shipping, analytics, customer service, and more.

Q: Are there any types of apps that are not allowed to be exposed in the App Market?

A: The following apps will not be accepted in the App Market (this list is not exhaustive, and we may reject other types of apps as well):

• Payment apps that are not authorized by Lightspeed

• Apps that provide integration with a third-party POS

• Apps that offer or promote capital funding

• Apps whose primary function is not related to the main business purpose of the product

• Apps whose main purpose is to advertise third-party products or services without improving the customer experience

• Apps that make little or no use of Ecwid APIs

• Apps that implement deceive practices towards merchants or buyers

• Apps whose primary function is to collect merchant and buyer data and share it with third parties

• Multiple apps with similar functionality created by the same Partner

Q: What is the target audience for apps on your platform?

A: Our ideal customer profile includes omni-channel merchants typically operating between 1-150 locations in verticals like home & garden, sports & leisure, jewelry & watches, apparel & footwear, vape & smoke, wine & liquor, health & beauty, and pet products. These businesses typically manage thousands of SKUs, have a strong physical presence, and are also committed to increasing online visibility and outshine local competitors.

Q: Can I develop a custom app for a specific store and then make it public?

A: As long as it doesn't violate your agreements with the store owner, you can publish an app that was previously developed for a specific store. An app must follow a standard publication path from submission to its review. To understand the difference between the types of apps, please refer to the article Private and public Ecwid apps.

Q: How long does it take to review an app submission request?

A: Typically, the review of an app submission request takes 1-2 business days. Submit your app idea

Q: What do I need to have before onboarding and launching my app?

A: You should possess comprehensive skills to create a fully functional and stable app. Additionally, you need to be an individual entrepreneur or represent a legal entity such as a company, and have a PayPal or bank account available to receive USD transfers.

Q: Do you provide sandbox or test environments?

A: We provide a developer with a paid subscription account in a test store for development and testing purposes.

Q: Is there a cost associated with listing an app on the App Market?

A: Listing an app is free, but a developer should sign a partner contract which includes a revenue-sharing model based on app sales or subscription fees.

Q: How do developers earn revenue from apps?

A: Developers can monetize apps through recurring subscriptions or usage-based fees. More information can be found in the documentation - Monetize public apps.

Q: Can I use my own billing system to monetize an app?

A: We encourage developers to use Ecwid billing system. For apps whose monetization scheme is supported by Ecwid this is a mandatory requirement. We're constantly working on improving the billing system. If your monetization scheme isn't currently supported by it, you can use your own, but if your case is covered in the future, we will ask you to migrate to Ecwid billing system.

Q: Where can I review the partner agreement?

A: It will be shared as soon as a developer starts working on their first app.

Q: I want to make sure my app won't have competition with other developers' apps or platform functionality.

A: App Market is a competitive platform where anyone can publish an app by going from submission to release and fulfilling the necessary obligations. We never guarantee that an app's functionality will not be replicated by other developers or that the platform will not receive an update that includes similar functionality.

Q: How do I receive technical support during app development?

A: We offer comprehensive documentation and dedicated technical support channels for developer inquiries.

Q: How can I update my app after it’s published?

A: You can update apps anytime, though changes require approval by our team.

Q: What happens if my app experiences downtime or performance issues?

A: You are expected to monitor and maintain high availability, as downtime can negatively impact a merchant's business. Repeated user complaints about app unavailability or malfunction may be a reason to delist the app.

Q: Is there an API rate limit or throttling in place?

A: Yes, there are API rate limits in place to ensure stable performance. Detailed information is available in our developer documentation - Rate limits.

Q: Do you support multilingual apps?

A: The API provides a developer with information about the store's language settings, which can be used to create multi-language apps, allowing you to effectively reach a global audience.

Q: Are there restrictions on the countries or regions where my app can be available?

A: Generally, your app can be available globally unless you specify otherwise, though certain regional restrictions may apply due to regulatory compliance.