Shopify app development MVP for Kissmetric

First Glance

Kissmetrics provides advanced product and marketing analytics for SaaS and ecommerce. The platform uses your business data to help you make better product and marketing decisions.

The Challenge

Kissmetrics wanted a custom Shopify app to integrate a merchant’s Shopify store data directly with the Kissmetrics API. The desire was to have the app transmit analytics data to Kissmetrics via a real-time recurring push system. The app should also provide historical store data transmission upon installation. Kissmetrics has an existing REST API and needed an experienced integration and ecommerce expert to create a Shopify solution.

The Solution

In 2018 Kissmetrics approached Sunrise Integration to develop a custom Shopify solution. The first step was a thorough discovery process to determine their needs and goals. Then we compared that to their competitors’ offerings. Using the knowledge and insights we gained during this process, we were able to determine what was needed for their Shopify app. The discovery process also consisted of a platform review to see what was doable using their existing API. The final app requirements were outlined by the team:

• Embedded ScriptTag to send analytical data

• Historical data sync to capture existing data

• Recurring service with webhooks to maintain data

• Communication with the Kissmetric API

The key development consisted of custom JavaScript that was included into stores via the Shopify ScriptTag resource. A ScriptTag resource is remote JavaScript code that is loaded into the shop to add functionality to the theme. The JavaScript was hosted externally via an AWS S3 bucket and executed within Shopify. The code was used to track customer activity throughout the site and securely communicate the data to the merchant's Kissmetrics account.

The Outcome

The Shopify app was completed in 2018 and released to the app store. Merchants were then able to easily sync their store data with the Kissmetrics platform. With this connection, shop owners gained insight to the checkout funnel, customer activity, and revenue details.