Dive Brief:

• Shopify is experimenting with a keyboard for the Apple iOS that will help retailers serve their customers via text. 
• The Shopkey SMS system will help merchants search their catalogs in order to send links to customers via any messaging app. 
• Based in Canada, Shopify currently assists more than 243,000 retailers with social and e-commerce initiatives. 

Dive Insight:

E-commerce facilitator Shopify has come up with a novel business-to-business app that promises to help retailers converse with customers one-to-one via text. With more people shopping via mobile than ever before, the system promises to help offer a more personalized or curated experience via SMS.

The Shopkey keyboard app for Apple’s iOS allows marketers to access a product catalog and forward links and photos directly to customers through any messaging app, including Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. Merchants can also post to social media sites using the app.

Shopify’s 243,000 customers are looking for ways to get customers to click through via mobile, and the Shopkey app does just that, directing customers to online stores optimized for mobile checkout. And while shoppers aren’t yet clamoring for personalized sales pitches, they are shopping via mobile. M-commerce jumped 47% during the holidays, according to comScore.