vs. HipChat
Slack
Ease of use + integrations
- What it did
- Onboarding polished through a 2013 preview with friendly teams
- HipChat
- Launched in 2010 before the feature set was complete
App Marketplace
What is an App Marketplace?
An app marketplace is a public store inside a software product where outside developers sell add-ons that extend it, and customers install the ones they need. Shopify's App Store, Salesforce's AppExchange and the Atlassian Marketplace are well-known examples. It counts as a strategy when customers actually use the apps.
Also calledapp storeextension marketplaceadd-on marketplace
How App Marketplace works
No company can build every feature every customer wants. A marketplace lets third parties fill those gaps, so the core product fits more kinds of customers without the company writing the code. Each installed app also ties the product more closely to how the customer works, which makes it harder to leave. Atlassian opened its Marketplace in 2012 with 60 apps. By June 2016 it listed more than 2,000 add-ons, and partners had received $120 million of $150 million in purchases. Salesforce's AppExchange, launched in 2005, passed 2,000 apps and 2 million installs by 2013.
A marketplace needs developers who can make money and customers who actually install their work.
Core productsJira and Confluence
Marketplace opens60 third-party apps at launch, 2012
Developers fill gaps2,000+ add-ons by June 2016
Partners get paid$120M of $150M purchases to partners
How companies won with App Marketplace
From the win chains in Strategy Canon case studies: what the winner did, and what its rival did at the same step.
vs. BigCommerce
Shopify
Platform: API, App Store, Theme Store
- What it did
- API and App Store instead of building everything in (2009)
- BigCommerce
- API by 2010 but little used; theme marketplace only in 2019
vs. Freshworks · 2012–21
Zendesk
Channels and apps joined in one ticket workflow
- What it did
- 120+ pre-built integrations from an app marketplace and Zopim chat bought (2014)
- Freshworks
- Freshchat and Freshcaller built as separate products, then a conversational Customer Service Suite in August 2023
vs. Siebel Systems · 2003–13
Salesforce
Customization on the shared core becomes a platform others build on
- What it did
- Customers asked first for integration, then to change tabs and fields
- Siebel Systems
- Oracle bought Siebel (2005) and sold several CRMs at once ('which CRM?')
App Marketplace vs. Platform Strategy and Platformization
| What it is | How to tell it apart | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| App Marketplace | A public store where third parties sell add-ons, with measured customer adoption | Outside developers build the apps and customers install them | Atlassian Marketplace: 2,000+ add-ons by 2016 |
| Platform Strategy | The decision to let other businesses build on the company's foundation | It's the strategic choice; the marketplace is the product surface | Windows applications built by outside developers |
| Platformization | Adding the company's own new products on the same installed base | First-party modules, no third parties involved | CrowdStrike modules on one installed sensor |
How to tell if a company has it
- A public app store or marketplaceA store where outside developers list complements, beyond an API or a page of integrations.
- Apps built mostly by third partiesMost listings come from independent developers, with few from the company itself.
- Measured adoptionAn app count plus installs, the share of customers using apps, partner revenue or usage figures.
- A dated launchWhen the marketplace opened, so adoption can be tracked against it.
Who names it
| Author | What they call it / where it appears |
|---|---|
| Thompson | Platforms facilitate; the Bill Gates line |