Weebly Unveils New Features For Mobile App

In an update to its standalone product, Weebly unveiled multiple eCommerce features for its mobile app. The rollout comes as Weebly seeks to make the mobile phone a “new back office,” according to reports.

“This is what our customers were requesting,” Weebly CEO David Rusenko told a reporter. “People are taking their entrepreneurial lifestyle and having the freedom to work on things wherever they are.”

With the new features on mobile, users reply to customer queries through Facebook Messenger, make branded coupon codes, print labels and give approval to customer reviews. The aim is to have people consider Weebly as a tool beyond a website builder and “as an eCommerce platform,” according to Rusenko.

At the same time, Weebly has seen a marked increase in its platform beyond the desktop: Mobile usage jumped by 75 percent in the past year for order management, while the platform saw a 120 percent rise for product listing management.

The news comes as Square announced in April that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Weebly. Square was to pay with a combination of cash and stock of approximately $365 million, which includes Square restricted stock units for Weebly’s founders and employees that are said to vest over four years after closing.

“Square and Weebly share a passion for empowering and celebrating entrepreneurs,” Square CEO Jack Dorsey said in April. “Square began its journey with in-person solutions, while Weebly began its journey online. Since then, we’ve both been building services to bridge these channels, and we can go even further and faster together.”

Square and Weebly were to provide sellers with an integrated suite of services that will enable them to carry out tasks such as engaging with customers, managing orders, growing sales and making informed business decisions. Weebly has millions of customers and more than 625,000 paid subscribers, it was reported in April, and nearly 40 percent of the paid subscribers are outside the U.S.