Your business has a powerful, fully customized website on the KIBO platform, and now you want to launch a mobile app.
You're probably assuming that means hiring a development team, rebuilding your storefront in Swift and Kotlin, and wiring up every API endpoint that powers your commerce experience - a project that takes six months minimum, costs six figures, and creates a second codebase you'll need to maintain forever.
It doesn't have to work that way. This guide walks you through how to launch a native iOS and Android app for your KIBO Commerce store, without rebuilding your stack, without a second codebase, and without the timeline or budget you're expecting.
Can You Build a Mobile App with KIBO Commerce?
KIBO is an API-first, composable commerce platform.
It handles the backend beautifully: catalog, pricing, inventory, order management, fulfillment orchestration. But it doesn't ship with a mobile app builder, and there's no ecosystem of third-party app builder tools built specifically for KIBO.
That's not a gap in the platform. KIBO was designed to power commerce operations, not to be a mobile app development environment.
But it does mean that if you want a native app for your KIBO storefront, you need to look beyond the platform itself.
What KIBO Does Offer for Mobile
KIBO's headless architecture gives you flexibility on the front-end.
Most KIBO merchants run responsive web storefronts, often built with React, that work well on mobile browsers. KIBO also provides API endpoints across cart, checkout, catalog, and inventory that a development team could use to build a mobile app from scratch.
Some KIBO storefronts may support "add to home screen" as a progressive web app. But PWA installation isn't intuitive for most shoppers, and very few customers actually go through the steps to pin a website to their home screen.
It doesn't give you push notifications, App Store presence, or the real native experience that drives repeat engagement.
The Bottom Line
KIBO doesn't have a built-in way to create mobile apps, and there's no real ecosystem of third-party app builders for it.
The traditional path has been custom development. But there's a faster, more practical option that most KIBO merchants don't know about.
Your Options for Launching a Mobile App
If you're running on KIBO and want a mobile app, you're realistically looking at two paths.
Custom Native or Cross-Platform Development
This is the traditional route. You hire a development team (in-house or agency) to build iOS and Android apps from the ground up.
They'll connect your apps to KIBO's APIs, rebuild your storefront UI in native code or a cross-platform framework like React Native or Flutter, and re-implement your checkout, catalog browsing, account management, and everything else your website already does.
For a KIBO-powered storefront, expect an initial build cost of $150,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on complexity.
Multi-site setups, B2B catalog logic, complex fulfillment options like BOPIS and curbside, and personalization rules all add scope. Then there's ongoing maintenance: OS updates, app store policy changes, bug fixes, feature parity with your website.
Budget another $50,000 to $150,000 per year just to keep it running.
The timeline is typically 6 to 12 months for the initial launch. And the most likely outcome? Your app ships behind your website on day one, and the gap only widens.
Every time your web team ships a new feature, your app team needs to rebuild it separately. Eventually, the app falls behind, and customers notice.
Custom development makes sense if your app needs to do things your website fundamentally can't, like hardware integrations, complex offline workflows, or a completely different user experience.
But if you want your commerce experience delivered as a native app? There's a much more efficient path.
Converting Your KIBO Storefront Into a Native App
Instead of rebuilding what you've already built, you can take your existing KIBO storefront and deliver it as a native mobile app with MobiLoud.
The concept is straightforward: your website IS the app.
Your storefront, with all its customizations, integrations, catalog logic, checkout flow, and fulfillment options, gets delivered inside a native iOS and Android app.
You get push notifications, App Store and Google Play presence, native navigation, and the performance your customers expect from a real app.
The cost is a fraction of custom development. The timeline is weeks, not months. And because the app runs your actual storefront, there's no second codebase to maintain.
Why MobiLoud Is the Best Way for KIBO Commerce Stores to Launch an App
Building a custom app for a KIBO Commerce store means reverse-engineering everything your web team has already built and re-implementing it in native code.
MobiLoud skips that entirely. Your KIBO storefront becomes the app, and everything you've invested in carries over.
Your Entire Commerce Stack Carries Over
Your KIBO-powered catalog with all its pricing rules, promotions, and product variants? It's in the app.
Your order management logic, whether that's ship-from-store, BOPIS, curbside pickup, or marketplace fulfillment? All there.
Your checkout flow, your personalization, your search, your account management. None of it needs to be rebuilt.
If you're running a custom React front-end on top of KIBO's APIs, that carries over too. Whatever your storefront does today, that's what the app does.
Multi-Site and B2B Complexity Just Works
Many KIBO merchants run multiple storefronts, whether that's different brands, different regions, or separate B2B and B2C experiences. With a custom app build, each site variation adds scope, cost, and timeline.
With MobiLoud, if your responsive storefront handles multi-site logic, the app handles it too. Localized pricing, region-specific catalogs, B2B account portals with custom pricing tiers. It all comes through because the app is rendering your actual storefront.
Push Notifications That Reach Your Best Customers
A native app gives you a direct line to your most valuable customers. These are shoppers who cared enough to download your app, and they're far more likely to engage, convert, and buy again.
Native push notifications deliver reliably (95%+ delivery rates, compared to roughly a third for web push), support deep linking directly into product pages or promotions, and land inside your app where the full shopping experience is waiting.
For KIBO merchants running complex promotions and fulfillment programs, push is how you drive repeat purchases without competing in crowded email inboxes.
No Second Codebase to Maintain
This is where custom app projects become seriously expensive.
Your web team ships a new feature. Your app team needs to rebuild it. Your web team updates the checkout flow. Your app team needs to match it.
Two roadmaps, two QA cycles, two sets of bugs to track.
With MobiLoud, your web team maintains your KIBO storefront, and every update, every new feature, every design change is automatically reflected in the app.
One team, one codebase, zero drift.
Fully Managed, From Build to App Store
MobiLoud isn't a tool you log into and figure out yourself. It's a done-for-you service. The MobiLoud team handles the app build, App Store and Google Play submission, compliance requirements, OS updates, and ongoing maintenance.
Your team can focus on your commerce operations, not on becoming mobile app experts.
For KIBO merchants who are already managing a sophisticated commerce stack, this matters.
You don't need another platform to learn or another vendor relationship to manage day-to-day. MobiLoud handles the app so your team can focus on what they're already good at.
Launch in Weeks, Not Months
A custom app for a KIBO Commerce store is a 6 to 12 month project, assuming it stays on track. With MobiLoud, most apps are live within about four weeks.
That's not a stripped-down MVP. That's your full storefront, with push notifications, native navigation, and App Store presence, ready for customers to download.
How It Works
1. Get a Free Preview
Book a consultation with us and share your website URL. MobiLoud's team puts together an interactive preview so you can see exactly what your KIBO storefront looks like as a native app before committing to anything.
2. App Build
Once you give the green light, MobiLoud builds your iOS and Android apps. That includes native navigation, push notifications, your app icon and splash screen, deep linking, and any platform-specific configurations your store needs.
3. Testing and QA
MobiLoud runs comprehensive testing across iOS and Android devices. You test on your own devices, walk through your key user flows, and provide feedback. The team iterates until everything works the way you expect.
4. App Store Submission
MobiLoud handles Apple App Store and Google Play submission, including all compliance requirements, metadata, screenshots, and descriptions. No guesswork on your end.
5. Launch and Ongoing Support
Your app goes live. From there, MobiLoud handles OS updates, app store policy changes, maintenance, and support. You keep doing what you do best: running your commerce operation on KIBO.
Next Steps
You've already built a commerce operation that handles real complexity: multi-site catalogs, sophisticated fulfillment logic, B2B and B2C under one roof. Your KIBO storefront works. It converts. It handles edge cases that simpler platforms can't touch.
A native mobile app puts that same experience in your customers' pockets, with push notifications, App Store presence, and the native feel that drives repeat purchases and higher lifetime value.
MobiLoud is the fastest, most practical way to make it happen. The cost is a fraction of custom development. You launch in weeks, not months. And your team doesn't need to learn a single new tool.
Curious what your KIBO store would look like as a native app? Book a free strategy call to talk through your setup and see if it's the right fit.
