Kik Launches a 'Bot Shop,' Because Bot Shops Are the New App Stores

Waterloo-based messaging app Kik has launched a "bot shop" that will function a bit like Apple's App Store, only for chat bots. The Kik bot shop with exist as a special section in Kik's app. There, users can begin chatting with bot created by 16 partners, including Vine, Sephora, H&M and The Weather Channel. Prior to launching this new feature, Kik had dabbled with bots created by the likes of Vice Media and MTV, but Kik's 275 million registered users could only find the bots if Kik promoted them. So rather than switch from the Kik app, where users spend an average of 97 minutes per week, to a dedicated weather app, you ask the weather bot if it's still raining.