5 Ways Amazon can Help You Sell Your Apps on Amazon Appstore, Fast
For one reason, we can say that Google Play is better than Amazon Appstore because the first has over 1.3 millions apps while the latter only has around 240,000 (data as of Q4 2014). I’d been reading a lot of comparisons about these app stores and it seems that Google Play, having been released 3 years earlier than Amazon Appstore, is really winning in many aspects. While the race for supremacy is still on and the two tech giants keep on firing new updates every now and then, app developers also have hundreds of reasons to either jump on the bandwagons or to just pick the cab of their choice.
I’m a big fan of ecommerce sites like Amazon because clearly, on selling is where the money is. Google has been very good in developing business productivity applications and for that, I also admire this company.
In this post, I am not going to compare these two companies. What I would like to do is to feed app developers with up-to-date information on how can they sell their apps on Amazon Appstore. Why? So that if they feel like publishing with Google Play too, then this post can serve as their reference guide. How? That is, they can compare both app stores in terms of tools and resources they provide to developers for growing their app business.
Developers, here are the five ways Amazon can help you sell your apps - fast.
1. Developers Tools
Amazon provides four tools or services that can help you build the app that you want. These are the Amazon Mobile App SDK, App Testing Service, Live App Testing, and Android Studio IDE.
Amazon Mobile App SDK is consisting of in-app purchasing, mobile ads, mobile associates (for monetization APIs), device messaging, GameCircle, Login with Amazon (for engagement APIs), Maps API v2, Amazon Cloud Drive (for experience APIs), and A/B Testing (Beta), MDM (for testing and management APIs).
With Android Studio, you can install optional Fire Phone or Fire Tablets SDK add-ons. Android Gradle plug-in and Eclipse IDE are also available for your development needs.
Live App Testing allows pre-defined users or testers to test-drive your apps in the actual production environment. Their feedback will then help your fix issues (if any) or further improve the overall performance of your app.
App Testing Service is a web-based testing platform that can help you identify any compatibility issue between your app and the Android, Kindle Fire or Fire phone device. With APK file, you can instantly test your app at Amazon Developer Portal’s home page.
2. Platforms
Amazon welcomes developers of various expertises. Whether you develop apps for Android, Mac & PC or iOS devices or you’re after HTML5 and web app development, Amazon has the solutions to provide.
3. Free App of the Day
What Amazon wants is to intensify user engagement by offering them a free app on a daily basis. It is actually a paid app that will only become free during the promotional period you and Amazon have agreed upon. This program can help your app gain more exposure through different Amazon marketing channels.
Amazon also offers free and paid marketing programs that help drive traffic, and then downloads of your apps.
4. Twitch
Why Twitch.tv can help you in promoting your apps? Maybe not today but I guess it will in the near future. Amazon acquired Twitch just a couple of months ago. Twitch works well with Fire TV and Fire Phone. Right now, this is the most obvious connection between Amazon and Twitch. But I bet and your apps can be easily propagated to this video platform anytime soon. If that happens, expect more sales of your apps.
5. Amazon.com
Amazon Appstore for Android is a subsidiary of Amazon.com. This only means that your apps will be visible to millions of shoppers worldwide. Note that Google Play has no ecommerce site. Amazon’s pride – the Fire Phone, Fire Tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo – will be the best marketing channels that can help you reach your target customers fast.
It can be a good deal if you choose to partner with Amazon. Amazon’s developer portal is just a couple of clicks away – and so is Google Play. Now you decide.
