14,000 apps strong, Amazon Appstore head Rubenson brands discoverability and monetisation as store's cornerstones

Approaching the launch of its marketplace for Android, online retail giant Amazon thought hard about how to position its Appstore.

Google's own Android Market had long been branded too loose, stifled by clones and fragmentation. On the flip side, it was a welcome alternative to the controlling hand Apple had in its App Store.

Amazon's solution was to take the best elements of both and merge them together: the low priced and free apps commonplace on Android Market, sold via a platform where the company has the final say.

Free for all?

Indeed, the fact Amazon acts almost as a publisher on its own marketplace - still just available in the US - insisting studios adhere to strict pricing policies and hand the firm control over a game's selling price, that landed the firm in trouble with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

The association branded the policy as 'greedy' and a "threat to developers", with the firm effectively able to give away apps for free at will. According to Amazon Appstore director Aaron Rubenson, however, it's this approach that's drawing developers to the platform in the first place.

"When we looked at how we thought we could add value in this market segment, what we realised is that we are equal parts technology company and retailer," he explained to Venturebeat.

"And the fact that we are a retailer at our core makes us a little bit different because we know about marketing and merchandising and proactive promotion activities like we were just discussing.

"And so when we launched the store we did it in a way that’s a bit different, where we are actually the seller of the apps. And as part of that, that means that we are ultimately setting the sales price that the customers will pay for that app."

Slow and steady

Rubenson said the combination of flexible pricing and an app store that, though already 14,000 apps strong, has its rate of growth controlled means titles are more likely to get discovered on Amazon's marketplace.

"We certainly recognise that it's a different model, but we decided that it was the one that made the most sense for us so that we could do the best job of marketing developers' products effectively," he added.

"And I think if you look at the site today, what you find is that the vast majority of the products are simply priced at list price. And then you’ll also find some really exciting promotional offers for our customers. And in most cases we’re working very carefully with the developers to have marketing going on both sides."

In Rubenson's view, Amazon Appstore is perfectly positioned to tap into the customer's inclination to download only free apps – a factor many allege has long been a thorn in Android's side.

If manipulated correctly, however, Rubenson claimed said bargain hunters can prove to be the most fruitful kind of consumer.

"Many customers are predisposed to download free apps. That means the installed base of an app can become very large. Then you can offer this large base of users some things that they can directly purchase from inside the game. Or you can monetise the users through ads."

Those consumers are more likely to find those apps on Amazon's Appstore in the first place, Rubenson claimed, because Amazon works for developers to push each and every title on its books.

Unlike its rivals, it's in Amazon's interests that apps of all creeds do well.

"The way we like to operate is we build a whole account management team whose sole mission in life is to work with developers to get their products in front of the right customers," Rubenstein concluded.

"We can understand who their target customers are and come up with a great cooperative marketing campaign so that on day one when the product launches, we have great product pages, we have placements across Amazon.com and we can send targeted emails.

"All our systems are designed to help you as an individual customer find the products that are right for you. Apps are a similar challenge to our other product categories and that’s why we were interested in launching in this space."

[source: VentureBeat]