We’ve all heard of premium, freemium and ad-supported monetization models, but is that really all there is? No, there are more ways to monetize your app than just those three choices. Is your app using all of the available monetization mechanics? In this presentation, Amazon reviews additional ways you can monetize your app both inside and outside of the app itself. You can even monetize your app when your app isn’t even open.

1. MIKE HINES
D E V E L O P E R E V A N G E L I S T , A M A Z O N A P P S T O R E
@MikeFHines linkedin.com/in/MikeHines45
IS THIS ALL THERE IS?
W HAT'S NEW IN MONETIZ ATION

2. A B O U T
Mike Hin e s
Amazon Appstore
@MikeFHines
Founder @ 2 Financial Services Startups
Founder @ 2 Software Startups
QA Engineer @ Now Software
QA Manager, Product Manager @ Microsoft
Evangelist @ Amazon.com
Mentor @ GameFounders, Dev Bootcamp
Games Judge @Casual Connect Indie Prize, White
Nights, and Pocket Gamer Very Big Indie Pitch
Speaker @ GDC, GDCE, Casual Connect, Pocket
Gamer Connects, AnDevCon, White Nights, CES,
PAX Dev

3. I N S I G H T S
Android
Devs
iOS devs Amazon
Fire OS
41%
48%
60%
%DevelopersabovePovertyLine
G E T D E V E L O P E R S E A R N I N G M O R E
An app must make more than
$500 per month if it is to fund
future app development and
marketing.
$500 per month is the app
poverty line.

4. T H E R E I S R O O M F O R I M P R O V E M E N T
M A N Y M O N E T I Z AT I O N O P T I O N S , B U T …
Premium
In-App Purchase
Ads
• Cost of $3.15 and $1.80 per download for iOS
and Google Play respectively in the US often
eclipses user lifetime value (LTV)1
• Free apps attract more users that premium
apps
1 Chartboost: https://www.chartboost.com/insights/2016

5. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E

6. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S

7. AMAZON COINS

8. A M A Z O N C O I N S
Purchase Apps, Games, and In-App Items
Buy Amazon Coins and save up to 15% on apps,
games, and in-app items.
Developer continue to earn the standard 70%
revenue share
£1 = 100 Amazon Coins
Unique Promotion, Reward and Gifting
Opportunities for developers to use

9. A M A Z O N C O I N S
F O R C U S T O M E R S
“If you own an Android device, this is
the only way to go!
I play GoW Fire Age and have saved
quite a bit buying gold packs with
Amazon Coins.
Amazon makes buying coins easy!”

10. 263k viewers
10MM min watched
65.9 min per unique
Highest single day rev
A M A Z O N C O I N S : P R O M O T I O N S

11. A M A Z O N C O I N S : C A M PA I G N C O N S O L E

12. Configure Coins campaigns to give coins
back to customers who purchase items
from Amazon!
Incent purchase of specific items.
A M A Z O N C O I N S : C A M PA I G N C O N S O L E

13. U.S. data from App Annie and internal sales data
THE EFFECT ON POWER USERS

14. T A R G E T P O W E R U S E R S
• Create a Coins Rewards Campaign
to target your power users.
• Promote the campaign in social
media.
• Promote the campaign on your
YouTube and Twitch channels.
A M A Z O N C O I N S

15. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E

16. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E

17. MERCH BY AMAZON

19. T-shirts? Really?

20. W H Y S E L L T - S H I R T S
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
• I know I need to do
marketing...
• ...but I’m not an eRetailer or
t-shirt designer!

21. W H A T T - S H I R T S D O
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
• Establish your brand
• Increase word of mouth marketing
• Improve retention and engagement
• Generate additional revenue

22. E S T A B L I S H Y O U R B R A N D
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
• If people are willing to wear it, it’s
real
• It connects a digital ‘Virtual’ brand
with real live people
Brand
A collection of…
• Relationships
• Memories
• Stories
• Expectations
…that impact a customer’s
decision to buy.

23. I N C R E A S E W O R D O F M O U T H A D V E RT I S I N G
WORN T-SHIRTS =
ENDORSEMENTS
CLEVER SHIRTS START
CONVERSATIONS
WITH YOUR BEST
ADVOCATES
Influencers Mainstream
Willingness to adopt
#ofpeople

24. R E T E N T I O N A N D
E N G A G E M E N T
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O M
• Commemorate memorable
events
• Pride in association with a
clan or team
• Increases emotional and
financial investment
“More mature
industries have been
using t-shirts for
decades.”

25. E A R N A D D I T I O N A L R E V E N U E
MANY FREE TO PLAY DEVS CLASSIFY
THEIR PLAYERS AS WILLING TO PAY
OR NOT WILLING TO PAY.
WHAT WE'VE FOUND IS SOME FOLKS
WHO DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR
DIGITAL GOODS ARE FINE PAYING FOR
A SHIRT.
B r y a n M a s h i n t e r
B a c k f l i p S t u d i o s

27. Sell branded merchandise
in your iOS, Android,
and Fire OS apps No inventory risk
No upfront costs
Amazon Prime shipping
benefits for customers

28. List price $19.99
- Amazon listing fee (sale price* 15%) $3.00
- Amazon costs $9.31
= Royalty $7.68
Your share of sale price 38.42%

29. P R O M O T E S H I R T S I N - G A M E
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
• Platform independent
• Android
• iOS
• Online
• Shirts may appeal to fans
who don’t buy IAP items
• No out-of-pocket cost to you
80% of orders come from in-
game promotions.
20% of orders happen outside
of your app!

30. B U I L D A G O O D S H I R T
M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
• Pick art identifiable with your game
• Pick 3 (maybe 4) shirt colors
• Strongly consider $19.99 for price
• Ask fans what they want
• Start promoting your shirt outside of
your game (email, social media,
etc…)
Just because lots of shirt
colors are available doesn’t
mean you need to use them
all!

31. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E

32. A M A Z O N C O I N S M E R C H B Y A M A Z O N
R E A C H A M A Z O N
C U S T O M E R S
MORE WAYS TO MONETIZ E

33. REACH
AMAZON
CUSTOMERS

34. Aug-14 Oct-14 Dec-14 Feb-15 Apr-15 Jun-15 Aug-15 Oct-15 Dec-15 Feb-16 Apr-16 Jun-16 Aug-16
M I L L I O N S O F C U S TO M E R S
R A P I D M O N T H O N M O N T H G R O W T H
UK AMAZON APPSTORE CUSTOMER [CUMULATIVE]

35. R E A C H A M A Z O N C U S TO M E R S
AMAZON FIRE TVAMAZON UNDERGROUNDAMAZON COINS MERCH BY AMAZON

36. THANK YOU!
Mike Hines
@MikeFHines
@AmazonAppDev
developer.amazon.com/appstore bit.ly/AmazonSummitFeedback