- Amazon will launch the app store slowly to sellers starting next week. But some developers have confirmed that the store has already soft-launched.
- Amazon meets the definition of a marketplace in the traditional consumer product sense as well as a portal for services and software.
Amazon will launch a new app store for third-party marketplace sellers, to house the burgeoning suite of software apps that sellers are already using to manage their Amazon sales channel.
Amazon will launch the app store slowly to sellers starting next week. But some developers have confirmed that the store has already soft-launched. The invite-only store will include tools that help merchants to automate tasks and provide more advanced reporting and analysis compared to Amazon’s native seller platform.
One such tool that has already launched in the store is Teikametrics, a ‘retail optimization platform’ that helps sellers to increase profitability on Amazon through automating actions like repricing, inventory forecasting, and optimizing ad campaigns. Teikametrics Founder and CEO Alasdair McLean-Foreman says that with the launch of the marketplace, Amazon is recognizing that providing more tools for its third-party sellers will make them more successful.
And the store could be an important new channel for developers to reach new users. “The app store will allow us to validate our value proposition and get in front of millions of other sellers. Software developers like Teikametrics will be pushed to develop more valuable apps to help sellers in the ecosystem and we’ll see more innovation,” says McLean-Foreman.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
If the app store is anything like Amazon’s existing Solution Provider Network portal that aggregates services for merchants, the vetting requirements for software developers will be fairly strict. Having gone through the application for this program for my own agency, I can confirm that Amazon really does their homework on any provider listed on such portals – even if the endorsement is only implicit.
News of the new app store comes right off the back of new research suggesting that revenues from online marketplaces will more than double in revenue by 2022. In its new estimates, Coresight Research defines marketplaces as portals which “serve demand among consumers for resale and rental of products, as well as for finding and booking services.” As such, Coresight sees revenues from marketplaces increasing from $18.7 billion in 2017 to $40.1 billion in 2022.
Amazon meets the definition of a marketplace in the traditional consumer product sense as well as a portal for services and software. Its services for consumers now include appliance installation, home cleaning, and most recently, consulting on the smart home ecosystem. This software app marketplace is another bow in Amazon’s marketplace quiver, although they are not yet charging developers for the benefit of being vetted and listed in the store. Still, Amazon stands to gain through increased sales by merchants, which are estimated to account for up to half of all product sales on the site.
In other Amazon News this past week:
Amazon makes Prime more attractive following price hike.
- JPMorgan estimates that Amazon Prime membership is worth $785 per year, after assessing the individual value of all the bundled services that come with Prime. This is a 12% increase in relative value compared to 2017.
- Amazon Prime members will get 10% off sale items at Whole Foods and weekly discounts on best-selling items.
Amazon scales back local food producers on Amazon Fresh, while bringing more artisanal hard goods to Whole Foods stores.
Amazon Fresh will stop listing products from 3rd party “Local Market Sellers” at the end of the month, making access to the grocery delivery service available only to vendors who sell directly to Amazon on a wholesale basis, according to an email from Amazon acquired by Business Insider. This move could reduce the overall selection of products available on Fresh, since few brands are invited to the vendor program.
At the same time, Whole Foods is experimenting with merchandising home decor products from trendy local brands. In its Bridgewater, New Jersey store, customers can find artisanal ramen bowls and candles from local companies in the “Plant & Plate” mini store. This is the first implementation of the concept, which could be rolled out to more stores if proved successful.
Date: May 22, 2018