Smartphone and tablet apps are one of the best-selling digital products out there right now, but the proprietary device marketplaces through which many developers sell their products can be restrictive, difficult to manage and potentially bad for business. What many new app creators don’t realize is just how easy it can be to release outside of the major app stores. With the right tools and services, choosing to sell apps online as an independent merchant can be a more lucrative option which allows you greater control over your own products.

Perks of Selling Apps Outside the Major App Stores

The primary perks of releasing through the more traditional proprietary marketplace are largely based upon convenience. Apple or Google Play, for instance, will process your payments, handle product delivery and hosting for you. If you knew you could get the same services without the restrictive regulations and corporate control over your products, why wouldn’t you choose to sell apps on your own?

The key to creating the same seamless experience with payment processing, automated content delivery and secure product hosting is to set up a web store using the technology provided by a dedicated ecommerce platform. Services like PayLoadz.com make it easy to manage your own sales, and may actually lead to a dramatic increase in sales over time.

One of the biggest drawbacks of a proprietary device app store is the glut of search results returned, and the order by which they’re sorted. If the name of your app is intuitive and related to the task it performs, there’s a good chance you’ll be competing with dozens or even hundreds of other products with similar names. The biggest and most popular results will be sorted first, leaving yours somewhere down the line. Immediately, your ability to rely upon organic leads from marketplace searches is removed. Also, you’re not able to offer promotional pricing, or hands-on customer support. You and your product are stuck in limbo, but this isn’t the case when you choose to sell apps online instead.

How to Get Started Selling Apps

Choosing the right ecommerce service provider is the first step for content creators interested in selling apps independently while retaining as much of the app store convenience as possible. Though you won’t be fighting with hundreds of similarly placed apps for position in search rankings, you also won’t benefit from those marketplace searches at all. This means you’ll need to devise a marketing plan to make your target audience aware of your product. Some ecommerce providers do offer access to affiliate marketing networks which can increase visibility dramatically, and these services may be the ones you want to consider most closely.

Don’t be pressured into relinquishing all of your control over a product you created by releasing in the app stores. Consider the benefits of independently selling apps, so you can make informed decisions about what’s best for your individual business.

 

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