Amazon enables in-app purchasing on Kindle Fire & Android devices

Amazon is rolling out a new service today within its Android app store that will allow developers to set up a shop inside of an application.

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We first learned about Amazon’s in-app purchasing service a few weeks ago when it was still in beta testing. The service will allow developers to offer customers both in-app purchases/upgrades as well as subscriptions, and in return, make them more money.

The move will pit Amazon against both Apple’s iOS App Store and the Google Play store, which already offer this kind of functionality. The new in-app purchasing takes advantage of Amazon customers’ familiarity with the online retailer’s other payment systems, such as the one-click purchasing.

Why is Amazon interested in offering this kind of service? Well, in-app purchasing is definitely a growing portion of mobile spending. Much like competing app stores, Amazon will take a 30 percent cut of all revenue generated from the store — so, this obviously has the potential to make the company a lot of money.

But as we previously noted, the biggest benefit to Amazon would be in boosting media sales from owners of its Kindle Fire tablet. At $199, the Kindle Fire is a loss-leader and relies on purchases being made via the tablet to generate a profit. An Amazon-branded app store with in-app purchases natural fit.

Check out a demo video of the new in-app purchasing service from Amazon embedded below.