Back in 2011, Amazon.com launched the Amazon Appstore, where Android operating system user customers can pick from thousands of apps and games. to download. Today, there are more than 800,000 apps or games available in nearly 200 countries.
Seven years later, the e-commerce giant doing another app store launch, this time for its sellers.
CNET reports that Amazon has given the green light for third party apps built to help its professional sellers in a new Marketplace Appstore. The offering began a slow rollout launch Monday and will eventually be made available throughout North America. It is built into Amazon's Seller Central — the main hub for its sellers.
The report says the Marketplace Appstore will feature tools that help professional sellers handle pricing, inventory, advertising and other needs.
"Many developers have innovated and created applications that complement our tools and integrate with our service," Amazon told CNET. "We created the Marketplace Appstore to help businesses more easily discover these applications, streamline their business operations and ultimately create a better experience for our customers."
While the new app store helps pro sellers, it likewise helps app developers get their apps in front of Amazon's more than 1 million U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses selling on their platform. Meanwhile, the app store looks to make it easier for sellers to find the app they want by providing a searcheable hub, instead of sellers trying to find the proper app amidst the various solutions available in the open market.
The report cites Amazon saying the new app store is free for developers to join and use, but that it is invite-only and that any company interested in joining must go through a submission process.
