Major app stores like Google Play Store and Apple App Store are like major retailers, selling their own electronic appliances and earning well after the appliance’s sale because all add-ins and accessories can only be bought from them. They’ll have absolute monopoly since you need to actually be as big as them to be able to compete side by side. But this doesn’t mean that there is no other option. For every popular brand displayed on the shelf, there’s always an unknown brand displayed not to compete against the popular brand but to cater to a niche market that big brands does not specifically target.
Alternative app stores can be considered as bazaars selling specially items or stalls in a marketplace selling specific items. But whatever their form, structure and perks offered, these micro marketplaces offers benefits that do not only benefit the consumers but also the supplier of goods.
Benefits of Mobile App Stores:
- Niche markets can be targeted directly. This is important especially to reskinners. Even if reskins are designed to target a specific market, publishing it to the official Apple App Store means that it would be placed in a broad category together with the big players. Some alternate app stores cater to only one broad type of audiences or user segment.
There are also app stores that are only available in a specific country or region. Publishing in these stores will be helpful in boosting your app’s downloads in areas where it previously performed poorly.
- The marketplace is less saturated. There is a greater chance of a reskin ranking high (and staying there) in alternative app stores. Official app stores are quite saturated with high ranking volatility. With app reskins’s short lifespan, it is important to have maximum exposure. Apps, especially reskins are 20 times more likely to be featured on alternative app stores than in official app stores. So these stores allow you to save in marketing campaigns.
- Some alternative app stores are preinstalled in smart devices (Android). Samsung has Samsung Apps Mobile and LG has LG Smart World.Samsung has a 30.4% share for smartphone sales worldwide while LG has 5.1% share. To put this into perspective, Samsung Apps Mobile is preinstalled in over 100 million Galaxy smartphone all over the world.
- Cross-platform advantage. Reskinning for multiple platforms would mean that different versions of your app would be published on different official app stores. Alternative app stores can give the opportunity of having different versions of your app published in one place.
- App curation benefits both the developer and end user. Most of these alternative app stores offer curated lists, deals and featured apps that are not only based on downloads and ratings but also on the user’s needs. Curation can prevent apps that contain malware and increases the chances of niche apps of being featured.
These app stores also have deals that benefit developers like discounts and “free app day” promo. This isn’t just simply featuring your app, it is promoting your app for users to try and download. It can greatly increase not only downloads but also exposure for the app.
- Some stores offer benefits and support to developers. Amazon offers free ad impressions, 25% discount in serving hosting and many more. You won’t also need to pay for developer accounts and registration fees. There are also features where you can promote your app for free.
