PayPal App Store
PayPal have recently announced they will be also creating an App Store. Their new PayPal X Developer Network site gives some details on their new in-app payments mechanism.
While I can see the potential for in-app PayPal payments, developers need to be careful not to charge for the app itself otherwise they are probably in violation of most existing app store’s T&Cs. However, paying for real products and services (as opposed to the app) is allowed and offers huge opportunities.
I am not sure why PayPal needs an app store though. Is PayPal a place people go to start looking to buy things? I don’t think so. PayPal is the end process, not the start. It’s a bit like PayPal shops that most PayPal users probably don’t even know about.
Instead, PayPal should perhaps just be concentrating on making it very easy to integrate in-app payments. They should create APIs (and examples) for use from all the major Smartphone platforms. They might even have example apps showing how to create a store within an app, with a basket, checkout etc.
PayPal also have an advantage that their (current - let’s hope their app store will be the same!) commission structures are far lower than those on the current app stores, making them suitable for selling real products.
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