Amazon is giving away free Coins worth millions of Euros to start things up

May 13, 2014 14:27 GMT  ·  By

Amazon Coins, a tool that enables customers to buy and enjoy Android apps and in-app items at a discount, will now expand to three more European countries.

The company introduced Coins in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany exactly one year ago. Now, Amazon Coins will become available to more countries, namely France, Spain, and Italy.

Not only is the American ecommerce giant bringing the tool to more nations, but it’s also giving away free coins worth millions of Euros. “We’re giving millions of Euros (100 Coins = €1) worth of coins to customers in France, Italy, and Spain, so this is a great time to submit new apps to the Amazon Appstore and ensure your existing apps are available for distribution in these countries,” writes the company’s Cheng Luo.

Kindle Fire owners in these three new countries will find 500 free coins in their accounts and, for a limited time, so will users of the Amazon Appstore on Android phones and tablets who update their clients or download an app.

App developers are also advised to start creating new tools and have Amazon Coins as a method for users to pay for in-app purchases. “Since the launch of Amazon Coins in the US, UK, and Germany, customers have already purchased hundreds of millions of Amazon Coins and are actively using them on Android phones and tablets, including Kindle Fire devices, representing real dollars to developers,” Amazon writes.

Furthermore, the company writes that developers will have the chance to boost their sales during the promotion, while customers use their free Coins for various purchases. A similar promotion that was deployed originally for the American, British and German markets had positive results, with developers being quite happy with the additional cash they had in their pockets.

“Our SMS texting and calling app revenues grew more than 300% on Kindle Fire the day after Amazon Coins went live, with a staggering 78% coming from Coins. We’re convinced that this virtual currency makes sense for developers no matter what category their app is in; it certainly does for us,” said textPlus Inc.

Amazon Coins can be used on apps, games, and in-app items from a range of devices, including the Kindle Fire, Android phones and tablets, as well as directly on Amazon.com. Not only can these Coins be bought, but they can also be earned for free by purchasing select apps, games and in-app items.