Apple App Store Lets Publishers Offer Promotional Discount Codes

The Apple App Store is now letting publishers offer discount codes with special offers.

“You can now create subscription offer codes to acquire, retain and win back subscribers,” reads the announcement from the tech company.

Publishing Insider reported back in September on the upcoming rollout of the offer codes, which publishers can use for promotional efforts. Since then, Apple has increased publishers’ revenue share for subscriptions sold through its App Store.

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Apple previously collected 30% commission on the first year of an app-based subscription, and 15% after that. Now, Apple will take a flat 15%.

The new codes, announced last week, let readers unlock offers like discounted prices on app subscriptions or free access to an app for a limited period. 

Publishers can generate as many 150,000 codes a quarter for each app they have in Apple's App Store. They can also target different audiences with specific codes.

A publisher could create codes to send to readers through email newsletters, for example, or codes for social media followers who are not subscribers to the media brand.

Codes can also be offered offline at live events, according to Apple, alongside products.

Apple says its Sales and Trends reports will be updated later this year to include information on the performance of publishers’ subscription offer codes.

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