These days with our mobile apps, seeing in-app purchases is pretty common as it allows developers to let users try out an app and then choose to upgrade it by paying a fee. It is also found in video games where in-game purchases/microtransactions lets developers and publishers earn more money beyond the initial sale of the game.
Now it looks like developers who create Alexa-based skills will be able to do the same as well. Amazon has recently opened up in-skill purchases to Alexa developers, where they can now add the option of making additional purchases within the skill itself. This isn’t exactly a new feature per se as back in 2017, Amazon announced the feature except that at that time, it was limited to select partners.
An example would be the Jeopardy skill where users had the option of subscribing to the skill by paying $1.99 a month. Now it looks like other developers will be able to add similar in-skill purchases as well. Amazon also wants to leverage its Prime membership feature where they say that developers who want to use in-skill purchases must offer some kind of advantage to Prime members, such as discount, early access, or exclusive content.
Given that this is a good way for developers to make additional money for their work, don’t be surprised if you start see more in-skill purchases pop up in the near future.