It’s now possible for Amazon Appstore customers to gift Amazon Coins, the e-commerce giant’s virtual currency, to one another. This means, right on cue for the holiday season, users can send anyone in-store credit to spend on their preferred apps, games or digital content.
When users splash out on a set of Amazon Coins, they can now choose to send them to another Amazon Appstore user, who will be notified via email. Furthermore, Amazon is offering a 20 percent discount on Amazon Coins before January 5 to drum up some interest in the new feature.
Amazon Coins were launched in the US back in May. Similar to Microsoft Points for the Xbox 360 – a virtual currency which the company has since scrapped – the idea was to hide the real cost of digital goods, incentivizing payments and general engagement in its storefront.
It’s difficult to gauge how successful the initiative has been, although Amazon says “hundreds of millions” of Amazon Coins have been purchased in the months following its general release. The top five apps purchased with Amazon Coins are: Minecraft – Pocket Edition, Wheel of Fortune, Plants vs. Zombies (Kindle Tablet Edition), Bejeweled 2, and Scribblenauts Remix.
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