Voluntary policy to limit the number of coupons issued by watch content sellers

Galaxy Watch Studio
#1

Galaxy Watch Designers and Developers,

The Samsung watch face designer and developer ecosystem is a small, elite group of professional designers and developers. The use of coupons other than for customer support or customer appreciation has become rampant. Excessive use of coupons has hurt the Galaxy Watch App and Watch Face publisher ecosystem. Furthermore, excessive coupon use educates consumers that content is free with readily available coupons which is not good for the long term success of the ecosystem.

Effective August 1, 2020, Galaxy Store watch app and watch face sellers are limited to issuing a maximum of 50 coupons per content ID, per country, per month. This volume is sufficient for normal customer support needs and marketing promotions.

We are asking Samsung Galaxy watch face publishers to voluntarily limit their coupons issued to this amount, until changes can be made to enforce these limits.

Please read the Samsung Galaxy Store Terms and Conditions clause 5.2 regarding compliance with store guidelines and documentation. Samsung may track the number of coupons issued or redeemed and enforce the policy.

If you have a question, you can contact support@samsungdevelopers.com.

Thank you for respecting your fellow Galaxy Watch designers.

Samsung Developer Program Team
Samsung Seller Portal

8 Likes
#2

To clarify:
There is no total amount per seller. Each seller is allowed up to 50 coupons, for each unique content ID, for each country, every month.
For example, a single seller is allowed:
50 coupons in France in September for watch face A
50 coupons in France in September for watch face B
50 coupons in France in September for watch face C
50 coupons in Italy in September for watch face C
50 coupons in Spain in September for watch face C
and it resets the next month…
50 more coupons in France in October for watch face A
50 more coupons in France in October for watch face B
50 more coupons in France in October for watch face C
…

Ron

2 Likes
#3

It’s okay … some sellers will think twice before issuing coupons.

#4

They could also limit the watch faces that developers and designers upload per month.
I see very simple clock faces with a background image and many go up every day.
This should be reviewed by Samsung.

4 Likes
#5

Totally agree. This would contribute to much better conditions of competition between devs. It is sad when a developer works 2 weeks on a design that in a few hours disappears from the ranking of new applications due to 10x the same design which differs only in color.

#6

I also start issuing coupons like other developers. Watch faces quickly getting into top 100 places. but the sales are very low compare to before.
TOP PAID 500 watches are not TOP PAID watches. It’s TOP Coupons issued watch faces. Once customers get knowledge about coupons. Next time they are not buying and simply waiting for a coupon or ask me to send a coupon. It’s frustrating to creates new watch faces. This coupon system must be revamped by Samsung.

#7

I work a lot with tizen Studio.
When I create a watch face with Tizen Studio I get functions that are not available in GWS.
For example:
AOD changes color.
The color settings remain recorded even if the watch runs out of battery.
I can create a stopwatch on the same screen.
I can create a Torch.
And much more.
This takes a lot of work because I also have to design the style of the watch face.
This is a disaster, the developers have gone into the background.
If Tizen Studio already does this, why was GWS created?
To fill the Samsung app store with watch faces?
Coupons should not exist.
As the fellow above says, they are coupon sales.
This is not going to go well.
Time will tell.

#8

Is that really the case? I thought that downloads made through coupons no longer affected the rankings in the store. It was stated several times, also here on the forums, at least half a year ago. Is it still possible to climb the rankings just by giving away coupons?

@r.liechty_SDP could you please comment on this?

In general, “voluntary policy” sounds like an oxymoron to me. A policy has to be applied and enforced, not politely asked for. No one is going to voluntarily stop, while others still do it. So the question is, when will this be applied from the technical side?