Google April 26 added merchant sales reporting to its Android Market, the latest tweak in the application store’s perpetual evolution toward improving quality and service.
Developers will be able to access monthly reports from the Android Market Developer Console that detail the financial performance of their applications.
The sales reports leverage financial data from Google Checkout to provide specific details of each application sale, including device information, sale currency and currency conversion rate. Developers should be able to use this info to inform their pricing schemes.
Developers will be able to download these reports as CSV files, said Eric Chu, Google’s advocate for Android Developer Ecosystem. See this screenshot of a report.
Developers may now download merchant sales reports for March from the Developer Console and reports for months going back to January 2010 will be available in the coming weeks. Future sales reports will be available by the 10th day of the following month.
Merchant sales reports come more than a month after Google added an application stat dashboard for the Developer Console.
The dashboard helps Android developers gauge the installation performance of programs offered in the Android Market. The tool summarizes each application’s current download numbers, as well as each application’s distribution across Android platform versions, devices, countries and languages.
Taken together, the application stat dashboard and merchant sales reports generate greater visibility for Android developers looking to hawk their wares in the Android Market. Developers can probably thank Amazon in part for the latest moves.
The company last month launched its Appstore for Android, which should push Google to iterate and fill in gaps in its Market.
The store, which lets users test applications they’re interested in on a simulated Android phone, is being touted as an easier way to let prospective app buyers play with apps before they buy them. Amazon is offering $25 credits to its Appstore for buyers of Verizon Wireless Droid phones.