Create and Manage In-Skill Products in the Alexa Developer Console

Note: Sign in to the developer console to build or publish your skill.

To sell premium content in your skill, you define one or more in-skill products and associate them with your skill. An in-skill product defines the payment model and details, such as pricing. You can use the developer console to add in-skill products to your skill. For an overview of in-skill purchasing (ISP), see Understand In-Skill Purchasing.

Tip: Alternatively, you can use the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) Command Line Interface (CLI) to manage in-skill products. For details, see Create and Manage In-Skill Products with the ASK CLI.

Prerequisites

To create in-skill products, you must create a custom skill in a locale that supports in-skill purchasing. For available locales, see Languages and locales that support in-skill products.

Note: When you add, delete, or update products, you must submit your skill for recertification.

View the in-skill products for a skill

Complete the following steps to view the products that you created for your skill.

To view the in-skill products

Sign in to the Alexa developer console.
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the left-hand side, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
The In-skill products page displays the in-skill products already associated with your skill, and any products that you created that aren't yet associated with the skill.

The In-skill products page displays products in two tables:

Linked to this skill lists the products associated with the skill. After you publish your skill, linked products are available for customers to purchase. To link a product to the skill, you must fill in all required fields for the product. In the development stage, you can unlink products from the skill with the Unlink action.
Available to link lists all products that aren't yet associated with any skill. This list includes any products you chose to unlink, and any products that don't contain valid data in all the required fields. You can link completed products to the skill with the Link action.

Each product has a Status:

Incomplete – The product is missing data in one or more required fields.
Complete – All required fields are complete. If the product isn't yet linked to your skill, you can link it to a skill and test purchasing. If the product is already linked to the skill, Complete indicates one of the following:
- The product isn't certified and published.
- You have made changes after you published the product. Re-submit your product to publish those changes.
In Review – The product is in certification review.
Published – The linked product is published as part of a live skill. Customers can purchase the product.
Deactivated – The discontinued product is no longer available for purchase. However, customers who previously purchased it are entitled to continue to have access to the product. For details, see Discontinue a product in a live skill.

The developer console in-skill products page showing products linked to a skill in the development stage. — In-skill products page (development stage)

Create and edit in-skill products

Complete the following tasks to add, edit, delete, and discontinue a product.

Add a product and link it with the skill

You can create a product and link it to a skill. Or, you can create a product and link it at a later time.

To add an in-skill product in the developer console

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, under Skill builder checklist, click Monetize Your Skill.
Or, in the left pane, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
For Choose how you want to monetize your skill, select Add In-Skill-Products, and then click Next.
On In-skill products, click Create in-skill product.
Provide a Reference name for the product.
Select the product type. The type defines the payment model. Choose One-Time Purchase, Subscription, or Consumable.
Click Create in-skill product.
Under Supported Languages, click Add new language.
You can create in-skill products in any language that your skill supports.
Languages that your skill supports are selectable. To add a greyed out language, add the language to your skill. For details, see Develop Skills in Multiple Languages.
Click the desired language, fill in the required language fields, and then click Save.
Repeat this step for each language.
Under Pricing & Availability, fill out the required fields.
Under Tax category, to select the appropriate category for your skill, click the drop-down arrow.
Under Promote this ISP on Amazon.com, toggle on or off.
(Subscriptions only) Under Billing, fill out the required fields.
Under Testing, fill out the required fields.
Click Save to save the product information.
If you complete all required fields, the console prompts to link the product to your skill. To link the product to your skill, click Link to skill.
Or, to edit the product information, click Close.
Or, to go back to the product list, in the left pane, click TOOLS > MONETIZE YOUR SKILL.
You can link the product to the skill at a later time.

If any required fields are incomplete, including any required fields for each language you selected, you can save the product, but you can't yet link the new product to the skill. The developer console displays the product on the In-skill Products page, under Available to Link. Complete the remaining fields to make the product ready to link to a skill. For more details, see Edit a product.

To link an existing product to the skill

To link a product, the product status must be Complete.

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, under Skill builder checklist, click Monetize Your Skill.
Or, in the left pane, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
If you already have a completed product, on the In-skill products page, find the product in Available to link, and then, under ACTIONS, click Link to skill.
If there are no products linked to your skill, do the following tasks:
1. For Choose how you want to monetize your skill, select Add In-Skill-Products, and then click Next.
2. On the In-skill products page, find the product in Available to link, and then, under ACTIONS, click Link to skill.

Edit a product

After you publish your skill, the status of the skill changes to Live and a new development version is automatically created in the developer console. The development version has the same information as the original live version. Use the development version to update an in-skill product. After, you update a product, you must submit your skill for recertification.

Important: If the product has an ongoing deal, Amazon doesn't apply any price change that exceeds the deal price until the deal ends. If the list price falls below the current deal, Amazon suppresses the deal and applies the lowest price immediately.

Complete the following steps to edit a product.

To edit an in-skill product in the developer console

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
To add a language, on the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the Build page, under Skill builder checklist, click Monetize Your Skill.
Or, in the left pane, click TOOLS, and then click Monetize Your Skill.
If you already have a linked product, on the In-skill products page, find the product in Linked to this skill, and then, under ACTIONS, click Edit.
If there are no products linked to your skill, do the following tasks:
1. For Choose how you want to monetize your skill, select Add In-Skill-Products, and then click Next.
2. On the In-skill products page, find the product in Available to link, and then, under ACTIONS, click Edit.
Edit the fields as needed.
To save your changes, in the upper right corner, click Save.
If your new price is less than an ongoing deal, to suppress the current deal, click Save Changes.

Delete a product

You can delete a product from a skill in the development stage, as long as the product has never been available in a live version of the skill.

Note: After you publish a product, you can no longer delete it. You must discontinue the product instead.

To delete a product from a skill

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the left-hand side, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
The In-skill products page displays the in-skill products already associated with your skill, and any products that aren't yet associated with the skill.
If your skill includes the product, find it under Linked to this skill, and then, under ACTIONS, click Unlink.
If the product isn't associated with the skill, find it under Available to link, and then, under ACTIONS, select Delete.

Discontinue a product in a live skill

After a product is live, discontinuing that product can cause a negative experience for the customer. To avoid discontinuing a product, design your premium products according to best practices . If you do have a strong reason to discontinue a live product, you can deactivate the product. This change requires you to submit the skill for recertification. Consider this decision carefully and avoid any changes that break the experience for your existing customers.

Discontinuing a product has the following affects:

Customers can no longer purchase the product.
For a consumable or one-time purchase, existing customers who purchased the product continue to have access to it. Your skill should continue to support these users.
For a subscription, existing customers who subscribed continue to have access to the product for the remainder of the subscription term. The subscription doesn't automatically renew at the end of the term.
The product remains associated with your skill. Therefore, it's still included when you retrieve products with the Monetization REST APIs. A discontinued product returns NOT_PURCHASABLE for the purchasable property.

After you publish your skill, the status of the skill changes to Live and a new development version is automatically created in the developer console. The development version has the same information as the original live version. Use the development version to discontinue an in-skill product.

To discontinue an in-skill product

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the left-hand side, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
The In-skill products page displays the in-skill products already associated with your skill, and any products that aren't yet associated with the skill.
Find the product under Linked to this skill, and then, under ACTIONS, click Deactivate.
Resubmit your skill for certification.
For details see, Certify In-Skill Purchasing Skills.

Note: For a skill in development that has never been published, you can completely delete a product. For details, see Delete a product.

Remove a product from a marketplace

If you do have a strong reason to remove a marketplace for a live product, you can do so. However, you can't remove the default locale.

To remove a marketplace from an in-skill product

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the left-hand side, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
The In-skill products page displays the in-skill products already associated with your skill, and any products that aren't yet associated with the skill.
Find the product under Linked to this skill, and then, under ACTIONS, click Edit.
For Supported Languages, click Remove for every language listed, and then click Save.
Resubmit your skill for certification.
For details see, Certify In-Skill Purchasing Skills.

Re-activate a discontinued product

You can reactivate a discontinued product to make it available for new purchases again.

To reactivate an in-skill product in the developer console

Sign in to the Alexa developer console
From the skill list, locate your custom skill, and then under ACTIONS, in the drop-down, select Edit.
On the Build page, select a locale that supports in-skill purchasing.
On the left-hand side, click TOOLS, and then select Monetize Your Skill.
The In-skill products page displays the in-skill products already associated with your skill, and any products that aren't yet associated with the skill.
Find the product under Available to link, and then, under ACTIONS, click Reactivate.
Resubmit your skill for certification.
For details see, Certify In-Skill Purchasing Skills.

In-skill product configuration

The following fields identify an in-skill product.

Product ID: (Read only) Displays a unique product identifier. You can reference this ID in your code when initiating product offers and purchases.
Reference name: The canonical name of the in-skill product. Use this name when referring to the product in code.

Supported languages

In the Supported Languages section, click Add new language, select the language, and then fill out the following fields. If a language displays greyed out and you want to add it, add the language to your skill first.

Note: If you want to publish your product in the Alexa Skills Store, you must support the default locale for the country or region where you want to publish. For example, to publish a product on Amazon.com, your product must support en_US.

Display name

The name for the product. Used in purchase confirmation prompts, Alexa app purchasing cards, and email receipts. The name is specific to the selected locale for the product.

One-sentence description

A short description that describes the product and what the customer can do with it. You can access this description in the summary property when you retrieve an in-skill product with the Get customer entitlement API.

Detailed description

A full description that explains the functionality of the product and any prerequisites to use the product.

Small product icon / large product icon

An icon representing the product. Provide both large and small versions. Because the image is rounded when displayed, use 75 px padding on all sides. You can reuse the icon associated with your skill, or provide a unique image to represent the product.

Small Icon: 108 X 108 PNG with transparency. Recommended 75 px padding on all sides.
Large Icon: 512 X 512 PNG with transparency. Recommended 75 px padding on all sides. You can also use the Alexa Skill Icon Builder to create your skill icon to these specifications. Within Icon Builder, click Download to save a zip file containing png files in both the small and large sizes. Then upload these .png files to the in-skill product.

Purchase prompt description

The description of the product a customer hears when they make a purchase or cancel a subscription.

Follow these guidelines when you enter the description:

Include the product name. Use "{PREMIUM_CONTENT_TITLE}" as a token for the display name. Don't use "{" or "}" anywhere else in the prompt.
Include what's unique about this product
Be as brief as possible
Don't include any pricing information. Amazon automatically appends the price in the purchase flow.
Avoid repeating the same phrases customers might have heard in the upsell message

Purchase confirmation description: A description of the product that displays on the skill card in the Alexa app. Include the placeholder {PREMIUM_CONTENT_TITLE} for the product display name.

Price and availability

Define pricing and marketplace availability for your product.

Important: Amazon provides the lowest price to all customers at any given time. If you reduce the list price of a published product, all new customers see the new price of the product. In addition, for subscriptions, all existing customers receive the lower price of the product. If you increase the list price of a published product, all existing subscription customers are locked into the lower price, and all new customers see the increased price of the product. If an existing customer cancels their subscription, and then repurchases the item, they see the new price of the product.

AVAILABILITY – Describes the regions where you offer the skill for product.
For details about the available options, see Countries and regions that support in-skill products.
PRICE – List price for the product.
For minimum and maximum price values, see Price ranges for in-skill products.

Tax category

Select the category that matches the content in your product:

Information Services – Content of an informational nature, such as stocks, weather, news, or financial data.
Newspapers – Newspaper content, regardless of the format (video, audio, scrolling graphics, and so on).
Periodicals – Periodical content (magazine or non-newspaper), regardless of the format (video, audio, scrolling graphics, and so on).
Software – Interactive game content and other skill content.
Streaming Audio – Audio content that's not streaming radio.
Streaming Radio – Audio content in the form of streaming radio, including pre-recorded and live content.
Video – Streaming video content, including pre-recorded and live content.

Note: When the status of the product is Published, you can no longer update the Tax category field.

Promotion

To make your product available for in-skill purchases and for purchase on the Amazon retail site, toggle the button. The toggle is on by default. If you want your product to be available for in-skill purchases only, toggle the button off.

Billing for subscriptions

If you use the subscription payment model, define the billing frequency to show how often you bill the customer for the subscription. You can also define a trial period. Trials allow customers to preview the product for free for a limited time. After the trial ends, Amazon bills the customer according to the defined billing frequency.

Billing frequency – Shows how often you bill the customer for the subscription. Available options are Monthly and Yearly.
Note: Only Yearly subscriptions are supported in the en-IN and hi-IN locales.
Trial period – Use the toggle to show whether this product offers a trial period.
Days in trial period – Shows the duration of the trial period, in days. The allowed duration is 1–90 days.

Note: For a product with the status of Published, you can no longer update the billing frequency and the trial period. You can update the duration of the trial period as long as you don't set it to zero.

Testing

The Testing section collects details about how the Amazon certification team can test your product.

Testing instructions – Enter instructions that explain how to test the purchasing and cancellation flows for this product in the skill. Include information, such as test account credentials and details about how to discover the product when interacting with the skill.

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Last updated: Jun 27, 2024