Imagine a company wanted to buy each employee the latest Angry Birds iPhone app as a gift. How can they do so? As it turns out, there’s a program for that.
Apple Volume Purchasing Program
The Volume Purchasing Program allows a business to buy apps from the App Store in bulk. This saves each user and the company the inconvenience of purchasing (and expensing) each app installation. The Volume Purchasing Program is also the only way to buy apps from the Custom B2B Apps for Business Program.
- Only paid apps qualify
- The program applies only to the US App Store
- Enrolling in the Volume Purchasing Program is free
- There is no volume discount
- Purchases are non-refundable
Volume Purchasing Account Requirements
- Enrollee must be associated with a US Business
- Basic contact information to verify your business
- Dun & Bradstreet number (D-U-N-S) number
- Corporate credit card, PCard or PayPal to purchase apps
Many employees within a company can be enrolled in the Volume Purchasing Program for making purchases. Users who install the apps do not need to be enrolled in the program.
Installing Apps Purchased in the Program
- Users install the app by following a redemption URL (hyperlink) provided after a purchase from the Volume Purchase Program via the Business Store.
- Redemption URL’s can be managed ad hoc (by URL’s emailing users for example) or some MDM solutions can centrally manage them.
- After a volume purchase, Apple provides information on which codes have been redeemed for tracking purposes.
The Business Store
Volume purchased apps are purchased through the Business Store. This web site allows purchasing any paid app available in the US App Store in bulk. This includes apps from the Custom B2B Apps for Business Program.
Example of searching the Business Store (without authenticating):
*A more realistic scenario might be purchasing a required business app such as an email client.
More Information
- See App Store Volume Purchasing for Business for more information from Apple including a PDF guide.
- Volume Purchase Program for Business & Custom B2B Apps Frequently Asked Questions