Kobo has just formed partnerships with Booksellers New Zealand and The Paper Plus Group. This will bring new e-Reading devices and the Kobo bookstore to customers on a retail level and online.
Kobo established its first partnership in New Zealand with Whitcoulls in 2010, and is now working with independent bookstore members of Booksellers NZ and the Paper Plus Group to bring Kobo to almost 300 retail locations across the country. As members of Booksellers NZ, independent bookstores will now be able to offer their customers the newly introduced Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo and Kobo Arc eReading devices as well as colorful accessories and a shared-revenue model for eBooks. This new partnership is similar to the ones Kobo has forged in the USA with the American Booksellers Association.
“Kobo is committed to helping booksellers of all sizes join the eReading revolution,” said Todd Humphrey, EVP of Business Development, Kobo. “While we’ve built our store, devices and applications based on our own love of books and the people who read them, we’ve also built a business that enables partners to benefit from our success. We believe that while the written word is changing, its transformation should help bookstores in a beneficial way – one where they can grow their business, serve more customers, and have a positive influence in their communities.”
“We are delighted to reach an agreement with Kobo that will allow the independent members of Booksellers NZ to add the eBook format to the great book selling service they already provide their customers in communities throughout New Zealand,” said Lincoln Gould, Chief Executive of Booksellers NZ. “We will be working with our members immediately to equip them with all the technical support, training and marketing tools in time for them to engage in this new opportunity before Christmas.”
Kobo has been working very hard to develop cohesive partnerships all over the world on a retail level. In order to facilitate growth Kobo is seeking to dominate markets that have otherwise been ignored by companies like Amazon, Sony and Barnes and Noble. How does Kobo do it? Well, not only do the stores make money from selling the tangible hardware devices but Kobo cuts them in for a unknown percentage on digital book sales. They are one of the only companies out there that do this, which is why Target and Walmart in the USA have blackballed Amazon.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
