![]() The self-publishing trend has also helped Rakuten Kobo shift from being a hardware company selling content in 2009 to a content company selling hardware in 2019.Īs for the future, Tamblyn said it’s all about embracing more innovation and new business models, including all-you can read subscription services. ![]() “I don’t think any of us anticipated that when we first started the business, but now that has become part of the e-book fabric.” “Today, 25 per cent of the books we sell in Canada come from self-published authors on our own platform,” he said. ![]() Tamblyn said the rise of independent authors and their ability to tap into digital distribution platforms is the biggest and most surprising disruption in the transition from print books to e-books. Rakuten Kobo responded by making waterproof e-readers. To do that, Rakuten Kobo brings its best customers into the innovation design process to answer one key question: What keeps you from reading more?Īs a result, the company learned 47 per cent of people read while they are in or near water, such as in the bathtub or by the pool, so they don’t want to bring e-reading devices with them. “Just like Netflix is fighting for time for binge-watching video or Facebook is fighting for browsing and clicking activity where they can sell ads, everything we do, from innovation to new products, is about trying to earn that time for books and for reading,” Tamblyn said. There is a tension but it works.” Getting people to read They have created internal competition so customers stay longer and by bringing in another company, in this case Kobo, they can maintain that relationship and continuity of experience. “Each of these retailers has made the same decision Indigo made in 2009: to disrupt themselves. So could each of these retailers be using the same service to provide the e-book experience? Yes,” Tamblyn said. Each of our retail partners is competing against Amazon and Google in their home markets. “Indigo isn’t competing against Fnac in France. Third-party retailers selling their goods on Amazon account for 54 per cent of its sales, according to Statista. Such collaborative competition partnerships are something Amazon has used to great effect. It has also partnered with electronics retailer BestBuy Co. In 2018, Rakuten Kobo began selling its e-readers, e-book gift cards and audio books in more than 3,500 Walmart Inc. Rakuten Kobo today is in 25 markets, delivers e-books to 150 countries each week, has its own e-publishing arm (Kobo Writing Life) and has some 38 million users due, in large part, to its collaborations with other booksellers, such as Fnac, France’s largest book and consumer electronics retailer, Mondadori and Feltrinelli, which collectively serve the majority of Italy’s book market, and Librarias Gandhi and Libreria Porrúa, Mexico’s two largest booksellers. It helped us to manage and control growth.” Partnering with the competition Being part of a large publicly traded company gave us financial discipline, operating discipline. “As a small Toronto startup, we had to learn everything from how to grow and employ people in different regions and territories to how to manage currency exposure. “That propelled us to expand into 12 new countries in 12 months,” Tamblyn said. Kobo had five million users of its e-reader and was in need of a cash injection when it was acquired in 2011 by Rakuten Inc., Japan’s largest e-commerce company, which was looking to expand its global reach. Here are four strategies that helped Rakuten Kobo compete against Big Tech.
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