Facebook/Kobo
Walmart
will start selling ereaders, ebooks, and audiobooks through a
partnership with Rakuten, Japan's biggest e-commerce
company.
The deal will give Walmart's US customers access to
Rakuten Kobo's six million ebooks and
audiobooks.
Amazon
currently commands 83% of the ebook market in the
US.
In Japan, Walmart and Rakuten will launch a grocery
delivery service.
Walmart is taking aim at Amazon's Kindle business and diving into
the business of selling ereaders, ebooks, and audiobooks through
a partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.
As part of the deal, Walmart will start selling Aura-branded
ereaders made by Kobo, a division of Rakuten, in stores and
online at Walmart.com.
Kobo is one of Amazon Kindle's biggest competitors.
Walmart will also offer customers access to Kobo's vast library
of nearly six million titles from more than 30,000
publishers, Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Rakuten Kobo, told
Business Insider.
Customers will be able to access the ebooks and audiobooks
through a co-branded Walmart-Kobo app that will be available on
smartphones, desktop computers, and Kobo's
ereaders.
"We're really looking forward to growing our audience
through this partnership," Tamblyn said.
The deal will give Walmart access to the massive ebook
market, which is largely dominated by Amazon. Amazon is
responsible for roughly 83% of all ebook sales in the US,
according to a report by Author
Earnings. Kobo, by comparison, commands just 0.3% of
the US ebook market.
Author
Earnings
Kobo's ereaders, which range in price from $119 to $279,
are currently only available to US customers through the
company's website.
One of the company's most popular ereaders, called the Aura
One, is waterproof and has a slightly larger screen than its
Kindle-branded counterpart, the Kindle Oasis. The Aura One also
has a blue-light filter to help minimize the amount of blue light
the screen emits. (Studies say that blue light disturbs sleep
cycles).
Kobo's
ereaders range in price from $119 to $279.
Facebook/Kobo
Rakuten executives and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announced
the new partnership at an event in Tokyo on
Thursday.
"The ebook and audiobook offering will be fully integrated
into the Walmart online shopping experience,
and customers will be able to buy these versions as well as the
physical book while shopping for their
favorite titles," Walmart Chief Revenue Officer Scott Hilton
wrote in a blog post on the partnership. "For example, anyone
shopping for the latest best seller will be able to purchase the
physical book shipped to home or to their local store, an eBook
and/or an audiobook."
Walmart and Rakuten to launch grocery delivery in
Japan
In addition to bringing ebooks to Walmart customers in the US,
the companies will also jointly launch a grocery delivery service
in Japan.
Beginning in the second half of the year, the service will offer
groceries such as fresh produce; a "convenient lineup" of goods
like cut vegetables, partially-prepared foods, and meal
kits; and popular local gourmet products from merchants on
the Rakuten Ichiba marketplace, Walmart said.
The delivery service will be offered through Walmart's Japanese
subsidiary, Seiyu.
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