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Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
Just FYI, B&N is still profitable, iirc -- or would be if they weren't investing heavily in ebooks.
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We have a different view on what "profitable" is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
None of that solves the problem that physical stores, including mega-stores, can only carry a small fraction of the number of titles of an online site. Most ebook stores already carry 10x more titles than a typical mega-store.
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It's not necessary for a bricks and mortar store to carry as many books as an online store. The whole point of the local store is that it is a "curated" selection. (That's fancy pants talk for offering a selection of titles relevant to the local community.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
Kobo almost certainly already gets general demographic and geographic data, e.g. they'll know that units sold in NYC and Toronto. They certainly know the addresses of the people buying ebooks through them. There is absolutely no reason to throw away revenues to a store that doesn't contribute to sales.
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You missed my point.
I was suggesting Kobo, in Canada, knows exactly which Kobo was sold at which Indigo location and ought to use that info to direct market and cross-market physical books and ebooks. To encourage b&m store managers, some portion of every future Kobo ebook on a device sold in his/her store gets credited back. Someone coming into the store asking for title X, finding it is out of stock, should be pitched the ebook and the Kobo with it. Bestseller sales cards ought to flag "Also available for your Kobo". As Indigo continues to evolve, tying itself to Kobo purchasing / reading activities makes good business sense. It will be a very long time yet before all books are digital and the public stops being interested in paper editions.