Quote:
Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan
I'm a little depressed by all these changes going on at Kobo. When they had a more liberal sales policy I was spending lots of money on books. But since that changed I haven't spent a single dollar on books. So how is Kobo winning?
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They weren't making money on the sales. From what I understand, the trivia contests are sponsored by the books/publisher in the contests. BUT with coupons, since the publishers don't allow those coupons to be used, the cut comes from Kobo--so they were probably operating largely at a loss (loss leader) in the hopes people would buy other books while shopping, remember and use the site. If people don't come back, don't buy other books and they were/are operating at a loss with the trivia...well, they'll only do it so long. It could well be a marketing thing that didn't work out for them or it worked well enough for a while, but any marketing idea will run its course. It could be that it worked very well for a while, but as people came to know and expect coupons/trivia, they began NOT buying at full price...and so the contests may have served their purpose.
Even if they worked well, it's not uncommon for a company to try an change out marketing strategies to reach new and different customers. They seem to be fairly active in promoting certain books and items on FB now and in their newsletters.