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Penny's failed because of high prices. I shopped there when they had "everyday low prices." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? They were twice the price of the other stores in the mall! They wouldn't match REGULAR prices never mind sale prices! My mom used to shop there and I did on occasions (with coupons). WHen they pulled that stunt we both went in a few times and let me tell you: STICKER SHOCK. And I don't mean by a couple of dollars. The same blanket at Macy's was DOUBLE the price a Penny's.
As for Kobo, I think, like any retailer, they have the discounts, sales and trivia to gain AWARENESS. Most of those things are probably done at a loss for awareness. It's the same reason we indies do "free" days. Those are a loss for the vast majority of us. Sure, some get enough reads that it means lots of sales of subsequent titles, but for most of us, it's a boost with a very slow gain of fans. The vast majority of people who grab free books don't read most of them. They aren't even opened.
Kobo has done a lot of awareness ads in the last two or three years and now they probably have a very good idea of which customers they want to keep. Whether they can do that remains to be seen...
Geoff, I think the discounts with HarperCollins are going away. Yours is not the first mention of it on forums.
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