Video of Kobo CEO Highlights Advantages of Promoting eBooks

In a new video, Kobo President and CEO Michael Tamblyn urges booksellers to take advantage of all that Kobo has to offer to help brick-and-mortar bookstores bring in new customers and strengthen their overall business.

Adding an eBook component can “make your inventory infinite,” Tamblyn notes, so “you never need to send somebody away without the book they wanted. It allows you to serve that customer who wants the book you don’t carry in your store.”

As someone who has been a bookseller for nearly 20 years, Tamblyn has seen firsthand the value customers put on booksellers’ expertise. “It’s what makes you a trusted source for all things related to reading,” he says.

Tamblyn suggests that bookstore owners and managers encourage their staff members to think of Kobo as another tool for maintaining a relationship with customers who might otherwise be lost to e-commerce or someone else’s eBook service. And, he notes, “Most customers continue to purchase in print even as they supplement their reading with digital.”

To encourage customers to give eBooks a try, Kobo offers several incentives, Tamblyn says, including:

• A $5 credit towards a customer’s purchase of their first eBook, and they can download the free Kobo reading app on a device they already own
• Daily deals and regular sales, which are dedicated to books that are below $3.99 or free
• A gift card program designed to bump up sales, especially during the crucial holiday months

“As passionate readers, we love both print and digital, understanding that each has its place in the life of a booklover,” Tamblyn says. “By taking advantage of all that we have to offer we hope you will get the most out of partnership.”

See the full video here.