Kobo has teamed up with Australia’s biggest online bookseller Booktopia in a link-up that sees Kobo become Booktopia’s exclusive digital reading partner, offering ebooks, audiobooks and e-readers to Booktopia’s Australian customers.
Under the deal, which is called Booktopia by Rakuten Kobo, Booktopia customers will get access to more than five million ebooks and audiobooks through Kobo.
The deal features an integration of the Booktopia and Kobo ecosystems. The ebook and digital audiobook catalogue is available to app and e-reader customers now while audiobooks will become available to online customers in April. Customers who are interested in audiobooks earlier can sign up for an audiobook subscription, where they will be redirected from Booktopia.au.com to Kobo.com.
Readers can access their digital libraries through products including Booktopia by Rakuten Kobo iOS and Android apps and e-readers.
Booktopia by Rakuten Kobo will be offering free, discounted, and curated content to help readers amid the current lockdown and social distancing conditions. This is set to launch as part of Kobo’s global Stay Home and Read campaign.
Kobo has built a series of alliances around the world, including with Walmart in the US, Indigo in Canada, Tolino in Germany, and publishers and online retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Michael Tamblyn, CEO and President, Rakuten Kobo, says, ‘Rakuten Kobo’s greatest successes come when we work with great booksellers. Booktopia’s combination of deep expertise and loyal customers is the perfect complement to Kobo’s focus on creating excellent digital reading experiences.
‘Collaborative partnership with booksellers has been hugely successful in other markets like Canada, where we continue to partner with the book retailer Indigo; the Netherlands where we are partnered with Bol.com; or France and Spain where we’ve partnered with Fnac, to name a few. If a book retailer is fielding a competitive e-reading experience in the face of global competition, we are usually working with them. We look forward to this next phase of growth in Australia.’
Tony Nash, CEO of Booktopia, says, ‘At Booktopia, we are in tune with the needs of our customers, and it is our constant goal to bring them new ways of immersing themselves in reading. We are pleased to be partnering with Rakuten Kobo and expanding our digital footprint in Australia, launching a new offering of ebooks, audiobooks and devices for our customers. Together with Kobo, we’re exploring new ways to make reading easier for customers by offering exceptional experiences however they prefer to shop and read.”
You can get more details about Booktopia by Rakuten Kobo at booktopia.com.au/booktopia-kobo.
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