USA: Kobo + Nook bei Walmart

22.10.2010 Johannes Haupt (Fachredakteur) 6 Kommentare

eBook Reader sind in den USA schon heute praktisch allgegenwärtig: Die Devices finden sich in (E-)Buchhandlungen ebenso wie in Elektronikmärkten und Kaufhäusern – selbst die lange Zeit nur online erhältliche Kindle Familie kann inzwischen in Hunderten Best Buy und Target Filialen in Augenschein genommen werden. Von elektronischen Lesegeräten unbefleckt war bislang Walmart, die mit Abstand größte Einzelhandelskette in den USA. Doch auch dort Managment hat die Zeichen der Zeit erkannt: Am Montag debutieren gleich zwei eBook Reader in landesweit 2.500 Walmart-Häusern.

In den USA ergibt die Erweiterung des Vertriebsnetztes von eBook Readern über Buchhandlungen hinaus in besonderem Maße Sinn: Das Filialnetz ist dort ungleich dünner als bei uns, selbst Marktführer Barnes & Noble verfügt aktuell "nur" über 720 Dependanzen – angesichts des weitläufigen Landes ergeben sich so viele Gebiete, wo fürs Ausprobieren eines Lesegeräts in einer Buchhandlung ein weiter Weg auf sich zu nehmen ist. Kaufhäuser wie Walmart, die neben Lebensmitteln ein vielfältiges Sortiment von Kleidung über Baumarktartikel bis hin zu Waffen (und Särgen) vorweisen, können hier die Lücke füllen.

Zudem sind eBook Reader (in Kombination mit dem digitalen Literaturangebot) in den USA bereits auf einem Preisniveau angekommen, wo sie auch für Gelegenheitsleser interessant sind; anders als in Deutschland, wo stationäre Buchhandlungen mit ihrer besonders literaturaffinen Besucherschaft den mit Abstand wichtigsten Vertriebskanal darstellen und Lesegeräte in Elektronikmärkten (Sony Reader bei MediaMarkt / Saturn) kaum sichtbar sind.

<via Kobo Blog; PM von B&N nachfolgend>

BARNES & NOBLE ANNOUNCES AWARD-WINNING NOOK™ EBOOK READER WILL BE SOLD AT WALMART

NOOK Devices to Be Sold in Walmart Stores and on Walmart.com Beginning Next Week

New York, NY – October 21, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced its award-winning NOOK eBook Reader will be sold in 2,500 Walmart stores (NYSE: WMT) and online at www.walmart.com. The popular NOOK devices are expected to arrive on Walmart shelves beginning as soon as October 24, in advance of the holiday shopping season.

The NOOK eBook Readers will be prominently featured as the premier eBook Reader in the consumer electronics area. Many Walmart stores will feature a NOOK-branded eReading area where shoppers can see and touch a demonstration device.

Walmart will offer both great choice and value with two NOOK by Barnes & Noble eBook Reader models — NOOK 3G, which offers free AT&T 3G wireless and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as NOOK Wi-Fi, a Wi-Fi only model. Both offer a crisp, paper-like E-Ink display for reading and a beautiful color touch screen for navigation, and access to shop the Barnes & Noble expansive eBookstore with more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers, most available for $9.99 or less and more than half a million free titles. Digital content from Barnes & Noble is downloaded wirelessly in seconds. NOOK devices are also the only to offer sharing of eBooks with friends through Barnes & Noble’s breakthrough LendMe™ technology.

"Sales of NOOK devices continue to exceed our expectations, and we are thrilled to be able to partner with Walmart, one of the world’s greatest retailers, to expand the distribution of our award-winning NOOK eBook Reader," said Chris Peifer, Vice President, Digital Business Development at Barnes & Noble. "Walmart’s millions of shoppers will have an easy and convenient way to try NOOK devices in many stores and to learn why NOOK is the most full-featured eReading device on the market, and the perfect gift solution for anyone who loves to read."

ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE, INC.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 717 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 633 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation’s top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than one million titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOKTM eReading product offering, customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK eBook Readers, devices from partner companies, and hundreds of the most popular mobile and computing devices using free NOOK software.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK™ and LendMe™ are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.