{"id":650047,"date":"2013-04-02T09:34:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T13:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/?p=226931"},"modified":"2013-04-02T09:34:58","modified_gmt":"2013-04-02T13:34:58","slug":"kobo-finally-starts-selling-e-readers-directly-through-its-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/650047","title":{"rendered":"Kobo finally starts selling e-readers directly through its website"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kobo has begun selling its devices directly through its website in the U.S. and Canada instead of making customers in those countries go to third-party retailers, the Toronto-based company announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Kobo makes four devices: The 5-inch Kobo Mini e-reader, for $79.99; the touchscreen Kobo Touch e-reader, for $99.99; the front-lit Kobo Glo e-reader, for $129.99; and the Kobo Arc Android tablet, for $199.99. Until now, they were only sold through chains like Target and Best Buy as well as the independent bookstores that Kobo partners with through the American Booksellers Association.<\/p>\n

“Pre-Christmas we focused on in-store availability and we\u2019ve now pushed sales online,” the company told Digital Book World<\/a>. It’s not clear why direct sales haven’t been a priority until now, but worldwide Kobo focuses on partnering with independent bookstores and selling its devices through them.<\/p>\n

Kobo says it has 13 million readers worldwide. The company launched in\u00a0Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Spain, South Africa and the Netherlands in 2012 and plans to head to Russia, India and China in 2013. In the United States, its share of the ebook market is small and lags behind Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple.<\/p>\n

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