In-store POD for A&R chain in Australia, while e-books may not be doing so well at Dymocks
The Espresso Book Machine, shown in a file photo, has reached Australia.
Angus & Robertson is the first Aussie book chain to use what Time called an "ATM for Books."
From an E file, the machine can whip out a paperback in minutes.
Shoppers will initially be able to choose from several hundred out-of-print or difficult to get hold of books, but Angus & Robertson said the range would expand daily, reaching 10,000 within 18 months. They would cost the same as the current shelf price of paperbacks or less, the retailer said.
This is significantly more than the 20,000 physical books a typical Angus & Robertson shop can hold, helping the chain maintain its competitiveness in the face of significant threats from online sellers such as Amazon…
The EBM is now up and running in Angus & Robertson’s Bourke Street store in Melbourne, but the company said it would have up to 50 machines installed throughout its Australia and New Zealand network within a year.
The first book printed on the machine at the Bourke Street store was A Horse of Air by Dal Stevens, which won the Miles Franklin Award in 1970 but has been out of print for almost 20 years.
Less happily, the same article gives the impression that Dymocks may not be doing so well selling iLiads and e-books for it:
Dymocks has already invested heavily in new technologies, last year launching an online electronic book store and a corresponding portable device on which to read the books. The store now stocks 130,000 ebooks.
But Australians aren’t showing any signs of tiring of the look and feel of a traditional crisp paper book.
Grover said Dymocks had sold only about 10,000 ebooks and many hundreds of reading devices.
I hope Dymocks won’t give up. Ideally iRex Technologies will soon offer cheaper, easier-to-use machines. As for sales of more books—well, perhaps Dymocks can experiment with the nonDRMed variety if it isn’t already, as well as play up ePub. Both steps would help increase the appeal of the books for non-iLiad owners.
Related: Earlier TeleRead posts on the Espresso machine.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
“only” ten thousand books and “many hundreds of readers”? That doesn’t sound like a bad start to me. Of course, customers may use those many hundreds of readers to check out the competition. I wonder how many thouand books have they printed on their Expresso if they’re offering that as a successful alternative?
I continue to believe that the hardest part of selling eBooks is persuading readers to give it a try.
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com
September 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Thanks, Rob. I still think the numbers are low, especially if you consider the number of e-titles and the words that appear just ahead in the article:
Of course, I’d prefer for you to be right! I certainly wish Dymocks the best of luck.
David
September 18th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
It’s not surprising they haven’t sold too many ebooks. They charge nearly twice as much as places like Fictionwise. Also I don’t think their system works well. I bought 2 ebooks from them. They sent me 2 links for downloading - neither worked. And their help line never replied. So I won’t be trying them again.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Dymocks should rethink the way they are selling iLiads and eBooks. I bought my iLiad from them, but only because I knew they were selling them from sites such as this one - yes, they have a large display in their main store, but it’s confusing and really not welcoming for non-techy people. It’s not even clear what they’re actually doing there… In fact, I wasn’t even aware they were selling eBooks. I don’t think they are even trying to sell iLiads/eBooks instore - when I went there to buy my iLiad, the sales assistant was shocked, and had to check if they even had any in stock; he advised me to order online instead. There are no accessories available. I wanted to get a new travel charger, but would have to order it from overseas. Same goes with support - I think having to deal with overseas support rather than local is a big turn-off for trying out new technology. I hope they don’t give up and assume bad sales are due to the technology, rather than the way they’re selling the products.
September 19th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I think this is promising news. When I lived in NZ, there was only ONE bookstore in the entirety of Hamilton, and it was a teeny tiny Dymocks. Not at all very satisfying. I went to Auckland and spent two full days in the two-story Barnes and Noble because I was in such withdrawal! And then I had trouble because I did buy some books and I had to get them home with me somehow when I left the country! How nice it would have been then to have an ebook device like I have now where I could have bought any book I wanted and then had nothing to carry home! That was 2005! Isn’t it amazing how far we have come in just a few short years? Now, with my new iPod Touch, I can order the latest best-sellers off Fictionwise—from my bed!