Amazon is a major online retailer of e-books and audiobooks. Walmart has now launched a proper rival which will take on Amazon in these markets. Walmart eBooks is the result of the retailer’s partnership with Rakuten, the parent company of Kobo. The partnership was announced in January this year and has resulted in this new service.
Walmart says that this new service will provide customers with a “comprehensive digital book solution,” offering them a category that hasn’t been available at Walmart previously. Customers will get access to Kobo’s library of more than six million titles and will also be able to subscribe to the audiobook service for $9.99 per month which includes one audiobook per month.
The retailer will also offer customers the ability to purchase digital book cards in 3,500 Walmart stores. Cards will be offered for nearly 40 titles initially and will begin rolling out to stores later this week.
Last but not the least, customers will be able to Kobo’s eReaders online and in-store. The can choose from the different eReaders available on Walmart’s website while the Kobo Aura will be available in 1,000 stores later this week.
Walmart eBooks will be available through the co-branded iOS and Android apps that have been launched today as well as on Kobo eReaders.
Filed in . Read more about Ebooks, Kobo and Walmart. Source: news.walmart