E-Book Kiosks: The Next Stage in the Retail Digital Revolution?

The release of two new e-readers (the Cool-er and the BeBook) is another sign that, in spite of some author’s opposition, e-books are gaining ground on printed books.

Most readers will, I'm sure, still buy hardback and paperback books. It’s nice to collect your favourite author’s titles, or to browse the stunning pictures in many large format books. And it’s true that the books on your shelves say something about you. But it’s also easy to see the advantages of an e-book. For example, an e-reader is great to take on holiday or on trains and planes. And think of all those trees you’d be saving!

So, how should book retailers react to e-books? They could ignore them and run the risk of going the way of many music retailers, who have been swamped by the digital music revolution. Or they could follow the example of Australian bookseller Dymocks. They have installed kiosks from NeoProducts.

Initially, the kiosks will be used to market Dymocks’ on-line digital catalogue. However, in the near future, customers will be able to use the kiosks to download over 120,000 e-book titles and more than 30,000 audio-book titles, to a wide variety of digital devices.

For retailers, the technology brims with new opportunities. It means that out-of-stock or previously non-commercial titles can now be sold, and the pressures on floor-space alleviated. Even more traditional consumers will find they’ve not been forgotten. In future, it will be possible for titles to be ordered via the kiosks and printed-off in-store - either in whole, or in part.