It’s been a long time coming, but a made-in-Canada idea for bringing e-books into bricks-and-mortar stores may have just arrived in the big league. Calgary-based Enthrill, which produces gift cards for e-books that can be read on any e-reading device, is launching a partnership with Walmart in Canada this month.
Under the program, all Walmart locations in English-speaking communities will carry a selection of cards that are specific to particular titles or bundles of e-books by authors including Lisa Jackson, Sylvia Day, Debbie Macomber, Veronica Roth, and Suzanne Collins. Gift cards in the amounts of C$10, C$25, and C$50 that can be used to buy any e-book from Walmart’s website will also be available.
Kevin Franco, cofounder and CEO of Enthrill, says that customers who buy the Walmart gift cards will be able to choose from thousands of e-books already in Enthrill’s system and that hundreds of titles are being added each week. The company currently has contracts to access about 40,000 titles, but Franco notes that it will take time to incorporate all of those e-books into its system because Enthrill is device agnostic. “When we get titles, we have to make sure it works in every platform in every reader, so there’s a lot of quality assurance that goes into the books that we distribute,” Franco says.
According to Enthrill, its device agnostic quality is particularly important for customers buying an e-book card as a gift because they may not know what kind of a device the person they are buying for owns. That’s “at the heart of the relationship between Enthrill and Walmart,” says Franco. “We’re the only company that can offer delivery to the entire market.”
Physical stores, which continue to be a vital way for consumers to discover books, are missing the opportunity to sell e-books, he says. “Our technology enables them to participate and be a part of the digital sales.”
Among the publishers that have agreements with Enthrill are House of Anansi Press, HarperCollins Canada, Scholastic, ECW Press, Dundurn, Harlequin, Kensington, Open Road, Orca Book Publishers, and Coach House Books.
In addition to working with Walmart, Franco plans to add thousands of other outlets to the Enthrill program in 2015.
