As its launch date approaches, Copia, a book-focused social network and e-commerce platform, is talking up a new partnership program offering independent bookstores a turnkey online retailing solution with digital fulfillment supplied by Copia. However, some retailers have questioned the proposed service, concerned that affiliating with a large international retailing and merchandising company will undermine their independence.
Copia senior v-p Anthony Antolino said the company was in discussions with the American Booksellers Association about the retailer program and said “the response from all sectors has been favorable.” However, while a spokesperson for the ABA confirmed that they have had “a conversation” with Copia, the ABA declined to characterize the discussion in any way or to respond to specific questions about their interest in the Copia retailer program. The ABA has been discussing different ways to help its members sell e-books, including taking part in the "soon" to be launched Google Editions.
First reported in PW’s coverage of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association meeting in early October, the Copia retailer program is being offered to indie bookstores for a revenue share reported to be somewhere between 30% and 50% of the retail price. In a followup interview with Antolino he confirmed that the program would include a “revenue share” but declined to discuss the specifics of Copia’s terms. He said the company has been giving presentations on the new retailer program and “we’ve gotten a good response at the regional shows.”
Antolino described the new Copia program as a “turnkey retail partner and affiliate program” for indie bookstores. Copia claims that it will offer about 5 million titles through its retail storefront when the service launches and Antolino described the platform as a solution for independent stores that want a digital storefront, but don’t have the technical facility or capital to do so. “It’s costly to build a digital retail storefront on the local level,” he said.
A division of DMC Worldwide, a product development and supply chain management firm, Copia plans to offer consumers the ability to not only discuss books, music, films and other media online, but to buy and download that same kind of content and consume it on a wide variety of devices. In addition to the new retailer program, Copia also plans to offer a Publishers Toolkit, a program that offers book publishers branded microsites on the Copia platform and the ability to merchandise, set up authors pages and gain access to analytics about consumer activity on their microsite pages.
