The Nook, which was reportedly turned down by Waterstone’s when it was part of HMV, seems likely to be heading to the U.K., after all.
Theresa Horner, Barnes & Noble’s v-p of digital content, told delegates at the Publishers Association’s International Conference in the U.K., “I imagine in the not-too-distant future you’ll be able to have the device here.” Over the course of two years, the Nook, Nook Colour and Nook Tablet, the latter launched in opposition to the Kindle Fire, have met with critical and commercial success in the States, doing much to restores the fortunes of the bookselling chain.
A tease or a tip? Barnes & Noble is now kissing cousins to Waterstone’s, thanks to the recent appointment of chairman Miranda Curtis, formerly president and now non-executive director of Liberty Global, sister company to Liberty Media, which has a 16.6% stake in B&N. A serious digital offer (including a much-improved website) is among the most urgent items in James Daunt’s in-tray – and the Nook would be a logical way to proceed. If the Barnes & Noble experience could be replicated in Britain, Waterstone’s would be well on the road to recovery and readers would have a desirable alternative to the Kindle without breaking the bank.
It’s a mystery why Waterstone’s didn’t buy into the technology earlier, except that Horner said B&N had wanted to concentrate on getting it spot-on in the home market before looking overseas. She declined to be drawn on a comment that seemed calculated to raise speculation but since B&N – even in the good times – has never shown the slightest inclination to plant a footprint on British soil, the most likely route would be a licensing deal. All else is surely straightforward – that is a deal to provide the wireless connectivity (AT&T in the US).
Daunt and his colleagues can take heart from the B&N experience. For a start, Harris Interactive polling of US readers revealed that while 16% bought 11-20 print books per annum, 32% bought 11-20 digital books in the same period. “People who read digitally read more, even not-so-avid readers,” said Horner.“It’s physical and digital, not or,” she continued, as she discussed B&N’s integrated strategy, its development of the in-store “digital boutiques” which grew out of the original kiosks. With their in-store support of the Nook as well as other digital devices, customers – in most parts of the US within 15 minutes’ drive of a Barnes & Noble – were reassured, able to be taken through the set-up process and return to talk through any problems. As a result, Horner continued, the chain now has 25% of the U.S. e-book market as compared to Amazon’s 27%.
Barnes & Noble research shows that readers “go back and forth between physical and digital” and what matters to them is “the quality of the book”. What’s more, when asked about “discovery”, their response tends to be “I saw it in a bookstore”. All that real estate is “a great store front” and the bookshops themselves, with the promise of “more in store”, exert a pull. Offers have been designed to book sales of both formats: James Patterson wrote an exclusive novella which customers buying a Patterson hardback could have free as an ebook. Table displays offer browsers a mix-and-match option, much as Waterstone’s once offered the ubiquitous 3-for-2. And despite the restrictions of integrating texts and pictures, Horner and her colleagues are working with publishers experiment with graphic novels and picture books for the Nook.
