Borders has officially entered the e-book business by launching an e-bookstore that company officials hope will have 17 percent of the e-book market in 12 months.
Instead of focusing on releasing an e-reader like rival Barnes & Noble, Borders is more interested in offering e-books for different platforms and e-readers. Based on the Kobo e-book store, Borders' new store includes support for PC and Mac e-books, Google Android smartphones, RIM BlackBerry smartphones, and the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices.
Borders announced its intention of opening an e-bookstore late last year.
The official store offers e-books in the following formats: PDF, ePub, and a custom Border app format. As part of its store, Borders will offer e-reader owners thousands of free books and 1.5 million book titles.
Borders currently offers a Sony e-reader for sale in its stores, and sells the Kobo e-reader and Aluratek Libre e-reader through its new online store.
During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Borders CEO Mike Edwards said the "digital book marketplace is still in the very early stages” – but this is a good first step for Borders. E-books remain a small segment of the book market, but have steadily grown since the Kindle’s release a few years ago.
Executives from Borders will look for ways to expand and keep up with B&N, Amazon, and others that are leaving the company behind in the e-book market. The Borders.com website has 10 million unique visitors per month, according to Borders, along with 38 million people who offered e-mail addresses for the rewards program.
If Borders is interested in a premium rewards program requiring a one-year registration, I hope the bookstore steps up and offers some real incentives. I receive very little value from my free rewards program -- and can't remember the last time someone at Borders asked if I'm a rewards program member.
