After closing its e-book portal less than a month after it was unveiled, Exclusive Books plans to restart Exclus1ves.co.za from July.
Spokesman and site development manager for Exclus1ves Evan Morris says the e-book initiative was put on hold so that the company could improve the catalogue available to consumers. “This is not a particularly dramatic move. We felt that the small offering we had available at launch was not exciting enough.”
Morris says the new content will be much broader and the catalogue will contain many more titles. “The content in the current repository is mainly Harlequin romance fiction, which is not a compelling enough offering to stand alone. We are also talking to suppliers locally to build a solid catalogue of South African e-books, including non-English e-books.”
The retailer is in talks with international suppliers as well. “Exclus1ves has identified several possible partners for e-books and other electronic content, both locally and internationally. Some deals are already at an advanced stage of negotiation, says Morris.
He explains that once deals are signed there is an integration period of two to three months before any product catalogues are made available.
Morris adds that none of the deals are final, but some are expected to be confirmed within the next two weeks and so sales may begin from July. “We want to get our e-book offering bedded down thoroughly before we re-enter this market,” says Morris.
Exclusive Books sales and promotion agent Marius Greef says: “E-books are a really big focus point for us right now.”
Low Internet access rates and the high cost of broadband may also pose potential problems for e-book sales in SA, according to BMI-TechKnowledge MD Denis Smit.
He says e-book sales will initially battle because of broadband capacity. “But, as we speak, costs are going down and so e-books will be a part of our future.”
“There's going to be a smaller penetration initially than First World countries had, but with the Seacom cable and greater connection the penetration will increase,” agrees Greef.
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