Going back to our roots: Penguin Books launches vending machine at Exeter St. David's train station
Penguin Books UK has introduced a vending machine at Exeter St. David's train station.
In a tweet, the company said: “In 1935, Sir Allen Lane was inspired to create Penguin Books when he couldn't find a good book to read at Exeter St. David's train station.”
“We've gone back to our roots to ensure modern day commuters won't face the same problem.”
It added: “If you're passing through the station, go check it out Profits will be shared between local independent Bookbag and Exeter City of Literature. Huge thank you to our partners GWR and Exeter City of Literature for bringing this to life.”
Audiobooks and eBooks
Bookshop.org, an online venture that aims to support independent bookshops, recently completed a $1.8 million (£1.5 million) angel fundraising round, which will be used to add audiobooks and eBooks to its UK platform.
UK bookshops will be able to keep the full profit margin of any such products they sell, while all other sales will generate 10% for the profit pool, which is shared equally among all participants.
The scheme will allow the over 550 independent booksellers on the platform to add eBooks and audiobooks to their websites and their Bookshop.org affiliate pages, while customers who want to support local, independent bookshops will have a single home where all their online book purchases can live.
Bookshop.org is planning to launch a private beta version of the service in late 2023, followed by a full launch in 2024.
Andy Rossiter, Rossiter Books, said: “This market has been completely dominated by Amazon for years so to have it opened up to independent bookshops by a completely trusted partner is fantastic news.”
“Hundreds of independents have already built a strong relationship with Bookshop.org so together I’m certain that the offering will be intelligently tailored towards what our customers are looking for and will be a tremendous benefit to independent booksellers."
Emma Corfield-Walters, Book-ish, Crickhowell, said: "I’m very excited about the audiobooks opportunities.”
“ I know that many booksellers, including myself, have felt that independents are missing out on a big element of book sales, so to be able to finally benefit from this would be amazing and would in turn expose us to new customers and enable us to support our customers with visual impairment."
Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director at Booshop.org UK, commented: “We are incredibly excited to be developing an audiobook and eBook offer on our platform. Independent bookshops in the UK have never had access to this market before, so we are proud to offer a great alternative for anyone who wants to purchase (and enjoy) eBooks and audiobooks and support independent bookshops at the same time.”
“One of our goals is to ensure indie bookshops thrive in the age of e-commerce, and creating new revenue streams for bookshops, while providing a viable alternative to Amazon, is precisely how we want to achieve this.”
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