{"id":33613,"date":"2023-10-20T14:31:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/amazons-book-depository-expands-australian-titles-and-begins-shipping-from-melbourne-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:31:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:31:22","slug":"amazons-book-depository-expands-australian-titles-and-begins-shipping-from-melbourne-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/amazons-book-depository-expands-australian-titles-and-begins-shipping-from-melbourne-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s Book Depository expands Australian titles and begins shipping from Melbourne – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amazon is ramping up its presence in the local book market, with online retailer Book Depository today announcing a major expansion of its Australian book range.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Book Depository, which was bought by Amazon in 2011, is adding more than 25,000 Australian titles to its collection.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Australians have been able to purchase books from Book Depository since the site launched back in 2005, this is the first time the online retailer has focused specifically on the Australian market.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more: How Mark Rubbo plans to make bookselling chain Readings even more profitable<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Book Depository will also now ship books from Australia for the first time, with third-party logistics company DAI Post in Melbourne to pack and send local orders.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris McKee, group managing director of Book Depository, told SmartCompany<\/em> this morning this is the first time the online retailer will be shipping Australian titles locally.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, we\u2019ve had titles from Australian authors once they become available internationally and what we\u2019re going to have now are titles from Australian authors that become available when they are available in Australia,\u201d McKee says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s great for many reasons. One is we\u2019ve got customers in 116 countries around the world and we\u2019re excited to bring those Australian books to them much earlier than what they\u2019d otherwise be available in the international market. And there\u2019d be a whole body of up and coming authors we\u2019re hopefully going to create new opportunities for. We see this as a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

McKee says Book Depository has signed deals with \u201cdozens\u201d of publishers in order to boost its Australian titles but did not name the publishers involved.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, a statement released by Book Depository today referenced titles published by Allen & Unwin and Hinkler Books and included comments from Natasha Besliev, chief executive of Bonnier Publishing\u2019s Australian operations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

While McKee would not disclose Book Depository\u2019s annual turnover or reveal whether Australian sales have grown over the past few years, he did confirm Book Depository as a whole is growing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grow in many different ways,\u201d McKee says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had 12 million books for sale last year and 14 million books for sale this year. One of the things we think we\u2019re doing well internationally is offering free shipping. We also offer as many currencies as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local booksellers ready for Amazon and Book Depository\u2019s Australian push<\/strong><\/h3>\n


<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tony Nash, chief executive of Australian online retailer Booktopia<\/a>, told SmartCompany<\/a><\/em> he has been preparing for Amazon to have a stronger local presence for the past 12 years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re turning over well over $80 million this year and so we\u2019re of a certain size now where we\u2019ve got the critical mass,\u201d Nash says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bought Angus and Robertson Bookworld last year<\/a>. We also have a very different model \u2013 we\u2019ve got Australian titles in stock ready to ship from our distribution centre. We\u2019ve got 110,000 titles and also put our phone number on our website.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur approach has always been to make ourselves available to the readers and the other thing I think we\u2019ve got working for our advantage is we have experts merchandising our website.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nash says his business has \u201ca good stronghold\u201d in the local market and is growing by 30% to 40% every single year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Nash points out that bricks-and-mortar bookstores might be worried about Book Depository ramping up its Australian offering.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those on the brink, they will probably struggle as Amazon takes away the extra edge of orders from them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s good bookstores that will continue to prosper. Good selling and adding value to the sales process has been around for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about adding value to the end consumer \u2013 you might get them on price, other times it\u2019s got nothing to do with price at all and it\u2019s whether the person assisted you to buy a product you really, really enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked about what how the local book market will react to Book Depository\u2019s increased presence in Australia, McKee says greater competition between retailers is good for consumers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just try to focus on customers and do the best job we can,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, customers can choose who they want to buy from and where they want to buy. I think it\u2019s better that customers have more choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Follow SmartCompany on \t\t\t\tFacebook<\/a>, \t\t\t\tLinkedIn<\/a> and \t\t\t\tTwitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Amazon is ramping up its presence in the local book market, with online retailer Book Depository today announcing a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}