To a presentation, last night, by Amazon UK. Chris North, head of Amazon Books UK, introduced two other team members, and they all gave a good account of themselves. Here are the key points I noted:
- Amazon is obsessed with what’s good for their customers. They have 64m active customers worldwide, and on peak days, process 4m purchases. International sales are now 45% of their total.
- Amazon customers demand, in order: Selection; Price; Availability (want it now); Convenience (1-click); Information (reviews etc); Discovery (“have you triedâ€).
- Publishers and authors really need to ensure that Amazon receives: Correct title / pub date/ other info; Good, web-friendly cover design (white background not good); be willing to participate in promotions.
- “Search Inside†is the equivalent of browsing in a bookstore. Digital rights very tightly controlled. No book will be “Search Inside†unless specifically OK’d with publisher – it sells books, so every reason to push the publisher to be part of this scheme.
- “Amazon Upgrade†now working on US site, will come to UK soon. Allows purchasers of the paper version of a book to instantly (for a fee) have access to the full electronic text, so they can start reading the book immediately after purchase. I think this is VERY interesting, and could be the first real use for the much-touted e-book. This is a great halfway house between one medium and the other. You can ever print out pages, too.
- Amazon will help publishers and authors to promote. They will even put out their own press releases to support a title. They are very keen to have Amazon Exclusive Content and also Bonus Clips. The key elements of an Amazon promotion include: Inclusion on Amazon mailings to customers; inclusion in DOTW (Deal of the Week) – this produces a BIG surge in sales; Inclusion on the Amazon Books welcome page.
They seemed very keen to get involved at every level and assist publishers in the selling process. I had to leave and was unable to ask questions such as: what (if anything) would it cost to be included in a mailing? And is it true you’ve practised differential pricing? (With what results?) Very useful evening, lots to talk about with publishers.
