Publisher uses QR codes to sell more digital copies.
Bitingduck Press, an independent publisher with locations in Montreal, Canada, and Altadena (Los Angeles County), California, has now launched a new method of using mcommerce to sell books in a way that will support local businesses.
The publisher is using the new patent pending WebBytez technology and a custom QR code.
Postcards with the cover art from books, as well as their descriptions, are being displayed with the QR codes that have been customized for each specific book. These postcards are being displayed within stores and are being distributed to consumers at no cost.
This allows the books to be purchased quickly and easily by way of the publisher’s mcommerce site.
All the customer needs to do is to scan the QR code using a smartphone and enter the quantity and payment information into the mcommerce site, just as would be done for any other kind of online purchase. The barcodes have been tagged to allow the publisher to identify the merchant that had distributed the postcard to the customer, and that merchant receives a credit for the purchase that was made. Moreover, once that consumer buys a book, any future purchases made by that individual through the publisher will also generate credits for the merchant.
This represents a significant opportunity both for Bitingduck, and for the affiliate companies that are sharing its QR codes. This is because mcommerce statistics are showing that 2012 has become the year in which ebook sales have exceeded those of print books for the first time. In fact, in adult ebooks, there has been an increase in sales by almost 30 percent since last year, and in the case of children’s and young adult books, there has been more than a doubling in sales.
This is turning publishers, large and small, to take a closer look at mcommerce and focus more of their attention on ebooks. This is especially true of independent publishers that would rather sidestep all of the costs associated with printing, warehousing, and distributing. That said, local bookstores can continue to thrive through affiliate opportunities such as this one based on QR codes.