E-book Bundling: Good Marketing or Poor Planning?

     Countless products in our society rely on the marketing technique of bundling: fast food value meals, software suites, shampoo and conditioner... we encounter product bundles so often that they often go unnoticed. This simple method of packaging different items together and selling them for less than they would cost separately has a big effect on the market, because customers are always on the lookout for a deal. Even books and movies have been bundled together, packaged as a series or with titles of the same genre and theme - and sales inevitably increase.

     Barnes and Noble announced last month that they would be implementing a sales trial in which they would be bundling e-books with printed books. This will allow them to monitor the popularity of the sales and explore it as an option to promote e-books. The e-books will not be free, however: Customers who purchase a print book will receive a discount on their purchase of the e-book. The bundling will most likely be implemented sometime in May of this year.

     This is not a complete innovation on Barnes and Noble's part - many books have been available as print and e-book bundles for years, especially textbooks and manuals. In fact, according to one study, textbook and e-book bundles increased sales of e-books by 25%. But never before has bundling on this scale been attempted, especially from as big a bookseller as Barnes and Noble - not to mention the fact that the e-reading climate is growing warmer every day. Bundling is a proven sales booster in other products, so why would e-books be any different?

     Bundling gives both customers and authors an assured method of breaking into the e-publishing world if they haven't yet. It offers the opportunity to transition for authors who have only published in print, because in this way they can experiment with publishing an e-book without relying on the sales generated from it.

     Many readers are reluctant to let go of print books, too, but at the same time curious about the new technology. This is a good compromise for them, because they can try out the e-book while still acquiring a print book. Buying a bundle makes reading more convenient, too, because a print copy can be left at home while the same book can be taken along to work or to travel on their portable device. Even readers who have been using e-books can enjoy this option if they want to own a hardcopy edition, too. As Brad's Reader points out, hardcopies will always be useful for sentimental things like book signings. Bundling them seems like a win-win situation.

     Unfortunately, though, the e-books that are bought and sold at Barnes and Noble are only readable on the Nook. Right now, any person can go into a Barnes and Noble, purchase a print book, go home and read it. But only people who have purchased a Nook will be able to take advantage of the Barnes and Noble e-book bundling option. In order for the bundled e-book to be read by any customer on any device, it would have to be in a generic PDF format, which is generally supported on any e-reader as well as the computer.

     Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine this not working out favorably profit-wise. Most money-savvy shoppers would just buy one edition of the book, and if they already owned it, they would not necessarily be very likely to purchase another copy of it to own digitally. However, if books are bundled together, though the e-book will not be free, even the most frugal shoppers would be convinced of the value. According to a survey on book-buying behavior conducted in late 2009 by Verso Digital Advertising, over 40% of all book buyers are at least 'somewhat likely' to purchase bundled e-books, including almost half (46.4%) of all males below age 55.

     Some argue that if e-book bundles become popular, it will result in more e-books being included for a severely discounted price or for free in order to generate print book sales, thus diminishing the value of the e-book. The real test will come from observing if, after a period of bundling books, Barnes and Noble's e-book sales rise because more readers have been exposed to them and started using them. The bundling strategy has the ability to cause e-books to enter even further into the mainstream.

     E-book bundles gives customers a good deal. While it isn't a two-for-one deal, customers do get two books for less than the price of two books. The e-book is discounted and thus will be looked at as the bonus item. Perhaps one day, print books will be the bonus item bundled with the prevalent e-book.

 

What do you think about e-book bundling? Does bundling really work? Tell us your reactions and discuss it on our Facebook page, or email us at hitchnews@bookhitch.com.