Time is Money: New Thinking on Digital Book Pricing - Tech Forum 2014 - Nathan Maharaj

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"Time is Money: New Thinking on Digital Book Pricing" - Nathan Maharaj (Kobo, Inc.) at BookNet Canada's Tech Forum (BookNet 101) - March 5, 2014.

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Time is Money: New Thinking on Digital Book Pricing

March 5, 2014

Nathan MaharajDirector, Merchandising

Beard grooming & maintenance

eBook Pricing

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 5

The eBook pricing landscape0.

01 -

0.99

1 - 1

.99

2 - 2

.99

3 - 3

.99

4 - 4

.99

5 - 5

.99

6 - 6

.99

7 - 7

.99

8 - 8

.99

9 - 9

.99

10 -

10.9

9

11 -

11.9

9

12 -

12.9

9

13 -

13.9

9

14 -

14.9

9

15 -

15.9

9

16 -

16.9

9

17 -

17.9

9

18 -

18.9

9

19 -

19.9

9

20 -

20.9

9

21 +

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

KWL (Sales Weighted) KWL (Volume) Market (Sales Weighted)

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 6

Free 1st in serieses

3/1/

2013

3/3/

2013

3/5/

2013

3/7/

2013

3/9/

2013

3/11

/201

33/

13/2

013

3/15

/201

33/

17/2

013

3/19

/201

33/

21/2

013

3/23

/201

33/

25/2

013

3/27

/201

33/

29/2

013

3/31

/201

34/

2/20

134/

4/20

134/

6/20

134/

8/20

134/

10/2

013

4/12

/201

34/

14/2

013

4/16

/201

34/

18/2

013

4/20

/201

34/

22/2

013

4/24

/201

34/

26/2

013

4/28

/201

34/

30/2

013

5/2/

2013

5/4/

2013

5/6/

2013

5/8/

2013

5/10

/201

35/

12/2

013

5/14

/201

35/

16/2

013

5/18

/201

35/

20/2

013

5/22

/201

35/

24/2

013

5/26

/201

35/

28/2

013

5/30

/201

36/

1/20

136/

3/20

136/

5/20

136/

7/20

136/

9/20

136/

11/2

013

6/13

/201

36/

15/2

013

6/17

/201

36/

19/2

013

6/21

/201

36/

23/2

013

6/25

/201

36/

27/2

013

6/29

/201

37/

1/20

13

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Paid Titles (Series A) Paid Titles (Series B) Paid Titles: Author's Catalogue (Excluding Series A & B)Free Title: Series A Free Title: Series B

What’s the value of a book?

What’s the value of reading?

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 10

Coming up…

1. Bought! Now what?

2. The wages of reading

3. Serial study

1. Bought! Now what?

Picture

Picture

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 16

What can we measure?

• % Opened• % Completed• # sessions & session duration

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 17

And the award goes to…

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% Opened % Completed Avg. Sessions to Complete

Picture

Picture

And the award goes to…

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% Opened % Completed Avg. Sessions to Complete

2. The wages of reading

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 24

Value for money?

Bio/Autobio

Gladwellian Big Ideas

Myst/Detective

Romance

Lit Fic

Erotica

CGN & Manga

$- $2.00 $4.00 $6.00 $8.00 $10.00 $12.00

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0%

Avg. Abandon Avg. Cost/Hr ASP

70%

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 25

Reader engagement among those who finished?

Bio/Autobio

Gladwellian Big Ideas

Myst/Detective

Romance

Lit Fic

Erotica

CGN & Manga

- 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

Avg. Session Length Avg. # Sessions

3. Serial Study

Picture

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 30

$1.99 at a time

Jan Feb March

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 31

Value for money?

Bio/Autobio

Gladwellian Big Ideas

Myst/Detective

Romance

Lit Fic

Erotica

CGN & Manga

$- $2.00 $4.00 $6.00 $8.00 $10.00 $12.00

ASP

$8.11

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 33

When did they stop buying?

27.5%

8.4%5.1%

2.9%0.2%

55.9%

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

?

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 35

Completion %

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

70%73%

70% 71%73% 74%

Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6

Picture

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 37

Now we know…

• <100% of readers open the ebooks they buy.• And <100% of ebooks opened are read to the

end.• Big Ideas come with a relatively big price tag

for an evening’s amusement. • Serial publication drives sales and builds

readership.

37

KOBO CONFIDENTIALPAGE 38

More to explore

• What’s the impact of promotional pricing on completion %?

• If/when customers read outside their core interest area, how is completion % affected?

• What do bestsellers with extreme completion rates have in common?

• How can publishers ensure their books are bought and read? (does it matter?)

38

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