More Than 100,000 Users in 160 Countries Try Shortcovers
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/27/2009 8:06:00 AM
Indigo Books & Music’s e-reading platform, Shortcovers, has released user metrics from its first two months. Among the most interesting findings: more than 100,000 people from 160 countries have tried Shortcovers, and 10,000 have registered with the service since it launched in February.
Shortcovers is available as an iPhone app as well as for many other smart phones, and offers books, articles, blogs and essays to consumers both through their mobile phones and online through the Shortcovers website. Michael Serbinis, CIO and EVP of Indigo Books & Music, said, “Far and away, our biggest successes are our global reach and platform diversity. We thought iPhone would dominate downloads, but we’re very popular on Blackberry and Android. Readers tell us again and again how much they appreciate that our service is available on devices they already own.”
Shortcovers’ top global regions include the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, India and China. The average purchase is just under $10, and the most popular purchases include Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
Shortcovers also announced some updates, including reading personalization and enhanced paging, which it says provides a more “book-like” reading experience; enhanced browsing; and integrated purchasing for Blackberry and Android.
