Publishing services and distribution vendor Ingram Content Group has reached a strategic alliance with Microgroove, a Seattle software developer, to provide digital tools to give businesses with mobile e-commerce applications the ability to sell physical books.

The Microgroove Storefront is a white label storefront app aimed at any mobile e-commerce business that wants to add new physical products. Indeed the Ingram/Microgroove partnership is not focused on publishers or book retailers, but on businesses looking to add books to their e-commerce product mix.

Businesses that adopt the Microgroove technology can receive a 15% on the gross of any product sold. The technology is said to be easy to integrate into any existing e-commerce mobile platform by adding a few lines of code. The content can be integrated into any mobile app, branded and allow the consumer to purchase physical books within the app. Under the agreement, consumers who use the Microgroove app will have access of digital titles housed by Ingram and Ingram will fulfill all orders.

"We're glad to use Ingram's expertise and expansive distribution network to launch this platform, which is essentially a riskless form of retail. App partners earn a retail margin because they are the retailer, and they keep their users engaged within their own app experience,” Microgroove CEO Phil Coady said.