On Monday, London-based e-commerce and metadata platform Supadu announced a partnership with Canadian distributor De Marque that adds international digital distribution and instant e-book reading to its direct-to-consumer offerings.
The announcement came just four days after Supadu and sister company Firebrand Technologies launched Radley Books, a Shopify-based website solution aimed at giving smaller publishers and imprints a fast path to direct online sales.
The De Marque deal pairs Supadu's branded publisher storefronts with De Marque's Cantook distribution network, which reaches more than 1,300 online bookstores and 1,800 libraries around the world and carries more than 3 million titles from 3,000-plus publishers.
Clients using the combined solution get a branded D2C storefront and international distribution reach without building separate technical infrastructure for each. Customers who buy through a Supadu-powered site can begin reading immediately via De Marque's browser-based instant reading service, which opens titles in a web reader with no file download or app installation required.
This is just the latest in a series of announcements intended to enhance the Supadu's D2C exposure. In November 2025, the company teamed with Lulu to combine Supadu's D2C stores and templated Shopify sites with Lulu's global print-on-demand capability.
Another deal with Frankfurt-based Bookwire extended Supadu's D2C reach into Europe, giving Bookwire's publishers a Shopify-based website solution integrated with Bookwire's metadata systems. And a partnership with Books International, announced in 2024, gave BI publishers D2C shopping capabilities fully integrated with the BI warehouse, including live inventory availability.
The cumulative effect is a hub-and-spoke model in which Supadu's e-commerce and metadata layer sits at the center, with fulfillment, distribution, and reading infrastructure provided by specialist partners depending on format and market.
"Publishers want solutions that are powerful, reliable, and easy to implement," said Sarah Arbuthnot, president of Supadu. "Together with De Marque, we are offering a turnkey path to direct-to-consumer sales while preserving the reach, quality, and discoverability of global distribution."
Supadu operates as part of the Firebrand Group, alongside Firebrand Technologies and NetGalley, which is owned by Media Do International, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Japan's Media Do Co., Ltd. The Quebec-based De Marque provides library ebook infrastructure in France, Belgium, Canada, Spain, and Portugal, including the DPLA Exchange and Palace Marketplace in North America.
Marc Boutet, president of De Marque, said the partnership reflects a shared focus on access. "We are reducing technical and commercial obstacles so publishers can reach more readers, and readers can access books more easily, no matter where they live or how they choose to buy," he said.
The D2C push at Supadu comes as the broader industry is moving in the same direction. In January, Independent Publishers Group announced a partnership with Norway-based Beat Technology, which also partners with Supadu, to let IPG publishers sell e-books and audiobooks directly to customers through Beat's Shelf app. IPG CEO Joe Matthews said at the time that 2026 would be "the year IPG releases a whole new turn-key solution for publisher shopping carts across all formats."
