Amazon and Walmart seem to be battling often these days. Walmart recently announced free 2-day shipping to combat Amazon Prime, and even discounts some products that you opt to pick up in store instead of having shipped to your house.
Walmart is now aiming to give Amazon a run for its money in another area: eBook reading. Partnering with Rakuten’s Kobo eBooks, Walmart is now offering its own eBook service that will be brought to you by a co-developed and branded app.
Earlier this year, Kobo and Walmart joined forces to distribute Kobo eReaders in the US with a co-branded software for people to purchase eBooks.
Now, that’s been taken to the next level because Walmart officially launched its eBooks store. There are over 6,000,000 titles available and you can even sign up for a monthly subscription service like Audible should you prefer listening to books over reading.
Walmart is coming in at a more competitive price than Audible, however, because they’re only charging $9.99 per month after your 30-day free trial compared to Audible’s $14.95 per month.
Available titles range from the likes of Game of Thrones to Gary Vaynerchuk and everything in between. You’ll find best-sellers and newcomers to eBooks here, and classics to suit the entire family.
Amazon’s Kindle lineup is one of the most used eBook reader and retailers in the nation, and Walmart wants to take a chunk of that out. This could be its ticket, and might finally give Amazon some competition in this area.
Yes, Barns and Noble has its service, and Nook is a thing, but honestly, I’ve never seen someone with a Nook in public outside of a library or actual Barns and Noble. I see Kindles everywhere, and that’s due to Amazon owning this space.
You can start purchasing eBooks and audiobooks from Walmart’s eBooks store now, and millions of titles are available for you to browse through at your leisure.
You can download the Kobo app on iOS and Android today, so you can read titles without having to own a physical Kobo eReader. Should you opt for one of those, however, prices start at $99.99 and go up from there. This is slightly higher than Amazon’s $79.99 entry point, but it’s entirely possible that Walmart will launch competitive pricing with this partnership.
Currently, Walmart and Kobo are offering a $10 credit for new accounts to get you started, so be sure to take advantage of that before the promotion ends.
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