PChome 24h, the popular Taiwan-based e-commerce website that has formed an alliance with Kobo to sell e-books and Kobo e-readers via its site announced a 50 percent jump in the number of registered Kobo members. As the site money.udn reported, this makes for a win-win situation for both parties given the manner each is getting to benefit from the collaboration.

The ‘Kobo E-Book City’ led to the introduction of nearly 4 million e-books in several foreign languages. These include Spanish and French along with English and Japanese. That is not all as e-books in Arabic, Malay, and Turkish languages too are available. PChome 24h has been selling books for 17 years now and the alliance with Kobo announced in January this year enabled it to have more content to offer besides also having access to a bigger market.

Wan Yuewei, Vice President of PChome Online Home E-Commerce Division attributed the spurt in e-book sales to the pandemic that had forced many to stay indoors. Many had opted to take up reading to keep themselves entertained which led to the increase in demand for e-books. However, with the pandemic easing from most parts of the world and with people having access to other outdoor forms of entertainment, what remains to be seen is how many continue with their reading habits.

Meanwhile, Zhou Lihan, director of Rakuten Kobo Operations Department said there has been a 20-times growth in the number of books on Kobo’s website compared to what it was when they had started out. The number of Chinese or other foreign language books in their store now stands at a respectable 150,000.

PCHome 24h said they witnessed a huge increase in consumer base in the 25 – 34-year age group. Also, about 45 percent of their users now prefer e-books with light novels, business finance, and comics being the most favored topics.

The post PChome 24h and Kobo alliance see 50 percent jump in users first appeared on Good e-Reader.