Japan's Rakuten announced a new alliance with Walmart to sell its Kobo e-reader and e-books in the US retailer's outlets. The two will also partner on online grocery sales in Japan.
Walmart will become Rakuten’s exclusive mass retail partner for the Kobo brand in the US, offering Kobo’s nearly six million titles to Walmart.com customers. Walmart.com will offer e-books and audiobooks for sale from later this year. Walmart will also sell digital book cards in stores, enabling more than 4,000 stores to carry a broader selection of books for customers.
All e-book content will be accessible through a Walmart/Kobo co-branded app for iOS and Android devices, a desktop app and Kobo e-readers, which will also be sold at Walmart later this year.
In addition, Rakuten and Seiyu GK, a subsidiary of Walmart, have reached a basic agreement to establish a joint venture with the aim of launching a new online grocery delivery service in Japan, to be known as 'Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper'. The new service is planned to launch in the latter half of 2018.
