Bowker brings Book2look to IndieCommerce

CHATHAM, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In furthering its commitment to expand the digital footprint for independent bookstores, Bowker has joined forces with IndieCommerce, the e-commerce platform of the American Booksellers Association. Bowker is launching a significant number of storefronts through IndieCommerce to promote the Book2look marketing tool.

“Independent bookstores are a key part of the publishing ecosystem and essential members of the communities they serve, “ stated Mary Carlomagno, Bowker’s Director of Sales and Business Development. “Book2look is an innovation that will help booksellers compete in the digital marketplace by offering the “view inside” that customers have come to expect when searching for new books to purchase online. Book2look is another way for stores to engage with readers and enhance the purchasing process,” she continued.

Bowker General Manager, Beat Barblan, said, “We are pleased to be working with IndieCommerce in service to the publishing community. This partnership is a logical extension of our mission to enhance book discoverability and connect booksellers with readers.” “We’re excited to team with Bowker to help expand access to Book2look,” added IndieCommerce Senior E-Commerce Manager, Geetha Nathan. “Book2look will assist us in achieving our goal of helping bookstores increase sales and profits.”

“This is a service that many of our bookstores have been asking us to include on the IndieCommerce platform,” said IndieCommerce Director of E-Commerce, Phillip Davies. “Offering online shoppers the ability to sample a book before purchasing it is a huge advantage when selling books online. Book2look gives our IndieCommerce websites a highly desirable new feature in a very competitive market.”

Market research has shown that the option to look inside a book before purchase is among the top deciding factors after author, topic/genre, and price. To date, Book2look has generated over 250 million views.

ABOUT BOWKER
Bowker provides products and services that make books easier to discover, evaluate, and experience – connecting publishers, authors, and booksellers with readers. From essential identifiers like ISBNs and barcodes...to editing and copyright protection assistance...to marketing and publicity tools, Bowker offers a wide range of resources to help publishers large and small promote their titles.

ABOUT INDIECOMMERCE™
IndieCommerce™ is the American Booksellers Association’s (ABA) e-commerce platform for independent bookstores. The “Software as a Service” (SaaS) platform provides the tools for indie bookstores to create unique, content-rich, and easy-to-operate, fully transactional, e-commerce enabled websites. IndieCommerce stores can sell print books, audiobooks, eBooks as well as many other retail products and services. It is a bookstore specific website builder designed to help booksellers attract more customers, increase sales, and maximize profitability.

ABOUT BOOK2LOOK
Ralph Möllers founded Book2look as a digital book marketing platform to promote titles for his publishing company. He later partnered with Hitesh Jain, the owner of WITS Interactive, to develop Book2look into a marketing tool that other publishers could use to promote their own titles. Bowker is the exclusive Book2look distributor for the United States.

ABOUT ABA
ABA is a not-for-profit trade association supporting over 2,500 independent bookstores across the country. ABA was founded in 1900 and advocates for booksellers on a daily basis.