More than 700,000 e-books sold through Waterstone's

25.05.10 | Graeme Neill in The Bookseller

Waterstone's has revealed it has sold more than 700,000 e-books and 60,000 e-book readers since it first started selling them in September 2008.

At Waterstone's supplier conference, held in north London yesterday (24th May), head of e-commerce David Kohn told publishing delegates Waterstone's believed e-books would account for 8% of the book market by 2013. "It's something that could be the greatest single opportunity, not just for Waterstone's, but for everybody here."

The retailer plans to double space devoted to e-book hardware in its stores, although nottimescale for completion was given. Kohn said he hoped Waterstone's would sell new innovations in the e-book device market, whether it was tablet devices or a reader that could be sold for less than £100. He said: "Whatever people are reading on that's what we will be selling."

Kohn hailed the increase in quality of the books available as e-books over the past 12 months and said e-book sales had grown by 100% during that period. He said he anticipated the same level of growth during the next year. He added though: "We need your help to stay the leading player in the marketplace."

Around 200 publishers and sales directors attended the event in north London hosted by Waterstone's.