Launched in early October, the hex start-up targets the clientele of French expatriates and the 235 million francophones.
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Competning frontlock Amazon to sell French books around the world: it is the panty of two former executives of the online commerce giant, Emmanuelle Henry and Marc Bordier. Both launched, at the beginning of October, Readka An online bookstore for 2 million French expatriates and 235 million francophones living outside France. They promise “rates lower than those practiced by Amazon.com and equivalent delivery times around the world”.
According to Marc Bordier, president of this start-up, this bet is possible thanks “to the high discount rates negotiated with the publishers, at the preferential rates granted by the carriers, such as DHL, and finally to our low fixed costs” . Emmanuelle Henry, Executive Director, stresses that “the average basket of customers in the United States is 55 euros.” But the sale of several books at once proves more profitable for reada, since the price of sending a package is bound only for part to its weight.
In addition, the book price is not regulated outside hexagonal borders, which sometimes allows, by lowering the basic price, to offset the shipping costs. Readka will charge for example to a New York client price Goncourt 2020, the anomaly, from Hervé Le Tellier (Gallimard), at $ 23.60 Post included (the equivalent of 20 euros, its price in bookstore in France) , where Amazon requires $ 29.36. On the other hand, the sending of a single pocket book, even sold more expensive than in the hex, will lose money to the start-up. “It’s an equalization system,” says Marc Bordier.
“The complementarities of the physical bookstore and online”
Long expatriates in Anglo-Saxon countries and disappointed by the Amazon offer, which they consider too weak in French works, the two leaders first bought in October 2020 Arthaud bookstore, in the heart of the heart. of Grenoble. This institution proposes a fund of 80,000 securities and employs 32 employees. “We rely on the complementarities of the physical bookstore and online,” exposes Marc Bordier. It claims access to a catalog of more than 1 million titles. The majority in the capital of Readka with 87% of units, alongside, of a Czech IT developer company, the founders aim for a net profit from 2023.
This structure also works in the hexagon, as Amazon, 1 penny for delivery of a book. But, to put an end to the distortion of competition between the giant of logistics and the independent libraries, the members allowed, on 6 October, the establishment of minimum shipping, which will be fixed by order.
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