Getting what you pay for: Weaving price into reader engagement

Nathan MaharajDirector, Merchandising

#TECHFORUM14

HOW DO WE KNOW?

HOW DO WE KNOW?

METRICS BEYOND “UNITS SOLD”

% opened

% completed

# sessions & length

WINNERS!

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

% Opened % Completed Avg. Sessions to Complete

HOURLY COST OF READING

Bio/Autobio

Myst/Detective

Lit Fic

CGN & Manga

Avg. Cost/Hr ASP Avg. Abandon

WHAT WE LEARNED

<100% of readers open the ebooks they buy.

And <100% of ebooks opened are read to the end.

Big Ideas come with a relatively big price tag for an evening’s amusement.

POLL!

PHEW!

#DAYS TO OPEN

DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!

BOOK #1

Was $12.99

Marked down to $2.99 without promotion

Then featured as a Daily Deal

Carried on at $2.990

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

"pre DD

markdown to

$2.99"

Daily Deal Post-DD, still

marked down

Full price

Book #1

Median days between purchase and open

Open %

Complete %

<25% OF UNITS SOLD AT FULL PRICE

BOOK #2

Was $14.99

Marked down to $2.99 for 1 day; featured as a Daily Deal

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

DD $2.99 Full price $14.99

Book #2

Median Days to Open Open Rate Completion Rate

BOOK #3

Initial price $11.99

Promoted at $4.99

Permanently marked down to $9.99

Not the first installment in an erotic romance series

0

5

10

15

20

25

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

4.99 9.99 11.99

Book #3

Median Days to Open Open Rate Completion Rate

SO?

When a book is opened, it’s often a month after it was paid for

A price-motivated customer isn’t necessarily a motivated reader (and that’s okay)

Conversely, paying more seems to correlate with stronger engagement

THANK YOU!