The Book Depository, a UK-based etailer and a specialist in
hard-to-find books, is to be acquired by Amazon for an
undisclosed sum. In a statement to customers, the Book Depository
says it will continue to trade independently as a subsidiary of
Amazon. The Book Depository already receives more than half of
its turnover from overseas, offering worldwide free shipping. It
accepts orders in US, Australian and Canadian dollars, UK pound,
and euro, and launched a website for US customers in 2009. In the
six months to December 2010, the Book Depository reported sales
of £60 million, it expects to reach £120 million in
sales by the end of its financial year.
Further extending its global reach, Amazon has opened up its
secret-sales website MyHabit.com to customers in 53 countries
outside of the US. The site, which launched in the US in May this
year, offers international customers a flat shipping rate of $15.
Customers in the UK can expect their purchases within three days
of placing the order.
In related news, Amazon has announced it will create up to 900
jobs in the UK when it opens a new fulfilment centre in Rugeley,
Staffordshire, in September. Amazon.co.uk currently has six
fulfilment centres in Britain: Glenrothes and Gourock in
Scotland, Swansea Bay in Wales and Marston Gate, Peterborough and
Doncaster in England.
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