Tesco continues foray into online sales with Mobcast
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Philip Clarke, the chief executive of Tesco, has made his third significant digital acquisition in just over a year as Britain's biggest supermarket chain appears to be squaring up for a full-scale confrontation with the US online giant Amazon.
Mr Clarke's latest purchase is the e-books platform Mobcast, co-founded by the author and former SAS soldier Andy McNab. It creates software for publishers and other clients to deliver digital content.
Tesco bought the internet radio service WE7 in June and the digital-movie streaming service Blinkbox, a rival to Amazon's LoveFilm, last year. It is paying only £4.5m for Mobcast but analysts said it was significant because it is part of a wider trend.
Supermarkets have made huge profits by moving into books, DVDs and CDs in the last decade and are anxious to maintain that revenue now that sales of physical goods are falling in favour of digital versions. Sainsbury's bought the digital books venture aNobii in June and Morrisons acquired the online retailer Kiddicare last year.
Some industry insiders have been alarmed at the continued rise of Amazon, which dominates bookselling with an estimated 25 per cent-plus market share in the UK.
Michael Comish, who co-founded Blinkbox but is now Tesco's chief executive for digital entertainment, acknowledged Amazon was a major competitor: "Almost every retailer in the world competes with Amazon."
Mr Comish said Tesco did not yet have a big presence in e-books but Mobcast would help to change that. "From a digital point of view, we're not massively involved in books," he said. "But from a physical point of view, we're one of the largest book retailers in Britain. In the UK, about 10 per cent of the books market is digital; in the US it is about 20 per cent. So by next year, in Britain you'd think it would be 20 to 25 per cent."
Mr Comish added that entering the digital books, music and movie markets was about more than sales. "It's not just the revenues associated with these categories – these are high-passion, high-engagement categories. It's not just baked beans – you can build strong relationships off these categories."
There is talk Amazon could move into groceries, which would spell trouble for internet players such as Ocado and for Tesco, which currently has a 50 per cent share of online food sales.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments