Press Release: Rakuten Kobo Keeps Sainsbury’s Ebook Customers Reading Digitally

TORONTO — September 20, 2016 — Rakuten Kobo, a global digital reading company created by booklovers for booklovers, is working with Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand (part of Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s leading food and non-food retailers), to offer Sainsbury’s customers the opportunity to transfer their ebook libraries to Kobo’s eReading service as Sainsbury’s exits the digital entertainment business.

Both companies will ensure Sainsbury’s customers have a seamless transfer of the current digital libraries of books they’ve purchased, and will have the ability to continue buying ebooks from the millions of titles available on Kobo.com. Readers will be able to choose from the most popular bestsellers, literary works, comics, graphic novels, and kids’ content – enabling them to continue expanding their reading worlds with Kobo eReaders and apps.

“We look forward to welcoming Sainsbury’s customers to read with Kobo. They will be able to cherish the books they currently have for years to come as well as add new ones with personalized recommendations and expert selections to suit each and every booklover,” said Michael Tamblyn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rakuten Kobo.

Sainsbury’s will be sending its customers an email by October 25 with a unique link and instructions on how to easily transfer their libraries to Kobo, which will allow access to books previously purchased at the Sainsbury’s eBookstore, as well as new purchases at Kobo.com. For those customers who have both Sainsbury’s and Kobo accounts, clear instructions on how to merge the two will be provided. Customers wanting to retain their Sainsbury’s eBook libraries will need to transfer them to Kobo, as their accounts will automatically be closed on December 1.

Sainsbury’s ebook customers will be able to access their books on Kobo’s E Ink eReaders and free eReading apps built for the most popular smartphones and tablets.

For more information, please visit:

Rakuten Kobo: www.kobo.com

Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand: https://www.sainsburysentertainment.co.uk/ebooks

About Rakuten Kobo
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the world’s fastest-growing eReading services offering more than 5 million eBooks and magazines to millions of customers in 190 countries. Believing that consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device, Kobo provides consumers with a choice when reading. Kobo offers an eReader for everyone with a wide variety of E Ink eReaders, and free top-ranking eReading apps for Apple®, BlackBerry®, Android®, and Windows®. Headquartered in Toronto and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten, Kobo eReaders can be found in major retail chains around the world. For more information, visit www.kobo.com.