Borders  is offering customers the chance to download samples of books to their mobile to try before they buy the whole thing. Borders says the service, which launched yesterday, makes the company the worlds first book retailer to distribute book content direct to mobile.
Using a mobile technology platform developed by ICUE,  Borders will offer exclusive chapter samplers to customers in advance of the title being released. These will be delivered free of charge to the customers mobile phone, together with a discount that can be redeemed in store once the title is available to buy.
Consumers can find and choose samplers shown on the Borders website. Once theyve selected their title theyre interested in, they text a relevant keyword, for example BEDROOM, to the shortcode 64888. The customer then receives a text saying You have been sent Irvine Welshs Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs click here to download.
Clicking on the link downloads the sample to the users handset. The sample includes information on the books release date, the first chapter of the book, and a message or barcode number, offering the customer an exclusive discount that can be redeemed in-store. The discount will be 20% at launch but may vary at Borders discretion, and is valid for six weeks.
A total of 30 new titles will be promoted each month at Borders. Every month, Borders and ICUE will choose nine titles that will be available to download without the discount.
Borders CRM and Online Manager Laura Stafford, says the company is thrilled to be the first book retailer to partner with ICUE in launching books to mobile.
Not only does this build on our successful mobile voucher activity, but were also committed to exploring new technology and bringing books to a wider audience says Stafford.