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Waterstones has reported encouraging sales of Kindle devices in their first weekend on sale.
The chain began selling Amazon’s e-readers and tablets last Thursday (25th October), with wi-fi still being rolled out across the estate to allow customers to download Kindle e-books instore.
Steve Monaghan, e-commerce and IT director at Waterstones, said tablet devices seemed to be the most popular among customers. Last week was the first time shoppers could buy Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet in the UK, with a standard model priced £129.
Monaghan said: “We saw a very good first weekend’s sales of all Kindle models. There was huge interest in the Fire and Fire HD.” He predicted the devices would be “a popular present” this Christmas.
The retailer also plans to launch a range of Waterstones Kindle accessories nearer to Christmas, working with publishers to design some bespoke Kindle covers. Every Kindle bought in Waterstones has a special Waterstones screensaver, which the company will change periodically and use as a promotional tool.
James Daunt, m.d. of the chain, said selling the devices was good for staff. “The positives to our booksellers have been enormous. They look good in the shops and we are selling an awful lot more books at the same time,” he said.