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"Independent" global online retailer Wordery launched this week, undercutting existing prices for new releases on Amazon.co.uk by up to 10%.
The direct-to-consumer website is a partnership between book wholesaler Bertrams and former Book Depository IT director Will Jones. The company said it intended to offer "the right book at the right price" to customers in over 100 countries.
The Wordery website advertises titles under categories such as "new and notable", "bestsellers" and "new releases", and contains pages themed on subjects such as Mr Men Books or classic titles.
Wordery is currently selling frontlist titles at a discount of nearly 40%, beating existing Amazon.co.uk prices by up to 10% on some new releases, with mark-downs including Charlie Higson's The Fallen (Penguin, r.r.p. £12.99/Amazon price £9.09), priced at £8.12. A separate launch offer entitled customers to receive a further 10% off the price of a book by entering "BOOKS" at the checkout stage.
Wordery has been trading as a third-party retailer on sites such as Amazon, eBay and Play.com since last October, and is expected to have an annual turnover of nearly £15m, which Jones said the company was "very pleased with".
Jones told The Bookseller: "Customers are crying out for an independent online retailer. We can offer customers an online alternative to Amazon. People tell me they want a new, independent, successful online retailer, and we have our own voice and are free to sell which books we like, at a price we like, anywhere around the world.
"We are a range book retailer selling millions of titles . . . We are a truly global retailer. We will be the cheapest where we can offer the cheapest price and we have had superb support from all the publishers we have spoken to so far."
Bertrams will supply the books for the Wordery fulfilment.