Walmart unveils Walmart+, its Amazon Prime competitor that costs $98/year and will launch Sept. 15 - GeekWire

Panzer made a quick trip to the GeekWire site today. There our speedy kitty found a post about Walmart's new membership program.

This might be interesting.

According to the post by Taylor Soper, Walmart has announced a new membership program called Walmart+. The new program is available for $98.00 per year or $12.95 per month. Walmart+ gives free delivery for your online purchases. There is a $35.00 minimum order requirement however. There is a 15 day free trial period available. The post contains a link to Walmart's post about the new program. Walmart's post has more information about the program benefits.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... If you really think about it you'll see it's not really a competition. Amazon Prime is a lot more than just free delivery."

Note: This is a long-short length post. Bring a half a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to read Walmart's post about the new program, bring another half a cup of tea.

To read the post tootle over to Walmart+

Amazon Reducing Orders to Publishers - Publishers Weekly

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishers Weekly site. With a little digging in the posts our adventuresome kitty found one about Amazon's inventory problems.

Never have only distributor.

According to Jim Milliot, Amazon is cutting back on the company's book orders from publishers. This is a step the company is taking in inventory reduction at its warehouses. By reducing the number of books in inventory the company will have more warehouse space available for other items in upcoming sales during the holiday season. Because of the possible loss of holiday book sales, some publishers are considering using BN.com, Walmart and other distribution outlets for their online book sales.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Maybe ... Amazon needs bigger warehouses/distribution centers?"

Note: Your choice: This is either a long-short length or a short-medium length post. Either way, bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon

Walmart Launches Three Sub-$99 Tablets to Challenge the iPad - The Digital Reader

Today as Panzer was taking his afternoon nap he was rudely shaken from his kitty bed by laughing and chortling coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile our brave kitty boy followed all the noise to The Digital Reader site. There with a little digging in the posts he found one about Walmart's new tablets.

$64? Really?

According to The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, Walmart has three new tablets for sale in-store now. The tablets sell for $64, $79 and $99. All use the Android OS. There's a link in the post to a Bloomberg post about the Walmart announcement. Also included in the post is a link to the sales page at the Walmart site for the 8-inch $64 tablet.

Panzer says, "Read all the reviews at the Walmart site."

Note: This is a short post. Bring half a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links to Bloomberg and Walmart, bring the other half a cup of tea and a muffin..

To read the post tootle over to Walmart tablets

Will Walmart's eBook Gift Card Effort Succeed? - Bookworks

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Bookworks site. There our speedy kitty pilot found a post about the new Walmart ebook gift cards. Panzer told you about Walmart and Kobo's recent partnership to sell ebooks and ereaders at Walmart stores and at the new online store.

Maybe it will work this time.

Nate Hoffelder's Bookworks post examines Walmart's newest entry into the ebook gift card arena. The post includes a brief history of the ebook gift card. Turns out according to the history that this isn't Walmart's first time selling ebook gift cards. The company first jumped into the market in 2014 in Canadian Walmart stores and continued selling the gift cards into 2017. The history section includes several links to sites for more information about ebook gift cards. The gift cards available in the new U.S. Walmart stores are carried in a special section of the store. Each ebook gift card can only be used for a specific book. The post also includes photos of the store shelves to show how the cards are displayed.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty isn't sure if the ebook gift cards will work except for birthdays and Christmas gifts."

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring Half a thermos of tea and three muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Walmart

To read the post about the Walmart and Kobo eBookstore partnership tootle over to Walmart eBookstore

Walmart's eBookstore is Launching Today - The Digital Reader

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard clapping and cheering outside. Following all the jocularity took our traveling kitty pilot to The Digital Reader site. With no digging at all he discovered a post about the Walmart and Kobo ebookstore partnership he told you about last month.

Will this one succeed?

According to site owner Nate Hoffelder, Walmart's partnership with Kobo begins today with the opening of the new Walmart eBookstore. The ebookstore will be available from Walmart's website and from Kobo's website. The regular Walmart stores will have a special section to sell Kobo's Aura ereader and gift cards to be used to buy ebooks, audiobooks and subscriptions. Kobo will manage the ebookstore for Walmart. There are several links in the post including two to reports of past failures by others of similar sites.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty is wondering who decides which ebooks get sold in the ebookstore."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection. If you decide to follow all the links, bring two extra cups of tea and half a dozen muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Walmart ebookstore

To read Panzer's earlier post tootle over to Walmart and Kobo

Walmart and Kobo Are Launching Their Joint eBookstore on 21 August - The Digital Reader

Panzer didn't even get a chance to get any dinner before he heard clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Jumping into the Panzermobile it didn't take our inquisitive kitty any time at all to find the source of all the noise was The Digital Reader site. With no digging he found a post about Walmart and Kobo.

A cat's work is never done.

According to The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, Kobo will begin selling ebooks through Walmart on August 21. There are two links provided for Walmart which appear to place-holder pages. One will be for the ebookstore and the other for Kobo devices. There's a third link which goes to the kboard site where there's a leaked announcement about the Kobo ebooks at Walmart.

Panzer says, "Humans don't seem to understand that unlike cats they can't keep a secret."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Walmart and Kobo

Amazon Could Be as Big as Walmart In About Four Years or So - The Digital Reader

Panzer's trip into the Catosphere today took him to The Digital Reader site. With no digging at all he found a post about Amazon and Walmart.

The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder's post addresses the issue of Walmart's late entry into the online sales market. Although Walmart's overall sales size is three times bigger than Amazon, the post states Amazon could overtake Walmart in size in four years. The post includes a lot of information about online sales. End of the year financials comparing online sales revenue show Walmart's increased 44 percent verses Amazon's 31 percent. However, the percentages are misleading. Walmart had lower online sales to begin with, so a 44 percent increase is actually smaller than Amazon's 31 percent on larger beginning online sales. The post includes quotes from press releases. There are also links to financial reports, but Walmart's report wasn't secure and couldn't be viewed.

None of it makes sense to me.

Panzer says, "All those numbers and percentages gave this little kitty a headache and he couldn't make heads nor tails of what the post was trying to say."

Note: This is a huge post. Bring half a thermos of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon and Walmart

New Walmart partnership Brings Retailer Into the E-Book Game - Publishers Weekly

My tummy hurts. That was a bad ride.

Panzer hardly entered the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was buffeted around like a feather in the wind by clapping and cheering. Following all the raucous noise took our adventuresome kitty to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about Kobo.

According to the post by John Maher, Walmart has agreed to a partnership with Rakuten. Through Rakuten's Kobo the partnership will give Walmart a foothold in the ebook and audiobook market and give Rakuten's Kobo a foothold in the United States ebook and audiobook market. The ebooks, audiobooks and the Kobo ereader will be sold in 4,000 brick and mortar Walmart stores and online at walmart.com.

Panzer says, "Umm ... My ebooks are available through Kobo. Does that mean they'll be sold at walmart.com?"

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Walmart - Rakuten Kobo partnership

The Amazon debate: Amazon Critic vs Self-publishing Rock Star

Not a hiss in the bunch.

Panzer was going to stop in at Joe Konrath's blog today, but he didn't make it that far.  He made a detour to the Salon site instead. Joe Konrath and Rob Spillman were having an online debate there about Amazon.

The online debate consists of Konrath and Spillman's back and forth emails about whether Amazon is truly the evil ebook publishing empire. It delves into Jeff Bezos' admitted admiration of Sam Walton's business style and the similarities between Amazon and Walmart.

Panzer says, "These two humans actually agree that they mostly agree. Who would have believed that's possible with these two."

This is a very, very, very long post, so bring a very, very, very large cup of tea.

To read the post, tootle over to The great Amazon debate: A leading Amazon critic and a self-publishing rock star try to find common ground