Shinsegae Department Store's eBook Rental Service 'Popular'... Surpasses 100,000 Visitors

Shinsegae Department Store's e-book rental service, 'Sinbaek Library,' surpassed 100,000 cumulative visitors in just five months.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Shinsegae Department Store announced on the 26th that its e-book rental service, ‘Shinbaek Library,’ surpassed 100,000 cumulative users just five months after its launch. The total number of books rented reached approximately 35,400, meaning that over 630 users accessed the service daily and rented about 220 books each day.

Shinbaek Library is available for free to anyone who logs into the Shinsegae Department Store application (app). The rental period is 14 days, and there is no limit to the number of books that can be rented at one time. When users search for and click on a desired book, they are linked to the book rental service ‘BookCube.’ The collection includes about 30,000 titles, including audiobooks.

Starting October 1, the number of new release books available for rental will increase to nine. The selected books are those published within the last three months in print, and they are accessible to all customers regardless of membership level.

In the monthly Shinsegae book curation service ‘Dadok Dadok,’ nine carefully selected books cover currently popular themes such as hiking essays, liberal arts humanities, and self-development books for the millennial generation. The theme for October is ‘Italy,’ aimed at comforting customers and quenching their thirst for travel during times when overseas trips are difficult. All six books under this theme can be rented by any member of the Shinsegae Department Store app.

A Shinsegae Department Store representative said, “Shinsegae, which has introduced various content, is gaining attention as the first in the industry to launch an e-book rental service,” adding, “We will provide differentiated services that go beyond distribution to coach customers’ lifestyles.”