Shinsegae Department Store "Free eBook Rentals 'Popular'... Book Curation Ongoing Until the 18th"

Shinsegae Department Store eBook Rental Service 'Sinbaek Library' (Photo by Shinsegae Department Store).

Cumulative Visitors 57,000, 15,000 Books Rented... About 300 Books Borrowed Daily
'Dadokdadok' Book Curation Runs Until the 18th... Showcasing 9 Popular Books Selected
Finance & Investment Ranked No.1... Self-Development Books Popular in Gangnam, Child Education Books in Daegu

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] Shinsegae Department Store announced on the 8th that its e-book rental service 'Sinbaekseojae,' the first of its kind in the retail industry launched through a mobile application, has recorded over 57,000 visitors within 50 days of service. Shinsegae Department Store is running the book curation 'Dadokdadok' until the 18th of this month.

'Sinbaekseojae' is available for free to anyone who logs into the Shinsegae Department Store app. The rental period is 14 days, and there is no limit to the number of books that can be rented at once. The usage is simple: search for the book you want to read and click to be linked to the book rental service 'BookCube.'

Shinsegae’s VIP customers have access to a larger collection. The total number of books, including audiobooks, is about 30,000 volumes. The introduction of audiobooks for children is also under consideration.

Until the 18th, you can also experience Shinsegae’s directly recommended book curation service 'Dadokdadok.' Nine carefully selected books cover popular themes such as hiking essays, liberal arts, and self-development books for the millennial generation.

Representative titles include Shin Kyung-eun’s Today, Hiking, Jeong Chaebong’s First Heart, Paulo Coelho’s The Moment I Shine, Alfred Adler’s The Courage to Rise Again, Yoon Hyejun’s Reading European Cities with Seven Codes, Philippe Biondury’s New Normal Liberal Arts Class, Liu Nan’s Attractive and Likeable Speech, Han Seunghyun’s This Life is a Multi-Jobber, and Oh Bonggeun’s Metacognition, the Skill of Thinking.

Since its launch in April, Shinsegae Department Store’s 'Sinbaekseojae' has surpassed 57,000 cumulative visitors as of the 5th. The total number of books rented so far is about 15,000. This means that over 1,100 people access the service daily and borrow around 300 books.

Looking at customer data from Sinbaekseojae users, the most popular books were in the fields of humanities and finance. The book with the highest number of rentals was Reading European Cities with Seven Codes. Finance and investment-related books accounted for 20% of all rentals. Top 77 Most Asked Questions by Beginner Stock Investors ranked second in overall rental rankings, and The Nature of Money and Customized Subscription Class were also popular.

By region, finance and investment books ranked first in Seoul Gangnam, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju, but the second most popular books varied slightly. In Seoul Gangnam, the second most viewed books were in success philosophy and self-development. In Busan and Gwangju, essays and prose collections ranked second. In Daegu, child education books were popular following finance.

Shinsegae plans to strengthen its service to provide more books and benefits based on diverse e-book usage data. From the end of this month, it will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Genie Music and offer monthly music playlists, magazines, and videos through a dedicated Genie Music section within the department store app. Shinsegae’s 'Seasons and Table' corner, which introduces seasonal foods, will inform customers about ingredients that must be eaten now. It provides everything about the food, from how to select fresh ingredients, preparation methods, good pairings, delicious recipes, to popular restaurants.

Lee Seonghwan, Executive Director of Sales Strategy at Shinsegae Department Store, said, "Shinsegae, which has introduced various content, is now attempting the first e-book rental service in the industry. We will provide differentiated services that go beyond retail to coach customers’ lifestyles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.