Lulu.com to Create New Standard in Publishing Commerce
Open-publisher partners with eCommerce platform provider, Elastic Path, for improved customer experience and greater author freedom
Raleigh, N.C., March 8th, 2011 – Lulu.com, the leader in open-publishing, has partnered with ecommerce platform provider Elastic Path in a deal that will sculpt the way ecommerce is handled by the publishing industry for years to come.
Lulu empowers creators to publish and sell their works to the Lulu Marketplace for free. This community of 2.5 million customers is the driving force behind the partnership, as Lulu has developed a unique ecosystem where buyers can easily become sellers in the time it takes to upload a file. With the addition of the Elastic Path ecommerce platform, sellers can expect new capabilities, such as merchandising and custom sales campaigns, that will further expand their creative control and freedom over their works. As a result, buyers will benefit from faster checkouts and more frequent promotions.
“Elastic Path provides solutions and strategies specifically for digital goods and services companies that want to offer a frictionless buying experience for their customers,” says Matt Dion, Vice President of Marketing for Elastic Path. “Lulu has made the publishing and buying experience quick and easy for the buyers and sellers in their marketplace. They are a great example of an innovative company embracing the social nature of the web and applying it to the publishing industry.”
Due to the ongoing, reciprocal nature of the partnership, customers receiving this top-shelf ecommerce system will also benefit from new features as both companies continue to innovate.
“The Lulu Marketplace requires an ecommerce system capable of handling complex interactions like revenue tracking, partner commissions, easy discoverability, and customized storefronts,” says Bob Young, CEO and Founder of Lulu. “As Lulu and Elastic Path work together, we will create a new model of ecommerce for the publishing industry to follow as we help a new generation of creators sell more content to more readers more profitably than ever before.”
This new ecommerce strategy is just one more element of the open-publishing market that Lulu is building. Lulu is committed to providing creators with the ability to sell their work anywhere, anytime through a growing network of retail partners and open-source publication APIs.
####
About Lulu: Lulu (www.lulu.com) is the leader in open publishing, empowering creators of all kinds — individuals, publishers, educators and enterprises — to publish and sell while enabling buyers to discover new knowledge. Powered by an Internet retail site, global distribution system and social content discovery engine, Lulu helps creators make and monetize content in a variety of formats, including physical books and eBooks. It connects them to buyers on Lulu.com and in third-party channels, including Amazon.com and Apple’s iBookstore.
About Elastic Path Software: Elastic Path provides the industry's most flexible enterprise ecommerce platform and strategic ecommerce consulting. We help innovative enterprises sell more digital goods and services in a way that is frictionless, social, and everywhere. Major global brands such as Symantec, Time Inc, and Virgin Media rely on Elastic Path to innovate and grow. Web: www.elasticpath.com Blog: www.getelastic.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/elasticpath
CONTACT: AJ McDonald
pr@lulu.com