Hachette Livre has instigated a total overhaul of its web presence across its UK publishing houses. New-look sites will roll out from August and sell books direct to consumers.

The group has built a rapid fulfilment system to enable it to sell directly from its own warehouses. “We eventually intend to have next-day delivery,” said Hachette commercial director Richard Kitson. “We will sell full-price—[these sites] are not set up to compete with our customers.” Instead, the sites will look to market and sell “added value” products such as signed editions.
The relaunch begins with Hodder and Little, Brown at the end of August. The new sites will include features such as author blogs and podcasts, and Little, Brown’s will also feature its e-books programme, which encompasses around 10 new titles a year.

This will be followed by Orchard, Hodder Children’s Books and Hachette Children’s Books, which will roll out from the end of August. Headline will launch its own site in September. Octopus’ new site will launch later this year and will gather all of its imprints under one umbrella. Octopus is also looking at selling extra content by subscription.

John Murray is also likely to have its own website. Orion, the most up-to-date of the group’s websites, will not change. Hodder Education will relaunch later this year, along with a corporate site for the publishing group at http://www.hachette-livre.co.uk.

The moves are part of Hachette’s new focus on digital issues, which has seen the appointment of a global digital board to look at storage and marketing. “Because the group has come together so quickly and been disparate, we will probably access what­ever is in place in America and put digital content into it,” Kitson said. “That’s the easiest bit. What’s hardest is working out how to use the content.”