When confronting Google, such a multinational conglomerate, many companies probably would not consider they have a chance to win and gain more market shares. Kobo, a small Canadian ebook and e-reading company, however, succeeded on fighting off the e-commerce giant, Google.

Expecting to have a finger in the pie of the rapidly growing e-book market, Google designed a program with indie bookstores that allowed them to sell Google e-books. Only operated for two years, however, the program came to a premature end in the past January. Even Google failed to penetrate the e-book market; many would think it must be hardly profitable to rush into the business, but KOBO didn’t see it in the same way as the other and operated the same program after Google’s failure. Surprisingly, in the first month of operation, Kobo sold books more than twice of those sold by Google in two years. Google, being one of the most well-known companies in the world, got defeated so easily. How is this possible? It is possible when you have an improper strategy. The key factor that led to Kobo’s success is the devices. Since the majority does not have the habit of reading e-books, selling such products would be extraordinarily difficult if the complement good, in this case the e-reader, is not available in the very same store. Having a firm grasp on this concept, Kobo gave stores the opportunity to sell Kobo’s line of e-readers and tablets, which made it easier to sell its e-books.

Until now, Kobo already has 460 indie bookstores signed up for this program, and the number is expected to grow to 1000 at the end of this year. It proves that small firms can excel, but only with a proper strategy.