DBR Case Study: Growth Strategy of ‘Millie’s Library’ with 7.1 Million Subscribers “Change Not Just What to Read, But How to Read” Excitement over Diverse Contents in E-Books The startup Millie’s Library, which entered the market with the provocative question, “Is it really reading if you don’t read from start to finish?” has now established itself as the –largest reading content platform in Korea. This achievement draws even more attention as it has surpassed major players in the publishing industry, such as Kyobo Book Centre and YES24. Millie’s Library set its main target as people who “want to read books but don’t know what or how to read” and consistently offered interesting, light, and short reading content. Additionally, it focused on providing differentiated services from traditional online bookstores by curating a variety of reading content based on different situations and popularity. With this strategy, Millie’s Library successfully became a part of the daily lives of the 20s and 30s, who prioritize time-efficiency and pursue self-development and personal taste consumption.
Subscription-based Reading Platform Market Led by Startups
As subscription services have spread into every corner of daily life, we are now in an era where anything can be subscribed to. In addition to OTT services like Netflix, distribution companies such as Coupang and SHINSEGAE offer various subscription services, and there are many consumers who regularly receive items that match their preferences, such as traditional liquors and flowers. Without needing to purchase books, subscribing to e-books and reading them anytime, anywhere, has also become a familiar part of everyday life.
However, the leading company in the e-book subscription service market is not a large bookstore but the startup Millie’s Library. In fact, Millie’s Library was the first in Korea to introduce an unlimited e-book subscription service in July 2018. After that, Kyobo Book Centre, YES24, and RIDI launched their own unlimited e-book subscription services, but despite their considerable size advantage, they have not been able to catch up with the newcomer Millie’s Library (refer to DBR mini box I: “Growing as a Content Platform Beyond E-books”).
In the subscription-based reading platform market, Millie’s Library dominates with a 62.9% market share. It is also the top brand that comes to mind for “e-book subscription services,” with 43.2% of consumers recognizing the name. 11The results of the Open Survey commissioned by Millie’s Library in July 2023.닫기 As of 2023, Millie’s Library has surpassed 7. million cumulative subscribers and achieved annual sales of 56.6 billion KRW with an operating profit of 10.4 billion KRW, marking record-breaking performances for two consecutive years (Figure 1).
This content was translated into English by AI (using DeepL) from an article that was originally written in Korean in the DBR (Donga Business Review). Therefore, please understand that there may be some awkward expressions.
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