The main reasons for people buying e-books are possibly lower prices, increased comfort (as they can buy from home or on the go with mobile devices) and a larger selection of titles. By the early 2010s, e-books had begun to overtake hardcover by overall publication figures in the U.S. With e-books, users can browse through titles online, and then when they select and order titles, the e-book can be sent to them online or the user can download the e-book.

With print books, readers are increasingly browsing through images of the covers of books on publisher or bookstore websites and selecting and ordering titles online the paper books are then delivered to the reader by mail or another delivery service. In the 2000s, there was a trend of print and e-book sales moving to the Internet, where readers buy traditional paper books and e-books on websites using e-commerce systems. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, but also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Although sometimes defined as 'an electronic version of a printed book', some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices.

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