Bookselling on the Internet: a Future That Works

LOGOS 9(1)2nd 31/10/06 7:39 pm Page 18

LOGOS Bookselling on the Internet: A future that works

Stephen Horvath The rise of bookselling on the Internet parallels the birth and growth of amazon.com, the virtual bookstore launched from Seattle in 1994. Books were sold online before Amazon came along (notably by a company called Book Stacks Unlimited), but the activity was barely visible. The long-term vision, the real “paradigm shift” in the role of the retail bookseller, appeared with Amazon. The timing was After twenty years in the right. By early 1995, the Internet was well estab- publishing business, during lished in terms of public awareness and widespread which he worked for a US use. There were no major competitors. Amazon enjoyed a grace period of about two years (a genera- educational publisher, for an tion in cybertime) to establish its concept and build international STM publisher and its customer base. as a publisher of academic and By early 1997, Amazon had capitalized on professional journals, Steve this window of opportunity. It had refined its web site, improved the search and cross-referencing Horvath entered bookselling with “engine”, and sorted out the logistics of distribution. Barnes & Noble. Recently he Sales grew exponentially, but operating losses in was Assistant Manager of the 1996 were $6m. Amazon then raised $54m from a Borders Superstore in San public stock offering – a war chest for further investment and working capital to fund its contin- Francisco and Palo Alto, uing losses. By the end of 1997, loss for the year was California. Horvath holds AB $27.6m, but sales had increased by an incredible and MBA degrees from 838% to $147m. Dartmouth College. He currently Unsurprisingly, those companies with the resides in the San Diego area. biggest stake in book retail distribution took notice. Superstore giants Barnes & Noble and Borders announced their intent to enter online bookselling – B & N with a substantive facility of its own and Borders with somewhat vague plans to study the sit- uation. There ensued a phoney war, complete with litigation, between Barnes & Noble, who styled themselves “The World’s Largest Bookseller Online” and Amazon (“Earth’s Biggest Bookstore”). This signified little except to make it appear that each party was trying to co-opt the other’s identity, but it revealed the seriousness with which the Amazon threat was regarded by the superstore chains. (The suits have since been dropped.)

Bookselling on the Internet: A future that works

In addition to strategic moves by these Amazon web site: “Our top Navigation Bar [the main players, some independent US bookstores “icons” which the customer clicks on to get around] (such as WordsWorth in Cambridge, Massachusetts takes you to the most interesting areas of our store: and A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco) launched web sites of their own, most of ● Search: Use our search engine to find what them a poor man’s version of Amazon. Specialty you want, fast. bookshops, eg, Computer Literacy, a Silicon Valley ● Browse Subjects: Dive into our twenty-two technical bookstore, went after the corporate mar- subject areas and find great books on the topics ket via the Internet. And major wholesale distribu- that interest you. tors, notably Ingram, who have been the principal ● Bestsellers: Read about what’s hot – and will suppliers to Amazon, are feeling their way into the be soon. Internet market. Many others will soon be in the ● Recommendation Center: Discover five ways game. to get recommendations on books that suit How significant in the universe of books your tastes. is this phenomenon? What are its economics? ● Award Winner: View honored and celebrated What is the message, not only for the retail book books. trade, but also for publishers, authors, readers and ● Reviewed in the Media: Read about titles book clubs? Whatever the message, it has world- recently featured in more than twenty leading wide implications. The Internet knows no bound- reviews sources – magazines, newspapers, radio, aries. There are already Internet booksellers in Web sites and television.” Europe and Australia. The text is well organized and visually * * * * * appealing. As in a good bookstore, the site is designed to merchandise the wares. The customer The coming of the superstore in the can see the book covers, read the blurbs, even (in United States [see my article in LOGOS 7/1] had some cases) view a short excerpt. For the straight- already substantively changed the climate of retail forward shopper, Amazon is as good as a good book- bookselling before the Internet came on the scene. store. What it can’t do is provide the human Bookbuyers were presented with wider choices and contact and physical ambience. It’s more of a salon more amenities. Amazon has extended this evolu- than a café. As a reviewer in a computer magazine tion, copying some of the superstores’ techniques, put it, “Now all they have to do is figure out a way but building on the unique strengths and novelties to provide a good cup of java and a way to read all of the electronic medium. To quote the editor of your favorite magazines free of charge.” LOGOS when we corresponded about this piece, “Is Having worked in a superstore for five this any kind of a substitute for visiting a good book- years, I remain impressed by the range of product store?” Implicit in his question is the feeling that the superstores offer. You can find well over 100,000 unless it is, the “virtual bookstore” will not succeed. titles in the average superstore and facility to order This is a key question, but like a politician I have to your choice of another 200,000. Ten years ago, say that the answer is not a simple yes or no. facilities like this did not exist. Even today, physical Bookbuyers go to bookstores for two basic access to such selection is difficult for many book- reasons. One is to shop for books in the same way buyers. I live in the fifth largest metropolitan area that they peruse catalogs or brochures and place in the country, but the Borders store where I orders. The other is for the physical experience of worked is the only one here. (There are six Barnes contact with books all the way from simple brows- & Nobles.) Now anyone with a computer and a ing to enjoying the ambience of refreshments and modem can access a range of titles greater than that entertainment in a bookish atmosphere. Amazon of any superstore – twenty-four hours a day – and performs the first role effectively and it attempts a you don’t have to leave your home or office to do it. bit of the second, albeit somewhat vicariously (or When it comes to special orders for titles “virtually”). To quote the sales message on the not stocked in bookstores, Amazon probably has