Introduction
Every business’s main aim is making profits. Indeed, competing business ventures may attain this goal despite following different business models. Nowhere is this concept better illustrated than by three bookselling companies namely, Barnes &Nobles, Border and Amazon. The three bookstores are all competing for the same market share of book readers, except that Amazon has diversified to other consumer products, but still keeps books as one of its major products.
Amazon has always boasted of being the number one book store. However, this claim was shadowed by the financial strains that the company faced in the early 2000s. Lately, though, the company is back on its footing and has devised ways to keep it afloat amidst the growing competition. One such way is by working with publishers to create a search-inside-the-book function, which allows customers to have a peek of what the book contains before finally deciding whether to buy it (Knowledge@Wharton, 2006). Amazon has book reviews posted on its website along with corresponding books. This makes it even easier for the customer to decide if the book suits their reading preferences or not. Additional features that develop customer loyalty in Amazon are the shopping suggestions offered to customers and the one-click purchasing. Overall, Amazon has succeeded in creating an easy and pleasant online shopping experience for customers (Knowledge@Wharton, 2000). This not only draws new customers but also builds brand loyalty. Amazon, just like the other bookstores spends a huge budget on marketing and advertising strategies in an effort to draw more clients to its customer base.
Borders bookstores on the other hand have a business approach that focuses on customer satisfaction. As such, the book stocks on the store shelves are mainly determined by demand. Before 2000, Borders had a sophisticated program that traced reader behaviour and was thus able to predict demand. This enabled the staff at Borders to have immense buyer knowledge that helped them in decision making. They were then able to stock the right books. This in turn ensured that their name as a bookstore that has just the right books was entrenched with many book buyers. As a result, their sales grew and the profitability objective was attained (Knowledge@Wharton, 2000). This business approach persists to date
In Barnes &Nobles, the business approach mainly targets selling volumes at lower prices. As such, the bookstore is renowned for its generous discounts, which range from 40 to 90 per cent. The brick and mortar stores that belong to Barnes &Noble are enormous with some equipped with shopping carts ready for the shoppers. The competitive edge for Barnes & Nobles has remained the off-price and discounts offered on the books (Knowledge@Wharton, 2000). As a result, the company has over time managed to capture the market share that thrives on cheap books.
Websites
- The Amazon website (www.amazon.com) is quite a user friendly with helpful tips to the customer. The website is divided into various sections that include categories such as the ‘new and notable’, ‘new paperbacks’, ‘what we are reading’ and ‘featured category’. As a customer puller, the discount message is placed strategically on the top of the website. Overall, the Amazon website is well organized and has a combination of text, book covers and links that expound on authors, the books and the selling price. The Amazon site has categorized books into various categories thus ensuring that the shopper has ease when selecting their preferred reading genre.
- The Barnes & Nobles website (www.barnesandnoble.com) is a pale comparison to the Amazon website. At first glance, the website lacks the colour and details evident on Amazon’s website. The dominant feature of this website is the new book releases. On top of this, is a membership invitation that promises to save up to 40 per cent of shopper’s money daily if one takes up membership. The website also recommends books to shoppers in the ‘unputdownable’ selection. Unlike Amazon whose discount details are strategically placed at the top of the page, the B&N discounts are within the page and in fine print too. They also have an offer section, which occupies the lowest position on the page.
- The Borders website (www.borders.com) is the most colourful of the three but lacks the details exhibited on Amazon and B&N websites. The right-hand corner is reserved for offers and discounts. A revolving banner is strategically positioned offering an insight into books recommended by the Borders book club. The website’s dominant feature however is the new fiction and non-fiction books section. The website also has a section where the top-ranking pre-orders are ranked. Overall, I would rank the Amazon website as the most user-friendly website because it combines efficiency and good website layout.
Use of Communication Technologies
Amazon uses integrated communication technologies to send and receive information from its customers. A personalized homepage for each shopper that lists products related to previous purchases is one such strategy. The company further sends emails to its shoppers alerting them of offers and book releases. Additionally, it gives bloggers a platform to air book reviews and wishes list items (Pieniazek, A. 2007). Barnes and Nobles on the other hand use integrated communication strategies to get information about customers. This information is later used to contact the customers on book releases. B&N allows the client to create online accounts, enrol for the loyalty programs, review books, get gift reminders and apply for the B&N MasterCard (www.barnesandnobleinc.com). The use of efficient communication technologies is also credited with increasing the bookstore’s ability to process transactions by approximate 30 per cent.
At Borders, communication technology is used as a holistic approach to reach customers. Through communication technology, the store delivers its marketing messages to the clients. The bookstore also uses a store locater function to enable the users to locate the brick and mortar store. Shoppers thus have the option of either ordering online or picking the same physically. Borders main electronic marketing tools are email newsletters and email messages (Pruell, C. 2004).
Ethical, legal and security issues
On legal issues, the three bookstores ensure that copyright laws are upheld by working with publishers and writers to ensure they get their royalties and dues. The three bookstores maintain terms and conditions and or disclaimers with customers regarding the use of customer accounts online. By doing this, the bookstores pass all the responsibility to anything that happens under the customers’ account to the individual user.
The three bookstores apply similar measures in ethics. This means that no customer information can be given out to a third party without the direct approval of the client. This also applies to security especially for the online transactions. First time buyers are required in all the three scenarios to provide relevant personal information before books can be shipped.
Conclusion
The three bookstores are a testimony that indeed success in business depends on the ability of each business entity setting clear business models. Thus, competition does not need to ape each others business approach.