“Many retailers have their physical stores and an e-commerce Web site, and the two experiences are quite different, or at least not maximized in the way they could be by being more integrated,” Roman says. “When we launch [the Web site] this spring, we will not only have two channels—physical store and online store—but we [will] have the unique opportunity to marry the two in ways that will truly add dimension to the customer experience ….”
Connecting with consumers on multiple levels has become essential to brick-and-mortar and online retailing, with both platforms offering distinct opportunities for engagement. Traditional booksellers, for instance, have sought to make their stores community gathering spots: Barnes & Noble boasts of being the nation’s second-largest coffeehouse, while Borders is designing its new stores to better accommodate book clubs, live music and author signings.
The most important elements in online sales, of course, are availability and price—most clearly in the ability of sites like Amazon, AbeBooks, Powell’s Books and Alibris to offer a variety of new and used copies of the same title.
“It pays to sell through as many channels as possible, so the switched-on bookseller these days will sell through Amazon, eBay and Alibris, and go on to overseas markets,” says Richard Davies, AbeBooks’ publicity manager.
AbeBooks runs an online marketplace that allows thousands of independent bookstores to sell their books online. The Victoria, B.C.-based company has enjoyed healthy growth in recent years, seeing $190 million worth of books sold through its site in 2007, up from $170 million in 2006.
With music and movies a recent venture for Alibris (primarily an online marketplace provider for independent booksellers), the company’s 30-percent increase in sales last year came almost entirely from books, says Brian Elliot, president and CEO. Other media, he says, “are still a single-digit percentage of our business … [but] we think multiple media will help bring back buyers to our sellers, and our partners increasingly agree—especially [in regard] to used and harder-to-find DVDs.”
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“Many retailers have their physical stores and an e-commerce Web site, and the two experiences are quite different, or at least not maximized in the way they could be by being more integrated,” Roman says. “When we launch [the Web site] this spring, we will not only have two channels—physical store and online store—but we [will] have the unique opportunity to marry the two in ways that will truly add dimension to the customer experience ….”
Connecting with consumers on multiple levels has become essential to brick-and-mortar and online retailing, with both platforms offering distinct opportunities for engagement. Traditional booksellers, for instance, have sought to make their stores community gathering spots: Barnes & Noble boasts of being the nation’s second-largest coffeehouse, while Borders is designing its new stores to better accommodate book clubs, live music and author signings.
The most important elements in online sales, of course, are availability and price—most clearly in the ability of sites like Amazon, AbeBooks, Powell’s Books and Alibris to offer a variety of new and used copies of the same title.
“It pays to sell through as many channels as possible, so the switched-on bookseller these days will sell through Amazon, eBay and Alibris, and go on to overseas markets,” says Richard Davies, AbeBooks’ publicity manager.
AbeBooks runs an online marketplace that allows thousands of independent bookstores to sell their books online. The Victoria, B.C.-based company has enjoyed healthy growth in recent years, seeing $190 million worth of books sold through its site in 2007, up from $170 million in 2006.
With music and movies a recent venture for Alibris (primarily an online marketplace provider for independent booksellers), the company’s 30-percent increase in sales last year came almost entirely from books, says Brian Elliot, president and CEO. Other media, he says, “are still a single-digit percentage of our business … [but] we think multiple media will help bring back buyers to our sellers, and our partners increasingly agree—especially [in regard] to used and harder-to-find DVDs.”