Consumer Wise
Q: One challenge of a direct-to-consumer model is that some feel that it's simply a euphemism for “competing with Amazon” on a retail level. What are some of the non-e-commerce related benefits of building direct consumer relationships?
There isn’t a single publisher around that can compete with Amazon. But it’s not about competition. The direct-to-consumer model is about knowing your customer. It’s all-important! Typically, the primary customers that a publisher engages with are business-to-business customers: the retailers and distributors. But not the end-readers. By knowing what the end-readers want, what they’re like, what other books they buy, who their friends are, what books they’re sharing, how much they spend on discretionary reading–well, it’s a treasure trove of data that can help not only market books better, but help curate new books, or new editions of existing books. That said, retailing content isn’t necessarily the only way to gather this data–there are intriguing platforms now which help to connect publishers to readers without encumbering publishers with the burden of setting up their own niche retail portal.
- Companies:
- Amazon.com
- Bowker
- Harlequin