ent software, and product development enterprises. Barnes & Noble, Inc. is also the number one video game seller in the U.S. Bertelsmann and Barnes & Noble, Inc. each own 36% of online book selling arm barnesandnoble.com, and barnesandnoble.com and Barnes & Noble, Inc. own a majority interest in magazine subscription seller enews.com. Further, Barnes & Noble, Inc. owns a direct-mail bookselling business, several publishing companies, 72% of Calendar Club, and 49% of publishing portal iUniverse.com (Hoover’s 1).
Despite a plethora of opportunities, Barnes & Noble, Inc. is facing some internal and external weaknesses and threats. One of these is the weak performance of barnesandnoble.com; another is the continual threat of lawsuits and antitrust regulations, like the failed intended merger between Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Ingram Book Group. The deal was called off due to antitrust concerns. Nevertheless, Barnes & Noble, Inc. is poised to take advantage of its significant strengths and potential opportunities with proper management strategy and policy. A SWOT Analysis of Barnes and Noble, Inc. will now be provided.
The company enjoys many strengths. It is the best known brand of bookseller and the largest. Another strength is the recent initiative by the company to offer customers multiple purchasing options. This is intended to increase sales both offline and online, as the company installs internet service counters in its superstores. Such moves are intended to take advantage of increasing book sales within the publishing industry of 5% annually over the past three years (Farmer 1).
Barnes & Noble, Inc. enjoys strength through continual innovation. Some of its most recent include the Reader’s Advantage membership program. Tailored for Barnes & Noble’s best customer, the program gives members an extra 10% off everything they buy for an annual membership fee of $25 (Business 1). Other innovations include rapi...