This analysis will cover the online bookselling industry, including key competitors, products, size, life cycle, structure and other relevant factors. An in-depth assessment of one of the key competitors in the industry, BarnesandNoble.com, will then be given. This assessment will include a brief history, competitive strategy, five year sales trends, a SWOT analysis and other pertinent information. A conclusion will provide a critique of BarnesandNoble.com’s current strategy.
Industry & Competitors – The online bookselling industry is an industry made up of booksellers like Amazon.com who offer no other outlet for book purchasing and those like BarnesandNoble.com who offer electronic and traditional retail book sales. Trends in the industry bode well for future growth and success, such as the fact that books ranked as the number one purchase via the Web last year, ahead of computer hardware, software and compact discs (Online, 1999, 1). Further, consumers continue to be attracted to purchasing via the Web “38% of the adult U.S. population was online as of March 1999, with 18.8 million more planning to get on the Internet by 2000. Of those surveyed, 60% said they shopped online” (Online, 1999, 1). The key industry players in online bookselling are BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, Borders.com, and BestDEAL.com. A former industry key player, Fatbrain.com, was recently purchased by BarnesandNoble.com.
Customers & Needs – Customers for online book sales represent nearly the entire purchasing population around the world. Men purchased 3.6 million books in 1998 via the Web while women purchased 2 million (Online, 1999, 1). Web consumers looking for books are also attracted to the large number of titles available, the convenience of Web shopping, and the typical 20-40% offered compared to traditional retail book outlets.
Industry Size and Live Cycle – The online bookselling industry is a relatively new indus...