Tag Archives: books

Amazon’s physical store and its link to web data

A news report on NPR (http://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/540076527/be-more-than-a-bookstore-a-brick-and-mortar-shop-s-key-to-success)describes an Amazon store in New York City that sells books but uses data captured on the webstore to suggest related books, offer Amazon prime discounts etc. The physical store thus serves as an extension … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, competitiveness, consumer, Cost, delivery, disruption, Ecommerce, logistics, retailers | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

France’s laws to protect bookshops

An article in the International Herald Tribune (July 10,2014) titled “The French do buy books. Real books”, describes two French laws, the “Lang Law” that says that book prices cannot be discounted more than 5%, and a new rule that … Continue reading

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Is Amazon using Pre-order levels as a tool in negotiating higher margins from publishers ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal on May 23, 2014 (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303749904579580052135901452?mg=reno64-wsj) titled “Amazon-Hachette Dispute Heats Up”, describes a complaint that no pre-orders for books by J L Rowling at Amazon.com’s website were being taken, while other sites continue to … Continue reading

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Selling more books vs maximizing profits – are Amazon’s decisions in sync with author preferences ?

An article in the New York Times (July 5, 2013) describes discount reductions on books by Amazon as the company’s share of book sales grows to 25% of the market. Several authors and small publishers claim that the lowered discounts … Continue reading

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Ebooks more expensive than paper ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal ( Dec 15, 2011) describes a decision by book publishers to dictate retail prices for ebooks, with retailers requiring permission before discounting. Given that used paper book prices are set by market trends, … Continue reading

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Print to order by HarperCollins and small bookstore competitiveness

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Sept 23, 2011) describes the impact of a decision by the publisher HarperCollins to make 5,000 paperbacks available through OnDemand Books LLC Espresso print Machine. The small printer enables a book to be … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Ecommerce, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment