Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Walmart, Costco and Amazon are not inherently evil by any stretch. They are just companies doing business like any other. The issue comes when they are the only game in town.
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But whose fault is it if they are (occasionally) the only game in town?
Theirs?
Or maybe competitors who don't know or (more often) don't want to compete for consumer attention? Suppliers who offload core competencies like distribution and marketing to the distributors? Consumers, for choosing a reliable efficient retailer?
We all want a diversity of choices but what if one choice is simply better fir most people?
The whole tone of the original article is that times and the business environment have changed and that if B&M retailing is to survive as a viable business the bookstores need a clean sheet look at what consumers need and what they want and they need to focus less on what publishers want. The last part is hard because they are so dependent on the front table payola and on returns that most of them have limited leverage come negotiation time. If they have any at all. Most independent bookstores are pretty much limited to whatever their distributor charges so reworking the store and its practices may be the only areas they can control.
Which is why looking at things like loyalty programs, in-store kiosks, smart walls, walk-by sales, and POD is important. Any one of them might possibly make the difference between still being around in ten years or being a vaguely remembered ghost.