[Geralt]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Spoiler:

Customer browsing has always been part of book selling. And accomodating that is part of the cost of doing business.
A good part of the success of the chain stores back in their day was due precisely to their openness to browsing and the accomodations they provided.

In more recent times, Amazon has prospered because *they* make browsing even more convenient and efficient online. Especially by eliminating the prospect of going to the trouble of a long drive to a B&M site only to find nothing worth buying.

The plain fact is anybody willing to buy online is already aware that B&M "cannot possibly" compete with Amazon in catalog size and price (the ADSers repeat it constantly and loudly enough). The only people who actually bother to enter a bookstore these days are the ones interested in buying *local* in the first place. They are giving them first crack at their business.
If they walk out emptyhanded it isn't because of any ethical failing on their behalf but rather because the bookstore failed to close the deal. The failure is on them, not on the customer. Because anybody who had no interest in buying wouldn't waste lifespan in a bookstore.

The crucial misunderstanding here is the myth that B&M browsing is somehow magically better and more efficient than online browsing.

News alert, Mr Nicholls: it isn't.

The only thing B&M book selling is better at is forcing customers to walk past tables of payola-supported titles. And that by itself is reason enough to go shop online, where the store operator is focused on helping the shopper find the book they want instead of making them buy the books they're bring paid to promote.

Completely agree with you, you make some good points.

Originally Posted by tompe

Nearly all people I would say. People at this forum are people that read a lot of books and read about books so they do not need expert help. Other will need it if they want to optimize the selection process.

Nearly nobody at all I would say. The casual reader shops in two manners.
They enter a bookshop and buy whatever catches their eye, usually popular or heavily displayed titles.
OR
They see what their friends, cousins, or somebody they like reads and they go and buy that.
A casual reader to me is somebody who doesn't read more than 5 books a year.

No need to optimize anything because they aren't so invested into reading anyway. If anything it's always the people who read a lot worrying about choosing that next 5 star book.

Books are not golf clubs people. A casual reader will buy a book, read a book, and forget about it in little while. They won't go on using it for ages.
You make a bad example comparing these things.

Originally Posted by RobertDDL

I thought this was what this discussion is about?

Last time I checked people bought paper books in online shops as well.