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21 Feb 2001, UK

Hi Dr Ecommerce,

I am about to start a study on the future of book retailing. Do you
think that online retailers are likely to succeed over the traditional
high street stores? Or do you think that stores with both high street
and internet presence are likely to beat the likes of amazon.com?
Could you also point me in the direction of other information sources on this topic.

Thanks in advance

Alex

Dear Alex:

I think there is ample room for both. As an avid book reader, I prefer on-line bookshops for purchasing books when I know in advance precisely I want, for example books that have been recommended to me, books that have had good reviews or new books from authors I like. Moreover, as a native English speaker living in Brussels, I can get more selection from British and American on-line bookshops.

However, I like visiting bookshops, when I want to browse books, discover new authors, read a few pages before buying (I think a great idea for on-line bookshops would be to allow people to download the first chapter!) and talk to the shopkeeper. I also like to visit second hand bookshops - and I much prefer to visit the bricks and mortar variety where I can check the quality of books before buying.

While it is dangerous to make a judgement based on a survey of one, my approach is based on common-sense, and I am sure other on-line book buyers have similar book-buying habits.

In short, there is clearly room for both on-line and off-line bookshops. And while on-line bookshops will doubtless gain increasing market share - they will not get more than 20% of the market for the forseeable future.

For links, I suggest you join the eThesis forum (send a blank e-mail to ethesis-subscribe@topica.com or visit www.drecommerce.com/discussion.html#ethesis) and ask your question there.

Good luck,

Dr. Ecommerce