Growth in online book sales slowing, NY Times says
Growth in online sales of books and other merchandise has slowed dramatically, according to a report in today's New York Times.Online online book sales will rise an estimated 11 percent this year, compared with nearly 40 percent last year.
EBay reported that revenue from Web site sales increased by just 1 percent in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year.
Other highlights:
In response, a so-called clicks-and-bricks hybrid model is emerging, said Dan Whaley, the founder of GetThere, which became one of the largest Internet travel businesses after it was acquired by Sabre Holdings.Barnes & Noble recently upgraded its site to include online book clubs, reader forums and interviews with authors. The company hopes the changes will make the online world feel more like the offline one, said Marie J. Toulantis, the chief executive of BN.com. “We emulate the in-store experience by having a book club online,” she said.
Labels: book sales
posted by Steve Weber at 6/16/2007
4 Comments:
NO KIDDING!
parisianbooks
my question is this: why do people always view growth as something that can be sustained forever? should things grow at leaps and bounds forever and ever? is it even possible? can we have ever increasing growth in human population? how about petroleum consumption?
my point is this: despite the negative spin resulting around this article, i believe economies reach points of saturation... online book sales may hit a plateau, but does that mean it is a bad business? maybe for those out there who expect more and more- who feel that they deserve more and more year after year... my book sales may seem slower- but i am maintaining a monthly average that is sufficient for me... and that is actually more than i could have ever expected...
another point- are barnes and noble and whoever else going to provide the rare books that i do? i dont think so...
why does amazon charge a buyer 3.99 for shipping? my cost for supplies and shipping are nowhere near 3.99 and i often make money on shipping... amazon should lower the shipping compensation and lure people back in to shop there...
Perhaps lower shipping would lure customers and increase growth, but as for the final comment on Amazon shipping charges being too high, I beg to differ. I think my costs for shipping are very close to $3.99 on many items, and sometimes more, once I add in Delivery Confirmation, extra postage on heavier books, occasional insurance, the bubble envelope and/or packing materials, and the time I spend cleaning and preparing each book for shipment (my time is worth something too -- that's the "handling" part). And don't forget travel to the p.o. (which is about an 8 minute drive from my home) to drop off my load each day. (I can't burden my carrier with picking up so many packages each day.) I feel the shipping charge is reasonable and I'm lucky if I break even at the end of the year. Any one else care to comment?
Check out the article in Slate by Jack Shafer that dubs this Times story the "Bogus Trend Story of the Day."
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