The Impact of the Internet and New Technologies on the Book
Retail and Publishing Industries in the United States
Jim Overman, Internet/Technical Coordinator
Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Size of the Book Market in the United States
In the year 2000, the size of the book market in the United States was approximately
$25.5 thousand million. Of that figure, internet sales represented approximately 5%.
Two Models of Internet Book Retaililng
Since the beginning of the retail of books on the internet in the early 1990s, two primary business models have emerged: the strictly virtual bookstore and the “clicks and mortar” combination of virtual and physical stores. These models are also found in other retail ecommerce. Strictly Virtual Model
The strictly virtual bookstore is a store that only exists on the internet. The best known of these stores is Amazon.com, which began selling books on the internet in 1995.
The advantages of an entirely virtual bookstore include:
1) The ability to offer a wider selection of books. Large bookstore in the United States, including the chains, will often carry between 35,00-100,000. Amazon, however, carries nearly all books in print (available), approximately 2 million.
2) The ability to sell books in any location and 24 hours per day.
3) Lower operating cost. A virtual bookstore does not have to build or rent store space.
Also virtual bookstore do not require as many employees. However, some of these cost savings are offset by the cost of servers and internet programming.
4) “Just on Time” inventory management. Virtual bookstores use just on time management to fulfill orders. As most of the 2 million or so titles do not have great demand, a virtual bookstore will not warehouse these titles. Rather, when a virtual bookstore receives an order for a non-warehoused title, it contacts the publisher, wholesaler or