Book Retailing

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BOOK RETAILING INDUSTRY

GROUP PROJECT

(SPRING 2003)

HAU-YAUNG KUO

JESSICA SISON

Sree Vietla

Na Wang

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND 5

CURRENT E-COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT 8

MARKET PARTICIPANTS 9

BUYER/SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS 14 BUSINESS MODELS 15

PARTNERSHIPS 18

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE 20

ETHICAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES 22

CONCLUSION 24

REFERENCES 25

Executive Summary :

Book retailing is traditionally dominated by independent local bookstores, but large chain stores have substantially increased their share of the market since the 1970’s. Chains mostly grew through the 1980’s by adding mall based bookstores, but shifted their focus in the 1990’s to adding “superstores,” large stores with more titles and space. The traditional distribution model includes publishers, wholesalers and retailers. Most books began with authors, who sold the rights to their works to publishers in return for a flat royalty rate....