Executive Paragraph Example

Case Study: Barnes & Noble – successful transition to E-Commerce

This week case study was to research a company that has made a successful transition from Brick-and-Mortar business to e-commerce business. The case study should address the following aspects:

* What business processes were changed?

* Would the company survive without the E-Business aspect? Why or why not?

* Would the company survive without the Brick-and-Mortar aspect? Why or why not?

* What were the unique advantages of this IT solution? Any noticeable drawbacks?

* What motivated the change to E-Business? Were they an early or late-comer?

* Who are their major competitors? Do they have the same competitors for the online business that they do for the brick-and-mortar business?

One of the excellent examples of Brick-and-Mortar business successful transition to e-commerce business is a Barnes & Noble company example.

Overview of the company

Barnes & Nobles (B&N) is the largest bookseller in the US. By the 1970s, after acquisition of the Barnes & Noble trademark, Mr. Leonard Riggio, the company founder and chairman, “transformed the Fifth Avenue store into The World’s largest Bookstore, with 150,000 textbooks and trade titles” (Barnes & Noble History: Leonard Riggio Acquires Barnes & Noble 1). The business operated at 600 college stores and university campuses in 50 states. B&N served 4 million students and 250,000 faculties.

Between 1970s and 1980s the company went through many innovations and”…groundbreaking moves” (Barnes & Noble History: Innovations 1). B&N expanded by opening 40,000-square-foot Sale Annex and small discount stores. It acquired BookMasters and Marboro Books that became B&N stores. These stores succeeded and expended to fifty locations. By the 1987, the company acquired B. Dalton Bookseller and became a nationwide book reseller operating in 797 retail bookstores (Barnes & Noble History: Expansion...