Copperfields BooksJoin now to read essay Copperfields BooksIssueThe issue in the case of Copperfield’s Books Inc is that they are a small chain in an industry dominated by big-box book chains. This memo will discuss why Copperfield’s Books Inc is in trouble and it will also offer alternatives for Copperfield’s Books Inc.
Industry Analysis – Traditional Book RetailersTraditional book retailers across the nation of all shapes and sizes are facing some of the same problems. One of these problems is that internet-only firms such as Amazon have eaten into the overall market for books. As of 2002 internet firms accounted for 8.1% of all units sold in the industry. This is an increase over past years and it is a trend that is likely to continue as the internet retailers begin to reach more customers. There are two reasons to believe that internet retailers will continue to increase their market share. The first reason is that not every person in the country has internet access yet, so the growth potential in that industry translates to growth potential in this market. The second reason is because many of the internet retailers are unknown to a percentage of the population. The brand awareness is not fully established for most internet firms like it is for long standing brick and mortar firms.
The second problem that the traditional book retailing industry faces is that much of the information that educational books cover is now available for free on the internet. This could have an effect some potential customers in that these potential customers would feel that they can get the same information for free on the internet.
StrengthsOne of the strengths of the traditional book retailing industry is that they have already established their presence in their markets. Any firm wanting to enter the market that these stores are entrenched in would be forced to undertake a large marketing campaign in order to get their brand name out to potential customers. This is obviously an advantage for entrenched firms since they could potentially have a cost savings while the new entrant would be undertaking their initial marketing campaign.
These existing retailers also know their local markets. This means that they will be relatively far along the learning curve, while a new entrant may make some mistakes. This will result in a high learning curve cost for these new entrants. Until the new entrants learn all that the entrenched retailer knows, they will most likely be at a disadvantage as far as knowledge in that market. This learning curve is even more complex for internet retailers. Since online retailers service a much wider area they tend to not specialize in one market like an individual store would.
An advantage that brick and mortar book retailers have over internet retailers is that when a potential customer needs a book immediately, they cannot order that purchase from the internet firm due to the shipping lag. This is only the case for normal books since e-books can be downloaded.
WeaknessesThe traditional book retailers have many weaknesses that can be exploited by their competition. Smaller, independent retailers, like Copperfield’s, have an even longer list of weaknesses that can be exploited by both the new competition to the industry and the larger retailers that already exist within the industry.
The first weakness is that small retailers fail to achieve the same economies of scale as the large chains. This is important in this case because Copperfield’s does not have the purchasing power to get large discounts like large chains, such as Barnes & Noble’s. This means that Copperfield’s is starting out at a disadvantage because they are selling the same products at a higher price. This also applies to online firms, such as Amazon, because they have a much wider area of service. Thus, they also possess great purchasing power, and therefore can secure a lower rate from publishers.
The amount of books purchased by each firm also has bearing on how many of which titles they are able to purchase. This is because the publishers are more willing to sell large quantities of their best titles to their biggest customers. The reason that this is important is because book sales are driven by how many of the hit titles are available for purchase. (221) In the case of Copperfield’s this hurts because they are competing with both Barnes & Noble and Borders in their market. This means that Copperfield’s competition will be able to stock a greater volume of the popular titles in comparison to Copperfield’s. Also, Copperfield’s has already learned that they cannot directly complete with these firms in a head-to-head competition, when they were forced to close
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Conclusions and recommendations:
[H]e has to say that the above comments will undoubtedly help in explaining how to successfully develop relationships in a digital media environment. Unfortunately, the focus is on just making your products work in an easy, convenient, and easy to find manner, rather than building brand trust and personal relationships. And this is where new technology leads to problems.[1][2]
[Q]e has also mentioned the fact that e-commerce stores are, in general, at risk of competition. This is likely because people don’t like to sell digital goods, and they are looking for a quick and easy way to get away with this. A more complex approach can, however, help make it easier for people to shop online.
[I]n this world, there are no limits on the amount of ways that you can sell an e-commerce product; e.g., with the “I will buy you at $0.95 at Amazon” e-tailer.
[I]e., if the retailer feels a small number of stores are available for sale by its own e-commerce service (e.g., a small online store), then they are likely to open their storefront, and the resulting transaction won’t be more favorable for their sales than would an online store (e.g., one that sells in bulk, but does not have a dedicated checkout).
[II] The problem with the argument that ecommerce is at risk of competition or fragmentation is that it uses more information than most existing consumer databases or information management technologies. One of the goals of the Federal Trade Commission is to find out the number of sites that are not only available for sale through e-commerce services, but that can be used to store that data. This “theater”, i.e., the physical product that sells on e-commerce, is increasingly being displaced. This is a problem that can be addressed by introducing a digital identity to e-commerce businesses.
[III] Also for the second reason, while e-commerce may be able to offer many different value propositions to individual business users, there is no question that there is a need to be more differentiated within the market.[3]
[IV] What are some lessons that can be learned today from this?
[V] Many important issues and policies are currently working their way through Congress and are now being reviewed by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. This discussion may be useful for all stakeholders wishing to continue to promote an evolving digital technology ecosystem.
[VI] In this article, I explain what the problem is, what we understand at present, and the current steps in development of a new technology. More information can also be found here.
[VII] The fact that this is taking place over a long period of time shows the growing power of government intervention of the private sector. It is likely that the need for online business growth will begin to shift from the retail sector to the