Amazon is the death of the book store: This is the Mantra followed the Online giant since its inception. And indeed, the number of bookshops has decreased since 1995. At that time, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) celebrated a record number of transactions. You fell in the first five years of Amazon's Existence to 43 percent. Not only the Online giant debt, but also a year-long price war between independent stores and chains such as Barnes & Nobles, however, had.

For almost ten years, they will celebrate but at least in the USA to make a Comeback. From 2009 to 2018, the number of independent bookstores – that is, such that do not belong to any of the big chains grew by 49 per cent to now 2.470 shops. The number of Barnes&noble stores fell in the same period, by the way, easily.

With three points to success

for Eight years, Harvard has accompanied Professor Ryan L. Raffaelli this recovery. He drove through the country and tried to figure out how it managed the small shops, despite the seemingly all-powerful Internet to remain competitive not only alive, but to expand even.

His insights into three key bullet points to summarize:

• Community: Many of the book stores have managed to create a kind of sense of togetherness, mostly on the Argument that shopping with them would strengthen the local economy and neighborhood. Actually succeeded with that in this country the popular Argument that customers of Amazon to regain.
• Curating best seller buy customer faster and more conveniently on Amazon. So many bookstores moved to a smaller but more specialized range of products to offer, that your employees were good and so were able to present clients with insider tips and surprising newcomers-authors, the disappearance of Amazon behind the mass of best writers.
• meeting point: Successful book stores have transformed their Shop into a meeting place. They hold readings and signings in the Store, offer game nights, storytelling afternoons for children, book clubs for young people, and sometimes even birthday parties.

"The most Important thing is that the book to try and shops to compete for experience and quality with Amazon, not in terms of price or supply," says Raffaelli. In the latter two categories, the Online giant with its seemingly inexhaustible inventory, and its market power are almost unbeatable.

Talented seller and Event Manager

For his study of the researchers led 258 Interview with the owners of book stores, authors and publishers, visited shops in 26 US States personally, and analyzed 915 newspaper and magazine articles on the topic. He booked in a Seminar on the topic of "How do I open a book shop?".

"We are not even in the same industry, such as Amazon", quoted in Raffaelli, an anonymous book dealer in his study, "a book you can buy everywhere, of course, but not the connection between two book lovers." This connection between the book store and its customers also extends, paradoxically, even to the Internet: Many stores have revamped their appearance such as in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and use the social media to build a community with your customers.

it has become even more important to find a talented seller, best such, the self-obsessed, and reading books. The big advantage to Amazon is that the book dealer provide to the customer a few simple questions to his liking, and then the best book of Europe have. "The real joy is the right book with the right Person to bring together," enthuses another book dealer in Raffaellis study. This is something that Online traders are not yet able to do.

a Successful book dealer understand your business in another way, differently than before. Instead of selling books, courting you the leisure of their customers. Your competitors are other retailers such as Amazon, but other leisure activities, such Netflix, Facebook, or sports events. So much so, that some traders Event employ a Manager to lure of readings to parties of people in the Store.

will not let How Raffaellis model transferred to other industries

However, everything is so rosy in the carrying trade of the world. Instead of the Online competitors stores for rent today, rising wages, rising load, and the very low margins on books in the past. However, there are also here for all of the problems strategies: Successful stores, it is able to pay good wages and to reduce material costs.

Lease negotiations design often cheap, because successful stores serve, especially in shopping malls, in the meantime, as the anchor tenant and customers for other businesses also attract. And the low book-to bypass margins, provide most of the stores other matching items – from greeting cards up to Merchandising.

Raffaelli understand its study as a model for other industries. External shocks, such as the advent of Amazon have finally digest other types of stores. The researcher's patent recipe is to experiment in times of crisis with new business models. He also holds the idea to build a local Community around his business, for universally promising.

And very important: "industry associations play a very important role. An independent dealer can only experience his own Shop. But an Association can bring together these individual experiences and the results of all of the members,“ says Raffaelli. The best strategies can then, in turn, can be derived.

follow the author on Facebook

follow the author on Twitter expert explains: The 70:30 rule explains the best way to protect savers against Inflation, FOCUS Online/Wochit expert: The 70:30 rule is the best way to protect savers against Inflation

Date Of Update: 17 February 2020, 22:00