Sluggish fourth-quarter sales are forcing book sellers to change how they do business. The two top players -- Barnes & Noble and Borders Group Inc. -- announced major changes, including store closures and reduced prices, in an effort to compete with rivals like Amazon.com, Costco and Wal-Mart. For bargain hunters this could mean significant discounts and customer loyalty savings on books in the near future.
"We need to reinvent our business to exploit the rapid changes taking place in how consumers access information and entertainment," Borders Group Chief Executive George Jones said.
As part of the change, Borders plans to end its partnership with Amazon.com and develop an e-commerce Web site. A focus on celebrity books and first-time authors will also be implemented.
On a local level, Borders will be closing about half its Waldenbooks stores, ending up with about 300 stores nationwide. This move will allow the company to focus more on its domestic Borders superstores, which includes a new store prototype which will be unveiled in 2008.
Barnes & Noble plans to compete against its price-slashing competitors, such as Wal-Mart, by offering better deals to its regular customers. In a conference call to investors last week, B&N CEO, Steve Riggio announced the "better deal" strategy even if it hurt short term profits.
"We're just trying to increase what we have by making it easier for people to shop both online and in the stores. And you know, giving them a better deal," he said.