Book Shopping in Stores, Then Buying Online
By JULIE BOSMAN
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/book-shopping-in-stores-then-buying-online/?ref=technology“Bookstore owners everywhere have a lurking suspicion: that the customers who type into their smartphones while browsing in the store, and then leave, are planning to buy the books online later — probably at a steep discount from the bookstores’ archrival, Amazon.com.
Now a survey has confirmed that the practice, known among booksellers as showrooming, is not a figment of their imaginations. According to the survey, conducted in October by the Codex Group, a book market research and consulting company, 24 percent of people who said they had bought books from an online retailer in the last month also said they had seen the book in a brick-and-mortar bookstore first.”
It’s sad that Amazon is selling an app to build on disrupt the local retailer rather than peacefully coexist. I wonder what Amazon’s views on libraries is? Competitor or complement?
Fantastic New York Times Editorial on Amazon Trickery
http://bookshopblog.com/2011/12/13/fantastic-new-york-times-editorial-on-amazon-trickery/
A recent ALA study showed similar results that libraries encourage the browsing and buying of books at bookstores and online retailers.
Interesting.
Stephen
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