Jim Milliot writes in Publishers Weekly, that '... online booksellers could become the largest channel for book sales by 2009 ...' according to a new survey of consumer book-buying habits. But this was an online survey of 2,924 adults. So while it does indicate the buying habits of Internet users, how about those who do not? In any case, if it does not take place next year, it will soon.
2007 figures showed that chain stores had 34% of the market share, while the online share was 30% (up from 23% in 2006). Interestingly, '... online's growth does not appear to be coming at the expense of independent booksellers.' The independents' market share is hovering around 8% but is expected to rise slightly.
One curious part of the report is that the '... segment of Internet buying that is projected to decrease in 2008 is purchases made directly from publishers' Websites, which the survey found will fall from 3% to just under 2% ...' because of this report from The Times that says 'Amazon furious after publishers undercut its book prices online ...' by Dalya Alberge.
'An online price war for books has broken out, pitching Amazon against some of Britain's biggest publishers' she says. 'Amazon is angry that Penguin, Bloomsbury and others are discounting titles on their websites, encouraging customers to buy direct instead of using the online retailer.'
Amazon is apparently planning retaliation -- amongst them removing 'buy new' buttons, forcing publishers to increase their price, and squeezing out additional discounts 'or else'. But the giant online retailer's strong-arm unilateral super-power type behaviour is not new. Remember Microsoft? Guess they could argue that the freedom to bully is also a human right.
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