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Yeah a brick and mortar book store could never compete with an online retailer warehouse when it comes to selection. Eventually book stores started to create t

Yeah a brick and mortar book store could never compete with an online retailer warehouse when it comes to selection. Eventually book stores started to create their own websites but by then it was too little too late.

filmgirlcw 8y ago
Yup -- and some (Borders) made the strategic mistake to literally just use Amazon. When Borders finally broke off the relationship, not only was it too late [1], it was at literally the worst possible time it could have done it, from a business perspective -- given the financial crisis. Toys R Us did this too and as a result, never built a really solid e-commerce strategy. In fact, when Toys R Us left Amazon in 2006 (after years of litigation to get out of the contract) [2], it had the unenviable position of being behind from a tech perspective in a massive way. Not only that, the experience was considerably worse than it had been under Amazon. [1]: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3749336/Borders+Breaks+Off+7Year+Amazon+Partnership.htm http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3749336/Bord... [2]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113798030922653260 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113798030922653260
- lowercased 8y ago
  Borders tried early on - IIRC they had a partnership with IBM in... 1998 - again IIRC it was early 99 that their first public site went up. My recollection was that you had to register an account before you could search, which many in my office laughed out loud about. They (Borders) were a company down the street from us (a web company) and Borders had gone with IBM instead of us, so there was some bad blood there (but it had started before I got there I think). Knew a couple other folks at Borders, and visited them at work a couple of times. Borders was just clueless at tech, and BN was starting to take a lead in tech, which helped them with sales a lot more.

filmgirlcw 8y ago

Yup -- and some (Borders) made the strategic mistake to literally just use Amazon. When Borders finally broke off the relationship, not only was it too late [1], it was at literally the worst possible time it could have done it, from a business perspective -- given the financial crisis. Toys R Us did this too and as a result, never built a really solid e-commerce strategy. In fact, when Toys R Us left Amazon in 2006 (after years of litigation to get out of the contract) [2], it had the unenviable position of being behind from a tech perspective in a massive way. Not only that, the experience was considerably worse than it had been under Amazon. [1]: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3749336/Borders+Breaks+Off+7Year+Amazon+Partnership.htm http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3749336/Bord... [2]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113798030922653260 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113798030922653260

lowercased 8y ago
Borders tried early on - IIRC they had a partnership with IBM in... 1998 - again IIRC it was early 99 that their first public site went up. My recollection was that you had to register an account before you could search, which many in my office laughed out loud about. They (Borders) were a company down the street from us (a web company) and Borders had gone with IBM instead of us, so there was some bad blood there (but it had started before I got there I think). Knew a couple other folks at Borders, and visited them at work a couple of times. Borders was just clueless at tech, and BN was starting to take a lead in tech, which helped them with sales a lot more.