Book Wars Heat Up

Booksellers in the UK are beginning to match ISPs for the intensity of their rivalry.


Coinciding with the opening of Waterstone’s
largest bookstore in Europe, online bookseller
BOL
said Thursday it would feature Book Track bestseller lists
on its site — and discount the titles of top 10 books by
50 per cent.


In the physical world, Waterstone’s Piccadilly boasts
66,000 square feet of floor space, 265,000 titles, 1,500,000
books, and six miles of shelves on seven floors.


But can the new store and others like it — including
the gigantic Borders on Oxford Street — compete with
the low prices of online sellers? Waterstone’s seems to
think so. After all, it is online as well.


BOL, however, has no physical presence in the market,
but is capturing headlines by offering deep discounts
and even, on occasion, giving books away.


BOL is now the first online bookseller to feature the
Book Track best-seller list with its multiple categories
of hardback fiction and non-fiction, paperback fiction
and non-fiction, and children’s books.


“BOL is pleased to bring Book Track bestseller lists
onto the site as this is the first time online customers
have been offered national bestseller lists,” said Alexander
Broich, managing director for BOL in the UK.


“Our commitment to 50 per cent discounts is one of a range
of initiatives we are launching designed to make BOL the
number one choice for online book buyers in the UK.”


BOL also operates in Germany,
France and the
Netherlands, and says
it plans to open in Spain and Switzerland in the next
few months.

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