Skip to main content

Three reasons why paper books will last - or not!

I follow Todd Sattersten's blog as he wrestles with the arrival of e-books and how big they are going to be because he is watching the world for ideas and is sceptical of overheated claims. For local shopkeepers who sell newspapers, magazines and books, it is a useful source of intelligence.

It is worth checking out his recent blog http://toddsattersten.com/2010/11/three-strange-perspectives-on-publishing.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ToddSattersten+%28Todd+Sattersten+%7C+Business.+Books.%29 in which he observes three things.

First, that old media keeps on imaging how its business model will be successful on an e-platform, which involves lashings of wishful thinking.

Second, how pundits keep on applying what has happened to the music industry to the book industry, which Mr Sattersten challenges as books are different to music.

Third, and this one is a gem, is how do you lend an e-book. One of the great things about print on paper books is that you can lend them to people. In the e-world, you cannot.

PS If whoever I loaned my Jim Collins' book to is reading this, I would like it back!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Busy street, empty shop, missed profits

True in part to my New Year resolution, I held a business meeting in an independent coffee shop today just next door to a Starbucks. The cafe was presented well and four staff were busy preparing for the lunchtime rush, at 11am. As my guests were late, I had a half hour overview of footfall on the street outside and in the restaurant. Six customers. Barely enough to form the queue in Starbucks or Pret-a-Manger just down the road. Plus one Italian girl who dropped off her CV. Some people stopped to look at the posters in the window and moved on. The owners seemed quite happy. When I left just after 1215, they were doing brisk trade. However, I have the impression that the business is not working hard enough. It could easily have managed 120 customers between 11 and 12, instead of 12. This is lost profit as the fixed overheads and staff costs are already in place. The owners are clearly busy - perhaps too busy to take time to look at the potential that their cafe has. What shou...

Three secrets of great merchandising

Look at the ceiling and top wall of this McDonalds restaurant. There is a picture of two good looking healthy people having fun and some bright primary colours. Ask yourself what is the purpose of this picture? In the latest issue of Retail Newsagent in a feature on merchandising, Andrew Knight of RI tells its independent readers that they need to think about using sharp pictures of non-packaged products linked to people consuming goods. Perhaps this has been taken to the next level by the fast food chain - that is selling the feeling of being happy and healthy rather than the products. A second, related tip from the same feature is made by most contributors - it is vital to keep windows clean and clear of clutter. "I believe that less is more," says Roli Ranger, a retailer from Ascot, Berkshire. He has posters for promotions in between the windows that are regularly updated and discreet signs in the windows. Third, a highly visible well-stocked promotion at the entranc...

Think before you delist your slowest seller

Retailers need to introduce new products to provide their shoppers with "good news" and to generate interest. But for each new product that you introduce you need to consider delisting an existing line. Easy, you might think. I will just print out the list of products in the category and take off the one with the lowest sales. However, if you do this research from the US suggest you might be wrong. What you need to consider is what sort of demand you have for each product, a white paper by Demand Tec, a US specialist software provider shows. It says that there are two kinds of sales: incremental sales, when products add to the total shopper spend and are not readily substituted by another item transferable sales, where shoppers find an alternative easily when it is not available. Using its software, it shows a category with 50 products from top seller to bottom seller. At the same time it also measures the incremental sales each product provides. The number 50 in ove...