I remember reading somewhere (tried to track it down but cannot) that 75% of people would buy more books (or even one) in a supermarket if the selection was greater.
Well I was in Target, Evanston Illinois last night (if you don’t enjoy late night Friday shopping then you would not enjoy a Target at 9.30pm Friday) and was amazed at their selection. It was huge compared to any supermarket/department store I have been in. And what is more I bought a book, I nearly bought more too.
The proudly purcahsed book was David McCullough’s 1776 which I have been planning to buy for ages. I got the paperback at $14.00 or so which although more expensive than Amazon is a damn sight chesper than most bookstores.
I very nearly bought the complete set of Narnia book stoo but thought I could affor dto wait on those if I ordered them over the web. Their selection was good, the atmosphere decent and the ability to browse freely was welcome. In short I think I proved the research correct.
Happy with books
Eoin
Filed under: Books, Bookselling, Publishing Companies
BTW the US racktrade selection – what you get in Target for example – is considerably worse than it used to be. Eric Flint wrote about that (in part) in his first editorial at Baen’s Universe – http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/editorial_one
Thanks Francis,
I doubt the selection is not what it was. It is however a considerable improvement from the selection on supermarkets in Ireland! Nice editoirial there too!
Eoin
In Australia you can buy books in Target and K-Mart for 33% off the r.r.p. but I find myself buying books in bookshops much more often because I prefer the ambiance (and I impulse buy like mad). In Australia, Target and K-Mart don’t sell food (apart from sweets) so I don’t go in there as often as I would an ordinary supermarket. If my usual supermarket started selling a substantial selection of reasonably-priced books I might have to lock myself away.