Small Business Survival in Competition with Large Multi-Unit Retail Firms. Part1: Market Analysis of the Retail Book Industry. Part 2: On-Line Retail Market Dynamics

摘要

The increasing concentration of the industry has been a concern of many smallbooksellers. They have argued that the co-operative advertising polices of some publishers have given the big box retailers an unfair competitive advantage. The aggressive expansion of the book superstore chains have challenged many independent booksellers who have struggled to adapt their retail formats. Online competitors such as Amazon.com and BN.com have also emerged over the last two years as significant competitors. Several hundred independent booksellers have gone on-line and a number of independent on-line stores have found that they can compete on-line. This reports describes the state of competition in the retail book industry, both on-line and off-line. The report relies on secondary data as well as anecdotal information gathered from interviews and industry publications. The purpose of this effort is to highlight those aspects of the competitive environment that impact the ability of small businesses to compete in this market.