Why is There so Much Recent Interest in Online Bookselling?

It was only a few years ago that online booksellers had only a couple of options for listing their books on Internet marketplaces. Enter Amazon.com, and suddenly there were some radical changes in the landscape as well as a huge market for online booksellers. Amazon has modified the way many things are bought and sold through the Internet, but their greatest influence has without a doubt been with respect to books, CD's, and other goods with standardized numbering systems, e.g., ISBN and barcode identifiers. When they began to allow third-party sellers to sell used items alongside the new ones Amazon was offering, many people, and certainly some other businesses, thought they were crazy, but Amazon.com maintained that they were customer-centric and intended to provide a marketplace where their customers could make their own decisions while being assured of a satisfactory experience.

Recently, some very interesting events have taken place that warrant at least a cursory look. Google introduced Froogle quite some time ago, but recently introduced Google Base which I believe is intended to be the long-term replacement for Froogle. Google Base offers a venue for online booksellers to list their Amazon inventory for sale and potentially a means for sellers to circumvent the sales commissions charged by Amazon.com. While Google Base is still in its infancy, once Google has all the details worked out and has integrated into their service a means for secure customer payment and seller notification, Base will in all likelihood be a real headache for Amazon.com. I say this because Amazon.com is accustomed to market domination and Google is not very well known as settling for being number two at anything. I am sure Amazon.com will counter with other incentives and features to maintain their position and market presence, but Google will go for position number one in online bookselling if they really decide to get into the business. The developments are going to be very interesting to say the least.

An even more recent development that lends credence to the value of the bookselling market was Microsoft's announcement that they will be launching an Internet book search feature which will target only books in the public domain and those that publishers ask to have included which are under copyright protection. Thus, Microsoft is now at about the same point where Google was a few years ago, but is not targeting all books like Google first declared they would be doing.

So, why are Google and Microsoft so interested in books? The only logical explanation is that both see a way to derive substantial revenues from the sale of books. What I do not understand is why it took them so long to see this. Amazon.com is a multibillion dollar company with very respectable annual earnings, and surely Google and Microsoft were aware of Amazon.com's business theme before now. Amazon.com did not get as big as it is by giving their services away.

Regardless of their motivation, it is great to see some industry giants coming into the picture; the competition for Amazon.com should only strengthen the industry and result in competitive marketplaces that offer booksellers and buyers a reliable and trustworthy transaction experience.

Now, if I could only raise the capital to start up a competitive co-op online marketplace that would only charge booksellers 5% - 10% commissions and no listing fees, I could jump into the action too. It would only take a hundred million dollars or so to get started, but the last time I checked my bank account I was a little short.

What I am realizing as a result of the big guys taking an interest in books is a surge in the public interest with respect to online bookselling. It is a huge market as evidenced by the involvement of Amazon.com, Alibris.com, Half.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Biblio.com, ebay.com, and dozens of other lesser-known marketplaces. With the addition of Google and Microsoft involvement, they must be expecting the future of online bookselling to be very lucrative, which begs the question of why more individuals are not getting into the business as either a full-time or part-time income source. The growth in the number of new online booksellers seems to be lagging the growth of the marketplaces, which indicates - at least to me - that there is substantial room for many more ambitious people to get into the business and realize a respectable income with enormous room for growth. One thing is for sure, those that get into it early and get established are the ones that are likely to be successful, and those that continue to procrastinate will be left in the dust by the ambitious.

Rate Article

Related Videos
Play Video How To Utilize Video for Online Marketing Campaigns by Li Evans of Key ...	Play Video Understanding Keyword Research Concepts in Online Marketing by SearchMarket	Play Video How to Add Financial Institutions to Quicken Online	Play Video Balancing the budget with Quicken Online - #9 - Settings in Quicken Online	Play Video How to Sign up for a Quicken Online Account

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Ecommerce" article category.

People interested in the above article "Why is There so Much Recent Interest in Online Bookselling?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 

Four Factors of Successful eCommerce

There are many ways to create a successful e-commerce but there are four crucial points that you should keep in mind while launching your website. Your website is like your showroom, airy and attractive. When online, the equivalent of a showroom is an uncluttered website where the eyes can move freely up and down finding the details they need without much effort. It is extremely important that the website be easy to navigate since the surfer should not have to search for the product or details he or she is looking for. The website should project its products in a provocative way so the surfer wants to see more.

Increase The Success of Your Website With Online Security

The internet is growing and new websites are popping up everyday. When it comes to ecommerce, it's an incredible source for business owners and consumers alike to find opportunities that can improve lives and widen horizons. With marketing alternatives that span from internet ads to online reviews to social media, there are limitless possibilities for online companies.

Definition For Turnkey Ecommerce

Many people want to create an online site for selling products, but they may be lacking the necessary skills or even the time to make one on their own. A good choice for them could be contracting a turnkey ecommerce site, but what is it?

Making the Most from your Ecommerce Business

Running an e-commerce business isn't just about keeping your website up and running. Customers rely on your ability to serve them via telephone, fax, email, or other means, and it requires all of your systems to be working to be able to fulfil customer requests.

On E-Commerce

Just a couple of days back I was having a chat with my friend. He was celebrating his baby’s 1st birthday and had to run between his native in Kerala and Chennai, his working place. He and his better half traveled between these places at least 4 times in last one month.

Salehoo Or Worldwide Brands?

If you have been doing e-commerce for any amount of time, you would have known that there are more scamers than genuine providers of wholesale dropship directory services. In the world of e-business, Salehoo and Worldwide Brands are both reputable service providers that have gained popularity in the past several years.

Salehoo - A Reliable Wholesale and Drop Ship Recource

If you have ever been an online retailer, you probably have already heard about Salehoo or even used it to your advantage. If you are just starting out with your business, you might be confused with the mixed Salehoo reviews out there. Now, let us take a look at what Salehoo is really all about and the services they offer which many tend to overlook.