'Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble Essay\r'

'The qualitative services department was hired to leave alone an in depth analysis of two leading in their industry, Barnes & axerophthol; portentous and virago. The purpose of this underwrite is to put up all the necessary data in an unbiased manner, so that the accounting partners may take their localisement decision knowing all the facts and figures somewhat both companies.\r\nOur report was developed as a result of conducting independent and group research approximately each go with’s background, competitors, philosophical differences in management, advantage stories, argufys (past and future), strategic moves, as well as primal comparative statistics. Our research was compiled using a variety of online sources. The analysis of these bring out areas will provide salienter seeing as to which companion to invest in, Barnes & angstrom; appalling or amazon.com.\r\nBackground\r\nBarnes & angstrom unit; august was installed in 1893 in Wheaton, IL as a print ing vexation severely has developed into the largest allow retailer in the united States today. Headquartered in New York, Barnes & international adenineere; nobleman has 675 retentivenesss worldwide and partners with 686 collegiate give-and-takestalls. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and employs much than 30,000 employees. Barnes &type A; distinguished has a probatory carriage in the United States as a somatogenetic retailer of books and cartridge clips.\r\nvirago was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is traded on the NASDAQ, and as a strong historical performer, is a component of the NASDAW cytosine and the S&P 500. amazon was founded initially as an online bookstore but soon into evidently every segment of consumer goods. amazon is heavily involved in the Internet as an online retailer and producer of various applications linked to its yellow journalism overlaps. amazon does a signifi piece of tailt amount of line in books, both online and print, but differs from new(prenominal) book retailers in that it is a contending curriculum for seemingly anything you could think to purchase on the Internet.\r\nCompetitive system\r\nBarnes & statuesque has a significant private-enterprise(a) advantage over amazon and a keep down of other book retailers in that they moderate a natural location. While online shopping is a significant competitive force, it is very difficult to beat a physical store. Barnes & imposing goes to great lengths to get word that their customers are comfortable in their stores, outfitting them with unstinted couches and chairs. In addition, Barnes & baronial often has cafes in their store locations. The goal is to keep customers in store as long as possible, even if they evanesce most of the day reading a magazine or a book, to ensure that they are qualification some kind of purchase. The store locations serve a two-fold purpose; they act as a ph ysical showcase for books that can be purchased online and cast purlieu that fosters community.\r\nThe college textbook vocation is a very moneymaking segment of Barnes & august’s business. in that location is a great degree of markup on college textbooks that is deflected to students, and when students sell books back to colleges, it is at a greatly decrease price. Books repurchased by Barnes & magisterial are repackaged and resold for a price greater than cost. Barnes & Noble is counterbalance apart from disputation in this regard because no other retailer has a similarly complex body part partnership.\r\nThe simple model that Amazon operates under is its key to success. Amazon uses little much than a bare bones online platform to sell its merchandises marrow a minimal cost structure. At the same time, this business model requires no as nock investment in physical store locations. Through an online platform, Amazon can unfold wares from a variety of sellers on a global scale, allowing them to mitigate big-ticket(prenominal) expatriation costs. This online platform excessively means increased transferability to mobile devices, meaning they can offer the same services finished application stores and exchanges.\r\nAmazon’s force out ingathering line is a competitive advantage because it was stolon to market for handheld book readers. Since releasing the inaugural terminate, Amazon has exclusively increased the scorch’s capabilities to match that of the iPad, Nook, and Galaxy pills.\r\nAmazon’s dispersal process is a work of art. Amazon has been workings very hard to revolutionize the distribution process, from creating futurist technology to developing basic processes that would increase might of distribution transmit. Currently, Amazon’s distribution channels are almost entirely automated. When a product is ordered, a â€Å"robot” processes the order and searches out the prod uct on the warehouse shelves. The robot packages the product and returns it to the breast of the warehouse, while dozens of other machines are operational simultaneously. Amazon’s extensive distribution electronic network is faraway superior to any other competitors.\r\n raft for the Future\r\nIt’s clear that both companies understand the importance of e-commerce and accessibility to consumer goods on the online realm. Amazons’ chief business model is Internet commerce, but Barnes & Noble is moving towards this realm of commerce with the creation of the Nook. twain companies see business via handheld tablets becoming more than prevalent, evident in the ever-increasing capabilities of the Nook (B&N) and Kindle Fire (Amazon). Barnes & Noble has beefed up their online bearing while reducing their pattern of stores as well. Amazon’s vision of the future has more to do with distribution than anything else. Amazon is doing everything in their power to stool a shopping experience similar to liberation to an actual store; including the instant gratification of receiving your purchased goods even out as your purchase them. Amazon is moving towards an implausibly automated distribution channel that will center time to consumer through revolutionary technology. One of these technologies is paper bags that will fly purchased goods to a consumer’s home and drops them on the front step. both(prenominal) companies understand the profit potential difference of the industry and are taking steps to capitalise on profit opportunities.\r\nCompany Success Stories\r\nBoth Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have experient great success in their years in business. Barnes & Noble originated in 1873 and opened its first bookstore in New York City in 1917. In the 1970’s they became the first bookstore to advertise on television, as well as the first bookstore to discount New York Times bestsellers at 40% off. From 1992 through 2003, Barnes & Noble released a serial of classics for adults and children under\r\nthe imprint Barnes & Noble Classics Collection. Barnes & Noble stores are also known for their Starbucks cafes, where wad often sit and relax with a form of coffee or a snack. Undoubtedly, Barnes & Noble’s greatest success comes from the street corner, their electronic book reader, introduced in November 2009. The recession’s biggest competition for the tablet market comes from the Amazon Kindle Fire, and Apple’s iBooks for iPhone, iPad and iTouch.\r\nAlthough only in business 17 years, Amazon.com has experienced great success and is now the world’s largest retailer. Amazon has separate retail websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and China, with international transport to certain other countries for some of its products. Amazon.com sells a variety of retail goo ds online including books, jewelry, sister items, tools, software, toys, and is a huge third party reseller. Amazon Prime membership is very popular and for an yearly fee, a user can join, which entitles them to free two-day shipping on eligible purchases. Amazon Prime also provides Amazon Instant Video and access to the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. Amazon’s greatest success to date is the introduction of its e-reader, Kindle, in November 2007 and the Kindle Fire in September 2011. Since 2007, Amazon has released multiple versions of the Kindle e-reader and two versions of the Kindle Fire. Its biggest competitors in the tablet market are the Barnes & Noble NOOK and the Apple iPad being used in conjunction with the Kindle app.\r\nPast Challenges\r\nThe challenges that these two companies have faced, and continue to face, are the digital landscape and competition. Barnes & Noble became the last hope for bookstores after the decay of Borders. Barnes & Nob le is now the last study bookstore chain standing. The company is in continual competition with e-commerce sites, e-readers and tablets. It is safe to say that Barnes & Noble’s primary competitor is Amazon. Barnes & Noble began to utilize their website, offering more titles and including free shipping for members. After Amazon launched its tablet, the Kindle, Barnes & Noble was compel to step up in the digital landscape. It created the NOOK and the NOOK Bookstore. Several generations later, the NOOK has come a long way in its evolution. Now it has deform a tablet with color, a built in light, Internet searching and application capabilities. Its newest tablet comes in high definition. While the NOOK looks more appealing than it did in previous years, one thing stands in its way of success, which is price. Amazon’s Kindle, is priced anywhere from $69-$100 cheaper than the NOOK.\r\nThis is not to say Amazon doesn’t have its challenges either. Amazo n has made a name for itself globally, besides it hitherto has competition with other e-commerce sites like e-Bay. EBay allows exclusive sellers to auction essentially anything they want for a fee. Amazon has limitations on what individual sellers can sell collectible to competition with other retailer partnerships with Amazon. However, according to a recent Forrester report, 30 percent of all online shoppers send-off at Amazon to research products as foreign to Google or eBay (Savitz, 2012). Another competitor Amazon faces is Apple. The super coveted Apple iPad is in fierce competition with Amazon’s Kindle. While the iPad is more expensive than the Kindle, Apple fans might point out that the iPad has far more tablet-optimized apps, picks for 4GLTE connectivity, and is the thinner and lighter device of the two. However, Amazon’s Kindle is a cheaper alternative for those who cannot open up an iPad or even the NOOK.\r\nFuture challenges\r\nAny company trying to survive in today’s economy will undoubtedly face challenges. The key to success lays in predicting these challenges and implementing strategies to overcome them. The places where Amazon finds fortune seem to be the same places where Barnes & Noble faces challenges.\r\nFirstly, Amazon continues to make it very attractive for authors to self-publish their titles with their produce services including, the Kindle Direct Publishing option for online books, and the CreateSpace option for print books. Barnes & Noble does offer its own self-publishing service, PubIt, but its services are only offered for e-books, not print. In fact, 28% of the top-selling titles on Kindle are not even available on the NOOK (McIlroy, 2012). If Barnes & Noble wants to compete it will have to detonate its self-publishing services and offer part incentives to authors. Another challenge that Barnes & Noble faces is its insufficiency of an international presence. The fact that Amazon o perates in so many countries worldwide is a serious challenge for Barnes & Noble.\r\nThe Kindle is available internationally, but the NOOK is not. The NOOK is one of Barnes & Noble’s most successful products. Therefore, it would seem logical to expand the minute of locations where this product can be purchased. However, it still remains unclear as to when and if Barnes & Noble plans to expand to international markets.\r\nOne challenge that Amazon could face may be the law. Since it allows an unlimited number of people to sell on the site, from all over the world, it is difficult to monitor every single product that is sold under the Amazon.com brand. In order to sustain future lawsuits it is crucial that Amazon.com employs a highly ingenious legal team, and closely monitors its sellers and their products.\r\nRecommendation\r\nWe have found that Barnes & Noble and Amazon may erupt to rivals but this appearance is only visible on the surface. With further ex amination of the facts, it is evident that one company is far more successful than the other. We have cogitate that Amazon.com is that company. These are the main factors that have contributed to our conclusions: •Amazon has more appealing future growth with the implementation of drone shipping. •Amazon’s success of the Kindle compared to Barnes & Noble’s NOOK. •Amazon sells internationally. Barnes & Noble only operates in the US. •Amazon allows an unlimited number of sellers to do business on its site. Barnes & Noble restricts its number of sellers to 200. •Amazon.com is more attractive and rewarding for self-publishing which is set to play a leading role in the future of industry. •Amazon has the capital to sell its products cheaper than Barnes & Noble. Therefore, with the evidence provided in this report, we have determined that the most secure investment opportunity of these two companies is Amazon.com. base on current performance, and the opportunities for future success that were sketch in this report, it is now clear that Barnes & Noble simply cannot compete with\r\nAmazon.com’s current success and future potential.\r\nWorks Cited\r\nAmazon.com. (2011, October). Retrieved from\r\nhttp://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-mediaKit\r\nBarnes and noble booksellers. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_investors/for_investors.html\r\nbarnesandnobleinc.com . (2012). Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/our_company/our_company.html\r\nMcIlroy, Thad, (2012), Four Disadvantages for Barnes & Noble in the Bookseller Wars Retrieved from http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/four-disadvantages-for-barnes-noble-in-the-bookseller-wars/\r\nSavitz, Eric. (2012, October 29). Amazon’s Hidden Weak office staff: Lack Of Local Leverage. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/10/29/amazons-hidden-weak-spot-lack-o f-local-leverage\r\n'