The meaning of marketing in the book trade

Marketing tries to identify customer segments and sell to them, considering the diverse nature of customer needs. Thus one book can be variously entertainment, education, a keepsake or perhaps augment. People with similar backgrounds can buy wide ranges of texts because they are looking for different satisfactions from their various purchases.

The way this has been achieved in the book world is through specialization, which has proved to be a valuable tool in developing a business. In April 1991 the " Bookseller" predicted: "...the 90s will be the decade of specialization, of targeted retailers offering something new and radical: service and choice." And already in November of the same year it stated: " the most successful companies currently are those strong in the international publication of professional, academic and reference books. The hardest hit companies have been those devoted to publishing general books for home market." This specialization is going on in all sectors of business, not just publishing.

Specialist retailers are emerging and thriving, but specialist does not necessarily equal small. For instance, one can point to the expansion of such market specialists as the Swedish furniture store IKEA, and PC World.

The retail market-place for books has changed dramatically in recent years, with the emergence of large chains of specialist booksellers. In 1984 six main bookselling groups in the UK had between them 397, 000 square feet of selling space. This rose to 945, 000 in 1988, a rise from 114 bookshops to 263 and all developed with fewer problems than on the publishing side of the business. The major chains claim that they grew between 5 and 12 per cent in 1989-1990.

In some cases the expansion of the chain bookshop in an area already well served by local bookshops has led to the closure of smaller rivals — the " category killer", as seen in Hampstead. Interestingly, in Germany it has been found that smaller, and more established bookshops can survive when chain stores arrive, despite a temporary drop when a new store opens, particularly if they offer something extra: service, product knowledge, and a wide and sensible choice of stock.

But prosperity is not the preserve of the larger firms: smaller specialist businesses are thriving in the UK too, and the category of specialist bookshops is growing. These shops not only specialize in books, they take their specialization further. For example, the Silver Moon Women's Bookshop has doubled the size of its premises and is expanding fast. They put this success down to being specialist feminist/women's book suppliers who know their market and offer an excellent service.

On the other side of the road there is a bookshop specializing in crime and murder titles, Murder One; Stanfords continue to offer travel guide book service; computer books provide the highest profit in the trade and make up one of the highest growth potentials in the book business. The Books and Consumer survey found that, of all practical reference books, computer manuals are bought at the highest rate. Consequently, shops specializing in them are doing well. All these businesses benefit from strong customer loyalty for they are meeting customer needs.

Some bookshops also sell greeting cards or perhaps cups of coffee — items which are compatible with the sale of books but which offer higher profit margins. On the other hand, the profit margins on videos and stationery items are in general lower than books; however, stocking such items may bring new customers into the shop, as well as provide existing customers with another pretext for a visit. Children's book clubs too have experimented with cross merchandising. They do well with selling toys and stationery; both types of merchandise that have profit margins significantly lower than books. This shows that any moves towards a more diverse stock may offer different benefits.

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3. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту.

1. Why is it important to segment book market?

2. What is a valuable tool in developing a business in the book world?

3. What did " Bookseller" mean predicting that targeted retailers offer something new and radical?

4. Which are the publication sectors for the most successful companies?

5. Why have the hardest hit companies been those devoted to publishing general books for home market?

6. Give examples of specialist retailers thriving in other sectors.

7. What is the growth rate of major bookselling groups in the UK the 1980s?

8. Explain the meaning of the term the " category killer".

9. Where does the trend of specialization not kill smaller rivals?

10. How do they manage to survive when chain stores arrive?

ВАРИАНТ 2

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