Many book lovers might choose to shop locally rather than on overseas websites if they had the chance to ponder some of the implications of their decisions, says editor-in-chief of Bookseller+Publisher magazine Matthia Dempsey.
Online retail
Kohler: Gillard’s incurable retail affliction
Relations between the federal government and business are as bad as they’ve been for 40 years, and it’s not just because of the proposed carbon tax.
Can we extract some good from whingenomics?
Pandering to voters’ conviction they face big cost of living increases hasn’t worked so far. Maybe it’s time for a new approach.
A year in book buying: tallying the receipts
Only a fool would believe the public will rush to spend two — three times as much for their product in order to sustain book stores just because they’re nice. writes fiction editor at Australian Book Review Chris Flynn.
Crikey Says: Crikey says: who killed REDgroup?
Everyone’s in a lather this morning over the collapse of REDgroup retail, the owner of Borders Australia and Angus & Robertson.
Retailers and the loophole that wasn’t there
The retail lobby against the internet has successfully seeded the idea that there is a GST “loophole.” But no such loophole exists and and if they think it does, they’re in a lot of trouble.
GST $1000 threshold: retailers’ share in more trouble than Harvey’s image
Online purchasing, whether it is from Australian or foreign websites, will transform retail in the coming decades, delivering lower prices, greater choice and, almost inevitably, fewer local retail jobs, writes Dr Richard Denniss, executive director of The Australia Institute.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The South Australian Liberals are not in dire financial straits
Crikey readers have their say.
Amazon’s secret plan to invade the real world
Online retailer Amazon is planning to open a real, meat-world store in England, where customers can order products online, then pick them up in-store, according to local landlords.
Bye-bye Borders: the Kindle finally comes to Australia
Amazon’s heavily-hyped e-reader, the Kindle, has finally released an international version and will be available in Australia this month. Why would you want one? Imagine buying, downloading and reading a new-release book, without getting out of bed. Exactly.
The rise and rise of Amazon.com
Online retailer Amazon.com has long been the go-to site for cheap books, but the company has now sprawled into just about every product and market imaginable — and smaller stores, both real and virtual, just can’t compete. But is it a win for consumers or a loss for the free market?
Publisher: e-readers will kill books
CEO of French publishing group Hachette Livre, Arnaud Nourry, says digital books could kill off the market for print editions, with retailers selling electronic titles at a loss to keep prices so low, hardback books can’t compete.
Charting Amazon’s acquisitions
With news that online retail giant Amazon has bought out the slightly-less-giant online retailer Zappos for $920m, Meet the Boss have drawn up a handy chart tracking their ongoing global domination.
What the auto industry can learn from the Apple Store
Here’s a novel idea: get rid of car yards, and only manufacture cars on demand. So crazy it just might work?
#amazonfail: With book monopolies like these, no-one is safe
On Easter Sunday, weird things happened at uberbookseller Amazon, when the site suddenly reclassified certain titles as containing “adult” content.
