My latest column for Book Business Magazine has received a lot of attention entitled, “The Future of Bookstores May Rely on Guerilla Retailing.” Below is an excerpt with a link to the complete article of this must-read information…
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When you look into the rearview mirror of book retailing what do you see? A path littered with failed national chains, including Borders, Hastings, and B. Dalton, along with the rising dominance of Amazon. When you look into the future, what do you see? A path where Barnes & Noble believes smaller concept stores with wine bars and fancy food will attract more customers. But, does that approach make you feel any more confident about the future of the industry? Are we really placing our hopes on wine glasses and cheese plates to revive book retailing?
What if a different path could offer better results? Create business growth by rapidly expanding locations rather than shrinking them. Yet, how is expansion possible when Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million can’t afford to build more big box stores? Consider a guerilla-warfare approach: increase marketshare by fighting small.
In the military, guerilla warfare is a strategy where small groups of combatants use ambush techniques and mobility to affect a larger area. In book retailing, a guerilla approach means placing books and brands in small non-traditional outlets that can be quickly adjusted, scaled, or moved. The benefits go beyond just expanding location presence. There’s a more important advantage. You’re also able to simultaneously grow advertising exposure without increasing your ad budget. This approach is backed by over a decade of research for consumer brands…
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