15.05.14 | Lisa Campbell - The BooksellerThe company is targeting English language speaking markets and ex-pat communities which are already loyal to the brand.
While The Book People’s c.e.o Seni Glaister played down the overall impact of the service on the company’s bottom line, the move means the UK-based retailer will be better able to compete with online rivals Amazon, The Book Depository and Wordery, which also offer international delivery.
Glaister told The Bookseller the international delivery offer was one of several “innovations” the company intended to introduce this year, which to date has already seen online sales increase by 25%.
“(We have introduced international delivery) in response to customer demand, particularly from the expat community who know us, love us and want to continue buying from us when they move overseas,” Glaister said. “These customers have been frustrated in the past because we’ve had to turn their orders down as they’ve simply not been cost effective to process and deliver. We now have a mechanism in place that works and is affordable for our customers and sustainable for the business.”
She added that take-up had been “higher than expected” since the service launched on Monday (12th May).
However, she said: “As you know, we’re not in the business of advertising loss leaders or paying heavily for market share, our offers must all be sustainable and built on a firm financial footing. The introduction of this service makes our books available to our customers, wherever they live, so we’re seeing this very much as an extension to our existing service.”
The company said the books would take between 10-14 days for international delivery.
No comments:
Post a Comment