INTERNET BUSINESS AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE (IBEC)

Internet Business And Electronic Commerce (IBEC)

Internet Business And Electronic Commerce (IBEC)

Introduction

In the past few years, the world saw lots of changes in online retailing. In this B2C e-commerce model, the combination of screen-to-customer interfaces, network effects, real-time competitive responses, and one-to-one customization leads to "value increases" for both the customer and the firm (Axelrod 1997: 15-20). In general, more and more customers can use online shopping with confidence, while more and more companies recognized that online retailing is no longer an option but a business requirement. This paper will discuss the online website of 'Half Price Books' at www.halfpricebooks.com/

Half Price Books

In 1972, Half Price Books opened their first store in a converted laundry mat in Dallas, Texas. The company co-founders (Ken Gjemre and Pat Anderson) stocked the store with more than 2,000 books from their personal libraries. Half Price Books was created with the idea of offering a great product at a great price - and it worked! Today, Half Price Books is America's favorite new and used bookstore chain. The company's simple philosophy continues under the leadership of Sharon Anderson Wright, daughter of Pat Anderson. (Barney 2001: 643-650)

Today Half Price Books has more than 80 retail stores in 14 states, with each store carrying a unique variety of new and used books, music, movies and games. The company continues to grow having opened new stores in Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky and Texas within the past year. In 2005, Half Price Books expanded its stores to the Chicago area, opening in the Village of Niles and has plans to open about 12 stores in the Chicago area by the end of 2007. Currently, conditions are beginning to look as if Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble should watch out for the up and coming competitor Half Price Books. (Bharadwaj 2000: 169-196)

Discussion

Half-Priced Books is a place to purchase not only new and used books, but also music, computer games, and movies. Half-Priced Books is a privately owned company servicing 14 states and only allows online purchases to be serviced by www.abebooks.com. The website for Half-Priced Books, (www.halfpricedbooks.com) is a great site in which the origin of the company is told, store locations are listed, as well as other great inclusions like employment opportunities and a fun corner for kids. However, Half-Priced does not offer the ability to search and purchase books. In order to actually "shop" online with Half-Priced Books, you must click on the abebooks site to continue shopping. It is understood that the purchases will be made from abebooks and not Half-Priced Books. Once you click on the hosting site, you have left the Half-Priced website in order to continue shopping for purchases. (Clemons 2001: 78-101)

Half-Priced Books loses a market when they do not offer the opportunity to actually provide the ability to shop within the store online. They offer great incentives for being a loyal customer; low prices, ability to sell back books, and much more. Their site allows ease in answering many wandering ...