BN.com: Are we ready for the local bookstore to relocate online?

Although I remain a devotee of Powells.com and my actual neighborhood bookstore, the AP's reveal of this curious statement by Marie Toulantis, CEO of bn.com intrigued me enough to go check out the site's makeover.

"We wanted our site to have more motion, more content and more interactivity, and to have more of a sense of community."

More motion? Is that what America is clamoring for online? Not ease of use, smarter interactions, more relevant experiences. Ok, well, motion it is. A dizzying amount of it thanks to my super speedy connection + a wealth of rollovers.

Anyway, I get the challenge BN.com and so many other ecomm and multichannel retailers are up against: Consumer behavior in online shopping today is not yet a “browsing” activity – it is more directed than in-store shopping (Marketing Sherpa, 2006)

• In-store Perception: Shopping at the mall is fun – whether I buy something or not (social)
• Online Perception: I go online to buy something particular (task)

BN.com is fighting hard to change this behavior and not only create browsing online, but to leverage the entire community bookstore experience:

• The site offers one-of-a-kind highlights, including "One on One" podcasts and a "See Inside" program that allow readers to browse through an interactive version of a book.
• "Live at Barnes & Noble" allows online visitors to view webcasts of readings at member stores if they cannot physically be there. Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report”, Alice Sebold and Richard Russo are all said to make scheduled appearances in the near future.
• The premiere spotlights an interview with Philip Roth and a review of his new novel, "Exit Ghost," by the president of the National Book Critics Circle, John Freeman.

In the past five years, the bookseller’s online sales have doubled. For a retail force like BN, that number is likely a disappointment.

The question remains - is the timing right to bring retail community online (when community-community online is still struggling for wholesale adoption)? Some would definitely say yes - the 30-somethings and the Gen Y-ers and Millennials behind them are as likely to hit the bookstore online as offline. I like this POV from Penn's MicroTrends (yes, the book I made fun of - what can I say? I actuallly love it)

"In part, it's the aging of the 30-somethings, who were the first generation to be reared on computers. Whereas 'entertainment' to their parents meant buying a ticket to a show, play, movie or ball game and watching the story unfold, this generation is more comfortable with entertainment that involves clicks, controllers and interactive narrative"

Comments

[Laura Brooks]

I think another challenge to the online shopping experience vs. traditional bricks & mortar is our desire for instant gratification. Given the constraints of time and space (at least today), spontaneous purchases are less likely to occur online because you don't get the satisfaction of walking out the door, purchase in hand. If I'm browsing through my local bookstore and run across a book that looks interesting, I'd rather buy it right then and there so I can dive right in, rather than waiting a couple of days for it to arrive on my doorstep.

[david]

If BN is relocating online what will happen to the BN stores all over the U.S.? I think BN makes a great community where people can preview a book while drinking coffee and eating a nice cake!

[ryan morgan]

one aspect of the community bookstore experience that barnes & noble and other big-box retailers will never be able to replicate, online or otherwise, is the amount of local economic activity locally-owned merchants generate vs. competitor chain stores -- more than three times as much on equal revenue.

i may obsess about the latest vollmann or david foster wallace tome online (please, god, let there be another), but i'll willingly endure merciless bouts of claustrophobia in the book loft just to by it locally. at a higher price.