A little while ago, I noted that Waterstone’s current online offereing essentially ceded the game to Amazon and that they could do something a little cleverer if they tried. Today comes an announcement that from this autumn, the Amazon deal is ending, and Waterstone’s is going it alone.
There are lots of big things planned: “unmatched exclusive content for customers such as streaming of book signing events, author insights, ‘try before you buy’ and personal shopping for gifts serviced by knowledgeable booksellers.”
Waterstone also acknowledge that they are “in a unique position to offer our customers a national high street presence and an integrated online offer from a brand that they know and trust.”
What they don’t explain, is how they’re going to reconcile their high street and online offerings and make them work together. Parent group HMV already has a similar situation with its music brand, and thus-far, there’s been no symbiosis. It’s not going to be an easy nut to crack, and there’s going to need to be significant investment in IT, but it can be done, and can give Waterstone’s a unique position in the market.
(Incidentally, I’d not mentioned it here yet, but it seems that Tim Waterstone’s latest offer for his old brand has fallen apart. Shame.)