Bookstores react to online ordering services

JULIA TIERNAN/YH EMPTY SHELVES: In an attempt to stay competitive, the new Co-op is considering implementing an online order service.

Wait in lines or shop online? When it comes to buying course books, Yalies have a new choice. This semester, www.bulldogbooks.com emerged as a competitor in the book-buying market, and the lasting effect that it will have on New Haven bookstores remains to be seen.

The creator of bulldogbooks.com, Seth Brown,
BR '00, said that his enterprise captured only about one to two percent of the book-buying market, but he feels like this was a "pretty good response for the first year. Most students have heard about [bulldogbooks.com]. We make up a small but significant part of the market and can continue to grow in the future." Brown sold 833 books--$14,000 worth--in the first week of school. He will receive about a 15 percent commission on these sales, and he plans "to donate about $500 of his final profits to Dwight Hall literacy programs."

"The ultimate goal is to help students and to help New Haven," Brown said. "Buying books online saves students the hassle of waiting in real lines. New Haven is helped by the proceeds that are going to Dwight Hall, and hopefully the other stores will feel more pressure to give profits to charitable organizations."

Brown said he hopes the website will not only encourage more online book purchasing, but also pressure other bookstores--including The Yale Bookstore and Book Haven--to change their attitudes toward students' needs.

Gary Spearow, the general manager of the Yale
Bookstore, said "it's too soon to tell" what impact bulldogbooks.com and other online services will have on textbook sales in the future. However, he did underline some of the disadvantages of online services. He stressed that online bookstores "are unable to provide the service element" that real bookstores can and he pointed out that "students have to wait a long amount of time for the books to be delivered."

Rebecca Pace, BR '00, is one student who had "a horrible experience" buying books online. "One week after they promised the books would arrive, I had to inquire. The salesperson told me my order had been cancelled. I had been waiting almost three weeks since classes had started for those books, and I certainly did not cancel the order," Pace recalled.

In contrast, Linda Chang, BK '00, described how easy it was to purchase books at the Yale Bookstore. "The shelves were stocked high with books for just about every subject. Chances are that you would find the book you were looking for," Chang said.

Despite the disadvantages of online services like bulldogbooks.com, Spearow seemed aware that such services could undercut book prices by 20 or 30 percent. He mentioned that the Book-
store will consider different marketing strategies for the future.

Henry Schwab, MC '63, GRD '72, the owner of Book Haven, also said that his store will continue to adjust its services based on what the competition offers. "If we have to discount textbooks, we will discount textbooks. Our main concern is to get people what they need," Schwab said. Over the past few semesters, the number of professors who have ordered books from Book Haven has remained consistent, according to Schwab.

In an effort to regain the competitive edge it once had, the Co-op is also considering the possibility of online book ordering. Wallace Bookstores, Inc. bought the Co-op at the end of December, and it has plans to redesign the entire interior of the store. "Our goal is for the Co-op to provide service to our customers in whatever manner is most convenient for them," Doug Alexander, director of corporate communications for Wallace Bookstores, said. "For those customers who want to come into the store, we want them to come to the best bookstore they've ever been in. If they want to order online, we want to be able to provide that service as well," Alexander said.

Brown predicted that online book buying will become increasingly popular. "I'm sure that more people will buy books as it becomes more efficient and the books become cheaper [online]." But even Brown conceded that buying books online "will probably never take the place of real bookstores. It will only be a competitor."

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