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Omnichannel and Digital-Only: Analyzing Digital Bookselling Operations in Four Norwegian Bookstores

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Abstract

Adapting to the digital age is a challenge for booksellers, resulting in paradoxical practices of providing digital books through brick-and-mortar stores, but also spurring innovations in the book trade. This article examines the digital operations of four Norwegian booksellers, looking specifically at how the combined forces of digitalization, internationalization and industry regulations affect their operations. Based on research interviews and business statistics, the paper finds that two of the selected booksellers represent an omnichannel business model, which includes seeking strategic benefits by combining digital and physical operations. The other two have a digital-only business model, offering digital content in novel ways, but struggling somewhat to gain the full advantage of their approach due to industry competition and regulatory hindrances.

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Notes

  1. DeFillippi and Wikström [9], Business Innovation and Disruption in Publishing; Martin and Tian [21], Books, Bytes and Business; Colbjørnsen [6], Continuity in Change; Thompson [27], Books in the Digital Age. Thompson [28]; Merchants of Culture.

  2. Pettersen [22].

  3. Benhamou [2], “Fair use and fair competition for digitized cultural goods”, 125.

  4. Bergström et al. [3], Books on Screens, 128–129.

  5. Colbjørnsen [7], “Digital divergence”.

  6. Steiner [26], “The Global Book”, 119, 130.

  7. Den norske Forleggerforeningen [10], “Merverdifritak”.

  8. Halmrast et al. [15], Musikk, litteratur og visuell kunst i tall 2015.

  9. Ipsos MMI [16], Bokkjøp & handelskanaler (juni 2018).

  10. Ipsos MMI [17], Leserundersøkelsen 2018.

  11. SOU 2012:65 [25], Läsandets kultur, 251.

  12. Wikberg [30], Boken 2018—marknaden, trender och analyser, 2018.

  13. Bergström et al. [3], Books on Screens, 120.

  14. Frankfurter Buchmesse [12], “Books and the book trade in 2017 (2016 figures)”, 3.

  15. Frankfurter Buchmesse [13], “France”, 4.

  16. Hall [14], “Bookshop numbers halve in just 7 years”.

  17. UK Publishers Association [29], The UK Book Industry in Statistics 2016.

  18. Laing and Royle [20], “Bookselling Online”.

  19. Ibid, 116.

  20. Ibid, 116.

  21. Ibid, 122.

  22. When studying the bookstore chains, ARK and Tanum, the organization as a whole has been reviewed, not each bookstore.

  23. The informants are Håkon Havik, CEO of Storytel Norway, Elizabeth Sellevold, then CEO of EBOK.no, Kjartan Dannatt, Director of Market and E-commerce at ARK, and Marit Austgulen, Senior Adviser in the web editorial division of Tanum.

  24. Kvale and Brinkmann [19], Interviews.

  25. Chen, Cheung and Tan [5], “Omnichannel Business Research”.

  26. Norli Libris is a company that operates with two brands/chains; Norli and Libris.

  27. Market share in 2017: ARK 12,3%, Tanum 3,9% (BOK365 [4], “ARK er størst”).

  28. ARK Bokhandel [1], “Om ARK”.

  29. Bergström et al. [3], Books on Screens.

  30. Sanchez-Tabernero [23], “Issues in Media Globalization”, 478.

  31. Laing and Royle [20], “Bookselling Online”, 122.

  32. Eckblad [11], “Ebok.no klager Cappelen Damm inn for Konkurransetilsynet”.

  33. Schibsted Media Group [24], “EBOK.NO 1 year”.

  34. As of October 2018, the monthly fee is NOK 199. Other streaming services in Norway are usually cheaper; the premium fee at Spotify for example is NOK 109 per month.

  35. In 2016, 89% of the population in Norway had access to a smartphone, and 74% had access to a tablet, cf. Statistics Norway: https://www.ssb.no/kultur-og-fritid/artikler-og-publikasjoner/_attachment/303444?_ts=15b3e7d0768.

  36. Steiner [26], “The Global Book”, 119.

  37. Kurschus [18], European Book Cultures, in Steiner, “The Global Book”, 129-130.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oslo, Norway

    Cathrine T. Pettersen

  2. Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Terje Colbjørnsen

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Pettersen, C.T., Colbjørnsen, T. Omnichannel and Digital-Only: Analyzing Digital Bookselling Operations in Four Norwegian Bookstores. Pub Res Q 35, 108–121 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-018-9620-1

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