HMV Waterstone's Dumps Amazon

[mandy]

HMV, the owner of Waterstone's, is to take control of its internet-based bookstore from Amazon as it grapples with growing threats to its dwindling revenue streams.

The retailer, which revealed yesterday that sales at Waterstone's and its HMV music chain were still deteriorating, admitted it had failed to predict the impact the internet would have on the book market. It is ending its five-year relationship with Amazon, which also operates online websites for Marks & Spencer and Borders, the US book group that owns Books Etc.

Alan Giles, HMV's outgoing chief executive, said the retailer thought the internet would be "relatively modest" at less than 10 per cent of the market when it entrusted Amazon with selling its books online...

full article: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/n...363081.ece

[Kristijntje]

A related article:

Two of the high street's biggest names yesterday became the latest British retailers to launch a fightback against the online US giants eating into their profit margins.

Waterstone's, the country's largest bookseller, ditched a five-year association with online retailer Amazon by relaunching its website. Customers will now be able to buy books directly from the chain, as well as read staff recommendations and check the stock of their local shop. Meanwhile Currys, the consumer electronics store, announced that it would start selling films and music online in time for Christmas, putting it into direct competition with a number of online stores...

The moves provide further evidence that high street retailers are trying to grab back business taken from them by online rivals - principally Amazon.co.uk - with increasingly popular websites...

A range of factors, including widespread broadband access, increased consumer confidence in buying online, and greater differentiation between rival sites, has made it impossible for the high street giants to remain on the sidelines - and many executives now believe the time is ripe to rejoin the battle...

full article: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/st...89,00.html