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The common assumption is that almost everything is cheaper online. Lower staffing and ‘bricks and mortar’ costs means savings made can be passed on to the consumer via deals and discounted RRP. There is no doubt that one of the biggest beneficiaries of this in recent years has been the Book industry. Since Amazon lead the charge, books have never been so popular. And this seems to be something that Waterstones has been using to it’s advantage as a recent report from The Bookseller shows Waterstones selling books online at a higher price point than the RRP.

Check out internet Retailing article here

This brings up another important online factor – laziness. People have become very lazy shoppers online, almost total creatures of habit. The assumption is that they are getting a good deal and so they go with what’s in front of them. This is massive business on portals like Ebay – a friend of mine makes about £20,000 profit annually buying stuff from traditional websites – like PC world, Amazon – and then selling for a mark-up on Ebay. And it sells. People cannot even be bothered to price check when it would take a few minutes.

Waterstones will likely lose some customers now but it shows the value of a brand that people trust – they won’t look elsewhere. If you want to help build a trusted brand online (and not rip off consumers) then get in touch with us at Neoco. We have a wealth of experience communicating brand messaging and communications to the right audience in the right way – from traditional online methods to emerging ones like social networks.

Tags  amazon books customer Ebay PC World retention RRP The Bookseller trust Waterstones