Crossword, Landmark and other physical bookstores in India would surely be aware of the fate of BORDERS, the leading American bookseller that recently filed for bankruptcy protection and closed down its stores after years of getting thrashed by Amazon and other online bookstores.
I was recently complaining to the manager of a CROSSWORD store that its prices – no discount on the list prices printed on the back covers of the books – were simply too high compared to the 15-30% discounts offered by various online booksellers like @Flipkart. He agreed with me and defended his prices on the basis of the higher cost structure of a brick-and-mortar store. Apparently, Crossword pays INR 3-5 Lacs (equivalent of US$ 6,666 – 11,111) per month just in rent for a typical store in an upscale retail location. Add salaries, utilities and other costs, and I was supposed to get the drift and fork out the extra cash happily. Thankfully, he probably realized that we were well into the second decade of the 21st century, and spared me the standard spiel that many others would’ve given under such situations about how online shopping could never match the touch-and-feel experience afforded by a physical store.
I began wondering that day if Crossword was heading towards a ‘BORDERS moment’.
Today, I became convinced that it was, indeed.
While trying to find out its Twitter handle – it’s @crossword_book, by the way – I discovered today that Crossword has an online store. In fact, its online prices were substantially lower than its store prices for many books I checked. Besides, shipping was free.
For a brief moment, I wondered why Crossword’s store manager never told me that I could buy books cheaper at Crossword’s own online store when I was grilling him about the lower prices offered by its pure-play Internet competitors. I then realized the answer to that question in a flash: Like BORDERS, the physical store and web are probably two different channels for Crossword and never the twain shall meet.
While Crossword surely knows what happened to BORDERS, it might be enlightened to note that BORDERS faced a ‘BORDERS moment’ not because it didn’t have an online presence. Despite having a website that rivalled Amazon’s in variety and prices, BORDERS sank because it had never managed to integrate its online store into its organizational psyche. Employees of BORDERS’ stores rarely promoted its website even if that meant losing business to Amazon and other online competitors.
I see parallels at Crossword, which is why I’m convinced that it is hurtling towards a BORDERS moment. But, since e-commerce is not yet mainstream in India, Crossword can easily escape BORDERS’ fate.
How? By behaving in a channel-agnostic manner in front of customers.
Will that happen by itself? No chance.
Can Crossword make it happen immediately with the wave of a magic wand? Doubtful.
Will Crossword bite the bullet and bring about the required internal transformation to make sure it happens soon enough to escape the BORDERS moment? Probably. Only time will tell.
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