CHAPTER 21 Cases
21.1 Charles Book Club1
CharlesBookClub.csv is the dataset for this case study.
The Book Industry
Approximately 50,000 new titles, including new editions, are published each year in the United States, giving rise to a $25 billion industry in 2001. In terms of percentage of sales, this industry may be segmented as follows:
| 16% | Textbooks |
| 16% | Trade books sold in bookstores |
| 21% | Technical, scientific, and professional books |
| 10% | Book clubs and other mail-order books |
| 17% | Mass-market paperbound books |
| 20% | All other books |
Book retailing in the United States in the 1970s was characterized by the growth of bookstore chains located in shopping malls. The 1980s saw increased purchases in bookstores stimulated through the widespread practice of discounting. By the 1990s, the superstore concept of book retailing gained acceptance and contributed to double-digit growth of the book industry. Conveniently situated near large shopping centers, superstores maintain large inventories of 30,000–80,000 titles and employ well-informed sales personnel. Book retailing changed fundamentally with the arrival of Amazon, which started out as an online bookseller and, as of 2015, was the world’s largest online retailer of any kind. Amazon’s margins were small and the convenience factor high, putting intense competitive pressure on all other book retailers. Borders, one of the two major superstore chains, discontinued operations in 2011.
Subscription-based book clubs offer ...
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