Barnes & Noble: Not the Best On- Line Book Store, but it Works
Written: Jul 26 '04 (Updated Oct 24 '06)
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Barnes & Noble is probably the most recognized name in books, with book stores in most every medium to large city across the United States. These physical location stores are clean and well- stocked and they have elevated Barnes & Noble to the top of the retailing business in this particular sector of the market.
Like most successful businesses that operate physical store locations, Barnes & Noble also operates an on- line web service to help promote its products via the internet. The web site is barnesandnoble.com, and it offers web surfers a place to logon, find out about the latest best- sellers, and make a purchase if desired. Is it as good as some of its closest on- line competitors? Let’s take a look:
What Does This Service Offer?:
Barnesandnoble.com offers the following goods for sale within the walls of its on- line domain:
Books- Obviously, Barnesandnoble.com is a place to shop for books. You can find all the best sellers here, as well as some very outdated and hard to find titles. Used and out of print titles can also be searched for, including college textbooks.
Movies- Customers can purchase the latest DVD’s and VHS through this service, check the best seller lists, send e-mail questions to “Ask Dr. Video”, read interviews with Hollywood stars, etc.
Music- Search for music CD’s by category, lookup best- sellers, and read biographies of your favorite musical acts here in the music category.
Gifts/Games- Here, you can find video games, home & office games, board games, photo albums, dolls & plush toys, and other gift items.
Payment Methods/Shipping Charges:
Making a purchase through Barnesandnoble.com requires that you first setup an account, which is as simple as entering your e-mail address, creating a password, and defining your communication preferences. Once this is completed, you can wrap up your order by entering your credit card data and selecting a shipment method.
If your order totals at least $25, you can select standard shipping and it will be free of charge. If you need faster shipping (next day, 2- day, etc.) or if your order is less than $25, then you can expect to have a few additional dollars tacked on to your order to pay for the expedited service.
Barnesandnoble.com accepts most all major credit cards for payment, like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, and JCB. As far as I know, you cannot pay by check or money order. You have to have some sort of credit or debit card to make a purchase, and that includes if you decide to pay by making a phone call.
Customer Service:
The customer service department for this on- line business can be reached either through e-mail or by phone. At any time after a purchase is made, you can logon and check your order status and you can always check the list of frequently asked questions. There is an option to send a message to the customer service center via e-mail, directly through the site. Or, if you prefer, you can call directly, 800-843-2665.
Final Thoughts:
Barnes & Noble is one of the first names that come to mind when people think of places to shop for books. I have been visiting Barnes & Noble stores for years, even when I don’t have anything in particular that I want to buy. Sometimes, just browsing through the stores, looking at new titles, checking the bargain racks, and buying a cup of espresso can make for a nice way to spend some spare time on a lazy afternoon.
The physical store locations are among the best in the business and it’s not unusual for Barnes & Noble to be selected in local areas for having the best book stores. But as for the store’s on- line presence, it isn’t quite as good as I expected. I have been using this web site for several years, on and off, as I look for the best deals on books and as I browse for new books to buy. I can usually find what I need at Barnesandnoble.com, but I do not always have the most enjoyable experience doing so. And as I continue to logon from time to time, I keep looking for expansions in product offerings and improvements in user tools, but I’m not finding very many.
First of all, let’s talk about price. If prices are low, many customers (myself included) are more than happy to put up with an inadequate web site if it means saving a little money. With Barnesandnoble.com, customers can buy books at prices that are competitive with Amazon.com, Booksamillion.com, and others, on best- selling titles. It is normal for book retailers to offer discounts of thirty or forty percent off of new titles and Barnesandnoble.com is no exception. But with non- best sellers, I have found that Barnesandnoble.com is often more expensive than the competition. Many older books are offered here, but often the price offered is the actual cover price, with no discount at all.
If you’re someone who buys dozens of best- sellers, Barnesandnoble.com does offer one way to save you a little more money than the competition. It’s the Barnes & Noble Member program and it’s the same program that people sign up for in the physical stores, costing $25 to join. Benefits include an additional five percent discount on already discounted best- sellers and a ten percent discount on everything else. When this savings is factored in, Barnesandnoble.com has some of the lowest prices on best- sellers you will find on the internet. But one has to decide whether or not this is worth it, before they sign up. If you plan on buying hundreds of dollars worth of books, then it would be worth your money to join the member program. But if you are a casual shopper who buys only a few books here and there, you will not likely be able to recover the cost of the program in the one year that the membership is good for. There is one other advantage: your member program membership is good for use in the physical stores as well as on the internet. But this still won’t do you much good unless you purchase a substantial number of books.
Another disadvantage of using Barnesandnoble.com is the slightly more limited database. I went searching for some older CD’s (that are still in print) and noticed that they were not available in this site. I had no trouble finding the same CD’s in other music sites, and that includes music services that are not nearly as well- known as Barnes & Noble. I can feel comfortable finding books, music, and videos/DVD’s that are more popular when I search here. But if I’m looking for something rare, I often have to logon someplace else.
Like other on- line book resources, Barnesandnoble.com has a good amount of product information to help customers select a book, DVD, CD, etc. You can read notes from publishers and critics, including reviews from actual customers like yourself. You can also submit your own reviews, rate items, read recommendation lists, find the sales ranking for books (but not for music CD’s or Movies), create a wish list, etc., etc. These things are nice, but they are not nearly as fun, or as extensive, as those offered by Amazon.com and other places. With Amazon.com, you can customize the site to suit your own needs. Also, Amazon.com has more of a community feel to it. With Barnesandnoble.com, I feel like I am entering a quiet place to shop for books, movies, CD’s, etc- just like I would feel if I was browsing the shelves of a Barnes & Noble physical store.
The total products offered also cannot match that of Amazon.com. As most people know, Amazon.com is more than just a books and media store. It also offers appliances, clothing, electronics, tools and hardware, and all sorts of other things. Barnesandnoble.com sticks to media, with only a few miscellaneous items available for sale.
Shipping is competitive here, thanks to the “free shipping” offer if you buy more than $25 worth of merchandise (this was done as a response to Amazon.com making the same offer) and the shipments do arrive in reasonable time. When I have placed an order, I have always used the free shipping option since I am never in that great of a hurry to get my books. This free standard shipping method means that the shipment should be received between three and eight business days. With such a wide range of days specified, customers should have no trouble getting their shipments within the promised time frame. My shipments are usually in my hands about six days after placing the order.
Barnesandnoble.com has been fighting an uphill battle since it opened up its on- line web site for the first time several years ago. It’s chief competitor for on- line business was, and still is, Amazon.com. And from what I can see, Barnesandnoble.com still needs to make some improvements and changes to its site if it has any hope of catching Amazon.com in the race for cyber sales. For myself, Amazon.com will still remain my preferred place to shop on- line for books and for other merchandise. Amazon.com not only has more user tools and more ways to entertain, the web site itself is also more appealing to the eye, offers more products, and has more ways to browse and search.
Barnesandnoble.com is an adequate web service for its market niche and it can save you some decent money over time if you join the member program. But it doesn’t measure up to its number one competitor in terms of an all- around web site. I’m going to give it a marginal recommendation because I do like the interviews, the musical biographies, and some of the other helpful features. But I will likely continue to take my business elsewhere when I shop on the internet for books, music, and DVD’s. Amazon.com is still the clear winner in this on- line battle, hands- down.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews of Book- Related Web Sites:
Amazon.com
Books- A- Million
Mystery Guild
Zooba
Doubleday Book Club
Amazon Marketplace
Half.com
History Book Club
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Books
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