{"id":1164,"date":"2016-07-06T12:23:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T10:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2016-07-06T12:23:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T10:23:35","slug":"how-logistics-management-innovation-can-help-boost-barnes-noble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2016\/07\/06\/how-logistics-management-innovation-can-help-boost-barnes-noble\/","title":{"rendered":"How logistics management innovation can help boost Barnes & Noble"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Barnes & Noble doesn\u2019t sell books. The company offers the experience to meet people who love books in a warm and comfortable store, having a steamy cup of coffee and reading or talking about some special title.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s the competitive advantage that Barnes & Noble had empowered in the last years in order to maintain its market share, despite the losses that e-commerce giants like Amazon have meant for them.<\/p>\n

Currently, Barnes & Noble faces complex times because of a mix in internal and external\u00a0factors that have weakened its business model. A 2010’s analysis case<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>explains that Barnes & Noble has three main issues of concern:<\/p>\n

1.\u201cIs unable to find sufficient leadership in its boardroom. Leadership is struggling to deal with the ongoing issue of selling the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

2.\u201cProfit margins are decreasing for Barnes and Noble. Competitors such as Amazon are currently stealing market share causing profits to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

3.\u201cThe decline in physical book sales. Technology has created the eBook and eReader enabling readers to download books online.\u201d<\/p>\n

The thing is that Barnes & Noble wants to win\u00a0the battle with its own weapons and terms. Duke University\u2019s professor Daniel Egger<\/a><\/strong><\/span> holds that \u201cthe company does not want to turn itself into a pure online competitor to Amazon. A market where it has no competitive advantage (\u2026) To me, Barnes & Noble’s basic value proposition is a place to gather with other people. Maybe sit and study or have a cup of coffee while surrounded by books. There’s the pleasure of people watching and the chance that you might meet somebody over a book. Something you’ll never get on Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps \u2013professor Egger<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>adds- the only way to survive long term while selling this kind of intangible\u00a0would be to persuade people to pay a cover charge at the door just like a bar that offers a live band. Barnes and Noble is, in fact, a kind of old fashioned club. Essentially people are paying to be with other people who like or love books.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Portada1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Desc\u00e1rgate gratuitamente este completo y pr\u00e1ctico e-book, que desarrolla como gestionar cualquier flota de veh\u00edculos a trav\u00e9s de todas sus actividades y factores clave.<\/p>\n

Descarga\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Logistics<\/a><\/span> to the rescue<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to recover an important share in the marketplace a very sharp comprehensive and long-term strategy is needed, and Barnes & Noble is already taking some actions in several areas of its business model to improve its numbers.<\/p>\n

Last September 2015 the company informed<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that \u201cAs we look to the second quarter and beyond, we are focused on opportunities to increase comparable store sales and reduce expenses. The Company plans to further reduce NOOK (Barnes & Noble\u2019s ebook reader device) expenses through synergies with the Retail business and we expect to see those benefits during the balance of the fiscal year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides, several logistics management<\/a><\/strong><\/span> decisions have been taken to improve company\u2019s performance. According to a study case of the Pennsylvania State University<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, \u201ccurrently, there is a huge reduction in profit margins due to stiff competition, they’re operating at a net loss, and they are spending money on stores operating independently. Lately, there has also been a huge decrease in physical book sales due to eBooks. Barnes & Noble is also strongly lacking support activities. They lost $1 billion in their e-reading device, and have not spent any money in research and development in the past 4 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Penn State study<\/a><\/strong><\/span> \u2013released in 2015- also propose that B&N could apply some supply chain tactics<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to reduce rent expenses, like \u201csharing our warehouses<\/a><\/strong><\/span> with Google to reduce our rent expenses.\u00a0 We could offer them to use our current facilities at a charge of 25%. Our next strategy would be to offer \u201creal estate\u201d on our website.\u00a0 This would allow outside companies to promote their products on our website, in return for \u201creal estate\u201d on their website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides, B&N had teamed up<\/a><\/strong><\/span> with Google to offer same-day delivery using Google Shopping Express. They\u2019ve started in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with three different delivery options. This is a clear sign that for B&N giving the battle on its own terms doesn\u2019t mean to narrow their possibilities to win, but to take advantage of new resources without loosing company\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Barnes & Noble is now venturing into the same space as its virtual foe is notable \u2013Inbound Logistics<\/a><\/strong><\/span> explains-. Online retailers increasingly understand they need to use expedited shipping to differentiate from their competitors. Amazon wrote the book on it. But traditional sellers are catching up to speed and leveraging omni-channel convenience and flexibility to enhance the customer experience and deliver more value (\u2026) Barnes & Noble stores are becoming dual-purpose replenishment centers. Google staff employees in Barnes & Noble stores to “pick” books off shelves and coordinate transportation with local couriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Barnes & Noble has been defined as a \u2018brick and mortar\u2019 type of company –a\u00a0business<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/a>that\u00a0operates\u00a0from built-up\u00a0properties\u00a0or storefronts- specialized media and consultants are started to talk about \u2018brick and click\u2019 as a mix between this classic business model with online business, and this concept explains what B&N is aiming to.<\/p>\n

Currently, the physical book business has stabilized, and Barnes & Noble isn\u2019t the exception. According to Fortune<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, B&N CEO Ron Boire said that \u201cthe retailer has benefitted from efforts to diversify its offerings and ramp up its educational toys and gift businesses, sales of which grew 12.5% and 13.8% respectively\u00a0in the quarter ended Jan. 30.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cB&N \u2013Fortune<\/a><\/strong><\/span> adds- is hoping to build in its recovering retail business with the launch of a new store prototype next summer at four locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Definitely, it\u2019s a big challenge that Barnes & Noble and other \u2018brick and mortar\u2019 companies have been facing in the last decade. But, for several reasons there are some strength factors have helped them to maintain positioning\u00a0in an always evolving market, where there isn\u2019t just one right model anymore. What do you think about this \u2018brick and click\u2019 solution for storefronts companies? How should they manage its logistics <\/strong><\/span><\/a>to deliver both online and offline services? Share a comment.<\/p>\n

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\"FranciscaWriten by\u00a0Francisca Howard<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Francisca is a commercial engineer by University Adolfo Iba\u00f1ez. She worked 10 years in the retail industry and the last few months she has been working as a business developer for\u00a0Drivin<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, a\u00a0SaaS solution that allows to distribution companies to reduce its transport costs as well as increase the service quality of their final clients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Barnes & Noble doesn\u2019t sell books. The company offers the experience to meet people who love books in a warm and comfortable store, having a steamy cup of coffee and reading or talking about some special title. At least that\u2019s the competitive advantage that Barnes & Noble had empowered in the last years in order…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[32,5,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}