Slowly but surely the UK’s retail sector is catching on to the Internet. Instead of whining about losing sales to Amazon, Waterstones have finally launched their own web site. (Yes, they did have one before, it was outsourced to Amazon, to whom they claimed to be losing sales hand over, oh never mind.) The new site looks quite good. SF/F/H has its own section, but then so do Crime and Romance so we are not being picked on. There’s not a lot in the way of non-sales content, but they do have a “best SF” page with a fascinatingly ecclectic collection of books on it. Talking of odd mixes, there’s a an “Award winners” page, that includes the Clarke and the Hugo but not the BSFA or World Fantasy, includes the Stoker but not the IHG.
Still, the important point is that they will ship overseas, so US readers who currently buy from Amazon UK might want to do some comparison shopping. Ditto those of us who live in Darkest Somerset and need to visit other towns to find a Waterstones.
By the way, those of you with an interest in online retailing might like to check out this Guardian article which has a brief section describing how various major UK retailers are doing.
More shops to choose from is always a good thing. But what is it that makes these web shop makers think it is a good idea to not tell potential customers how much the shipping will cost until they’ve gone through the trouble of creating an account, adding books to the basket, and going through the checkout process? Do they really think that’s any way to get customers?
Goodness knows. Most of them do it. But it is by no means the worst I’ve seen. Tesco’s web site won’t allow you to even browse the store until you have set up an account with them.