Boom predicted for Swiss online book trade
Switzerland has seen a major boom in online book shopping in the past months, and experts predict a veritable explosion of the market as up to 30 per cent of all books will likely be bought via the Internet by 2003.
Switzerland has seen a major boom in online book shopping in the past months, and experts predict a veritable explosion of the market as up to 30 per cent of all books will likely be bought via the Internet by 2003.
From a technological point of view, the preconditions for a market explosion are set as Switzerland already has one of the most advanced fibre optic networks in Europe. The country also has the fourth highest computer penetration rate worldwide.
Swiss book shops entered the virtual world in 1996, when they began accepting orders via the Internet. But the real “virtual book stores” did not exist until early 1998, when www.lesen.ch followed the U.S.-based Amazon.com model and began offering its books online.
The www.lesen.ch website was voted “best online book store” by the Swiss finance magazine “Cash” last year. That decision was remarkable as two major German Internet companies targeted the Swiss market the very same year and set up shop with www.buecher.ch and www.bol.ch, which is owned by publishing giant Bertelsmann.
About 2 per cent of all books are ordered online in Switzerland’s 60 online book stores per year, totalling SFr20 million ($13 million). But online bookstores are clearly banking on an explosion in the e-commerce sector. Bertelsmann, for instance, says it is aiming at 50 per cent of the Swiss market.
Customers in Switzerland normally get their orders delivered to their door the day after a book has been bought online. Those who do not mind waiting a bit longer can order their books from Germany, where they can take advantage of lower prices in Deutschmarks. Some German companies even provide free delivery.
Swiss online book stores have also begun trying to bind their customers to their websites, for instance by providing customer-profile book information, introducing frequent flier miles tied to purchases, or by offering special web chats with Swiss authors.
From staff and wire reports.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.