Barnes and Nobel Operations

Barnes & Noble Analysis. Prepared for Bar Ilan University IMBA, MIS.

5 Primary Business Operations:

Retail Stores

Internet

Publishing

eBooks

College Bookstores

• Barnes and Nobles is America’s top bookseller brand with 777 retail locations.

• The stores carry a very wide selection of books as well as magazines, music, DVDs, toys, and games.

• The stores aim to create an atmosphere that encourages customers to browse books and read them in the store. For this reason, retail locations contain many chairs and tables.

Retail Stores

Internet

• Barnes and Noble claims to be the internet’s largest bookstore with over 1 million books in stock and available for immediate delivery.

• The website provides tools for customers to search within the huge selection to find precisely the books they are looking for.

• Other features on the website have developed Barnesandnoble.com into a location for book lovers to share their passion and experience the best of the publishing industry.

Publishing• Barnes and Noble publishing program

was first started for the purpose of publishing out-of-print titles. However, the company quickly discovered the profit opportunity in publishing books on its own.

• Barnes and Noble currently publishes titles that are non-copyrighted in addition to titles that it purchases from other publishers.

• Barnes and Noble expanded its publishing operation with the purchase of Sparknotes and Sterling Publishers.

eBooks

• Barnes and Noble recently launched an eBook marketplace that is already the largest in the world with over 700,000 titles.

• These titles are available for download to many different devices including the iphone, blackberry, and the Nook – Barnes and Noble’s own ebook reader.

College Bookstores

• This operation, which was acquired in 2009, operates over 600 college bookstores across America.

• These bookstores cater to over 4 million students and over a quarter of a million professors.