Borders's Digital Center
The In-Store Marketing Institute reports on the digital center at the hub of the new Borders concept store in Ann Arbor:It sounds really compelling, in a lot of ways - but you have to wonder how many people wikll want to stand at a kiosk and do genealogy searches in a bookstore.The digital center has usurped a majority of the former music department, carrying a downsized inventory of product and a large amount of technological services. (Borders alluded to the change in its year-end financial release, reporting a decline in music sales and a plan to "reallocate floor space" accordingly.)
Services in the digital center consist of:
- Borders Digital Music, which enables shoppers to burn CDs and download music to digital music players from the chain's music library.
- Personal Publishing, a service powered by the Lulu.com digital marketplace. Shoppers can publish their own books and register for an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
- Genealogy Searches. A partnership with Ancestry.com lets shoppers search that company's website from kiosks or sign up for an Ancestry.com subscription.
- Downloadable Digital Audiobooks, which Borders claims is the first "audiobook download service in a physical retail environment." The retailer offers approximately 15,000 titles.
- Custom Photo Books, an area where shoppers can digitally create and personalize photo albums that will be shipped to them upon completion.
- Photo Printing, where shoppers can print photos from a digital camera.
Borders also is merchandising products related to the services, including digital cameras and photo frames, GPS devices and Sony's Reader Digital Book.
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O'Reilly TOC - Tools of Change for Publishing: Borders Prototype Store Shows Off Digital Center
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