Borders Is Back
Borders abandoned their web presence years ago, ceding the space to Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. But it now looks like the brick-and-mortar bookseller is back:
For the past seven years, brick-and-mortar mega book retailer Borders has farmed out its online presence to Amazon, but the company is finally setting out on its own with the launch of Borders.com.
The retail site is designed around the Magic Shelf homepage, a feature designed to make the online book-shopping experience a bit more like its real-world counterpart. Visitors can browse books, music, and movie titles with the feature.
It’ll take a little more than a magic shelf to compete successfully against the 800-pound Amazon gorilla, but the new Borders.com site is nicely executed and seems like it could engage book-store browsers that might find Amazon overwhelming.
Borders is reportedly up for sale, with Barnes and Noble looking into the feasibility of a buy-out. If that happens, it seems like a web-presence would be redundant. Then again, maybe that’s the point — B&N might be more inclined to scoop up an online competitor than a brick-and-mortar only competitor.
On the web: Borders.com
