Books v. Music: retail smackdown

Will the the fate of recorded music retail also befall booksellers? If history is any measure the likelihood of the book biz rebuffing the impending digital onslaught are slim.

Yet, and notwithstanding that many booksellers ignorantly believe ‘books are not music’, book retailers have access to technology that their music industry counterparts could only have dreamed of.

I’m talking specifically about location based social networking. The ability to interact with one’s customers through services such as foursquare present gigantic advantages to booksellers not enjoyed by recorded music retailers.

But given that most booksellers don’t get even the most basic aspects of customer service right, I don’t hold much hope for them picking up on the latest tech trends.