Retail Book Industry in Nz

Management Consulting Report
The New Zealand Book Retail Industry Analysis

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|Date:             | 27 August 2009                                     |

Executive Summary

The aim of this report is to analyse and outline the business perspectives for opening a new independent book store in the Auckland region. The report analyses the current book retail industry and specifically discusses a new book shop’s viability highlighting the internal and external risks and opportunities as well as strengths and shortcomings.

To assess the book retail competitive environment elements of SWOT and Porters’ Five Forces analysis tools were utilised (Needle, 2000).

The major strengths of a new book shop which could be turned into a competitive advantage are the independency and local governance, relationship with publishers and closeness to customers. The major threats to and weaknesses of the new venture are attributable to low bargaining power with publishers (Needle, 2000), to lack of resources, and high market competition.

The report’s conclusion is that anyone intending to enter the book retail market by opening a new store is advised to be mindful of the industry’s risks and challenges in order to mitigate those on the one hand, and to fully capitalise on the opportunities offered by the industry by turning its strengths to a competitive advantage, on the other hand.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 2
Table of Contents 3
1. Introduction 4
2. Discussion 5
2.1 Competitive Environment 5
  2.1.1 Whitcoulls Group 5
  2.1.2 Paper Plus 6
  2.1.3 Dymocks 8
  2.1.4 Independent Booksellers 9
2.2 Risk Assessment 11
  2.2.1 Low Bargaining Power with Publishers 11
  2.2.2 Lack of Resources 12
  2.2.3 Market Competition 13... [continues]

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