The central feature at Borders.com is called the "Magic Shelf". Borders says the shelf captures the essence of shopping in one of its stores. Books are placed cover out and side by side on the shelf. Shoppers can move up or down and from side to side. Roll the cursor over a book and a box with details about it pops up. The shelf can be customized by the user and can show 20 shelves of titles and offers "just for you" picks based on past purchases.
"We wanted a real bookstore online," said Kevin Ertell, senior vice president for e-business at Borders, in an interview with the Free Press last week. "What we did to capture that bookstore feel was putting the Magic Shelf on the sign-in page." It is a unique feature and one that ought to lead to more sales.
Borders.com offers free shipping on some orders over $25 and also offers free shipping to its stores, where shoppers will be able to pick up a box containing their order about two days after buying. Ertell says the company expects this option to be popular in urban areas, for example, where people might not want a package left outside their home.
CEO George Jones expects the site to be profitable in 2009.
Q1 earnings will be released later today and the Q1 earnings call is tomorrow am.
Disclosure ("none" means no position):Long BGP
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