Marketing in the textbook industry

The paper “ Marketing and Key Factors of Success in the Textbook Industry” is an informative variant of the assignment on marketing. Making the choice of what books to purchase have been complex enough to many people. The introduction of the electronic textbook as a competing model has made it more difficult. electronic textbook model has its attention on the changing technology advancement and increasing computer literacy. Customers allied to the traditional textbooks format value the reading ease, the resale value, the personal library idea among others. Those who prefer the electronic textbook value the ease to travel with volumes, the speed of access and the almost weightless nature. Accordingly, electronic textbooks are easier to make numerous copies and monitor copyrights as compared to print textbooks(Chaffey & Smith, 2013). Print textbooks still heavily rely on printing and publishing houses and press both for distribution and for copyright monitoring. This makes textbooks relatively cheap and thus profitable.

2 Most of the textbook platforms that include online tutorials increase considerably the value proposition of the customer. Such online material like a guide to ease of keyword and phrase search, audio aspects and pronunciation, make these textbooks attractive and thus high sales. This will certainly increase the profit formula. The margin may not be as high as it should be because the addition of these features increases the overall cost of production(Kotler & Lee, 2008). For example, where a compact disc with this material accompanies the textbook, this is an incurred cost.

3 Competition in the textbook industry is fierce than ever. Substitute product threat, entry of new competitors, rivalry between the competitors and its intensity, customers bargaining powers and the suppliers bargaining power are the five most competitive forces in the textbook industry. Content, author’s education level, the resume, and experience of authors, branding and the publishing house are some of the weakest competitive forces(Ellis et al., 2010).

4. In the textbook industry, the factors that are driving change are the very factors that affect the supply and demand of the textbooks. These are prices, tastes and preference, ease of access and affordability, changes in incomes, changes in technology among other factors. These factors when coupled with the forces of competition and strategy in the industry leave a huge impact on the industry. A case in point is the growing preference of electronic textbooks among college students due to the relatively cheaper price, ease of access and the increased use of computer related technology.

5 In the textbook industry, the key factors of success are the strongest competitive forces. Customer and supplier bargaining powers, the entry and reentry of competitors and new methods of competition like merging and cartels, availability of substitutes and even the government policies that govern the operation f print and print sources. For success in the industry, it is necessary that strategies to manipulate these forces be laid down. These include the maximum utilization of web and internet services to do marketing and advertisement, changing the prices to be sensitive to the targeted buyers, adapting to the changing issues, tastes and preferences of customers.

6 The publishers of eBooks only are more advantaged primarily in regards to the paper and print related costs that they incur. The bulk of their material is stored and distributed electronically and thus even their operation costs, and space is relatively cheap and small. The nature in which they access their customers and distribute these books also gives them a competitive age as the sale is instant and fast and delivery are a click of a button. Their cost of transportation of the books is not felt. However, the disadvantage of electronic only publishers is found mainly in the customers’ attitudes and the overreliance on technology. The limitation of the necessary technology mostly to urban centers limits their area of coverage in distribution. This is true even where the population is able to use such technology but for some reason cannot access the technology. This is in a contrast to print only publishers who factor all the population that is literate in the marketing and distribution strategy (Lamberti & Noci, 2010).

7. A venture specializing in electronic textbooks only sounds like one that is worth the time and effort. However, the real venture should be to get people, right from suppliers to consumers to embrace the idea. The number of libraries in the world, for example that are electronic textbooks only, are hardy a handful and almost unknown even to the academicians.