Cheyenne Roche: Keep Bezos away from our bookstores

Jan. 4—If you've ever worked in sales, you know the dichotomy between December and January is alarming.

The product goes from flying out the door to gathering dust on the shelves. Whether people aren't shopping because their households just gained a host of new gadgets or because they are trying to financially recover from the holidays, they simply aren't spending money like they were.

Some people put a halt on spending for a New Year's resolution. I know Erin here in the office is determined to spend less this year on things like books and Starbucks. I have not made any such promises — I don't have the restraint she does.

There are many companies who will easily survive the down month, but our smaller businesses are challenged in this way. I recently spoke with a small business owner who said she's talked to other owners who choose to close in the early months of the year due to a lack of sales.

While people are extra focused on pinching pennies, Amazon becomes a more attractive method of purchasing. There's no need to scrape the frost off the windshield and venture out into the cold, and the prices are often better.

Don't get me wrong, I buy a lot of things from Amazon. In a small town like Creston, sometimes Amazon is the only way to purchase certain items without leaving town.

But when we have something available in town, especially at a small business, we can make a big difference by supporting them. Amazon is willing to lose money on products to eliminate competitors. They've shown this in the past.

In the early 2000s, when a startup called Diapers.com announced they would allow parents to schedule reoccurring orders of diapers, consumers took notice. So did Amazon.

The company optimized their packaging for baby products and positioned warehouses close to metropolitan areas. That not only allowed them to get cheaper ground-shipping rates. It also allowed them to provide overnight shipping to most of their customers — in many cases, faster than Amazon's own shipping.

In "Amazon Unbound" by Brad Stone, the author states, "In 2009, Amazon sent a senior vice president to have lunch with the founders of the startup behind Diapers.com, called Quidsi. He warned them that Amazon was thinking about getting into the diaper business and suggested they think about selling." They way Stone describes the interaction, it was not a friendly suggestion.

After Quidsi declined the offer, Amazon began to slash their prices on diapers and other products. As an experiment, Quidsi executives manipulated their prices and then watched as Amazon's website changed its prices accordingly. Amazon's pricing bots—software that carefully monitors other companies' prices and adjusts Amazon's to match—were tracking Diapers.com.

Though the price drops were estimated to cost Amazon $100 million in diapers alone over a three-month period, it also cut significantly into the profits of Diapers.com. Amazon took it a step further, creating a service called Amazon Mom, offering huge discounts and free shipping on diapers and other baby supplies.

That month, Diapers.com listed a case of Pampers at $45; Amazon priced it at $39, and Amazon Mom customers could get a case for less than $30.

In November 2010, Amazon got its wish, acquiring Quidsi and Diapers.com.

One month later, Amazon closed Amazon Mom to new members. Then a few weeks later, as the Federal Trade Commission was giving the deal unexpectedly close scrutiny, Amazon re-opened Amazon Mom—but with smaller discounts. In effect, Amazon hiked diaper prices soon after the acquisition.

Amazon has since shut down Diapers.com, proof that what Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants, he will get. Now customers who were once receiving fair prices and fast shipping through the smaller site are forced to pay whatever Amazon sets as the price if they want to continue to receive a similar service.

We can't let this happen again, but he's trying. Specifically with books. As of 2023, the global book publishing revenue stands at $129 billion, jumping from $122 billion in 2018. The global book publishing market will be valued at $143.65 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $163.89 billion by 2030.

The Guardian reports half of all print books in the U.S. are purchased through Amazon. "Amazon doesn't care about books ... a book is just another thing in a warehouse," Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt said. "Whereas bookstores are places of discovery. They're just really nice spaces."

We are now fortunate to have several bookstores in close range. For a great variety for everyone, visit The Latest Edition Bookstore in Creston or Brick Road Books in Winterset. For your next romance read, browse That's What She Read in Mount Ayr. For a place heavy on children's literature, Hedgie's Books, Toys, and More in Bedford is a wonderful option.

Even Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million are better options to support than Amazon. Don't let Bezos take our bookstores.