Going for Canadian Gold: Powells.com Extends Free Shipping North

By Leah Eichler, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 3/13/2002

An additional Internet bookseller has thrown its hat into the Canadian bookselling ring. Powells.com, the online division of the Portland, Ore., mini-chain, is hoping to entice Canadians to shop online at its virtual store by offering free shipments on orders of $50 and more. The company is embarking on a six-month ad campaign in the Globe and Mail newspaper to introduce Canadian book buyers to the store.

Director of content and marketing Dave Weich said that although it has been only four days since the first ad appeared, the company has noticed a spike in sales to Canada.

Before the advertisement, about 2% of Powell's sales were derived from Canadian clients; it has approximately 16,000 Canadian customers. Since Saturday, Weich said that 2% of Powell's online customers cited the Globe and Mail ad as the reason for visiting the online store.

"This isn't a grand scheme to steamroll through Canada," explained Weich, who attended university in Canada. "We've been around for a few years and have had a steady share of Canadian customers, and the Globe and Mail just seemed like the perfect thing to do." He added that Powells.com, which was voted the best book site by Forbes magazine, has always offered free shipping on order of more than $50. Quality of service and the store's variety of used books is also a draw.

"Of course, people come to save money," he continued. "But I think the people who are most loyal to us are the one who want to go to a bookstore and find reliable information about books."