New Bol Game: U.K. Online Retailer to Morph into Online Book Club

By Amanda-Jane Doran, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 7/11/2002

Three years after its launch as an online retailer and a year after Bol International was absorbed back into Bertelsmann, Bol.com U.K. is being folded into Book Club Associates, Bertelsmann's U.K. book club company.

This aggressive move out of online sales and into the book club market will reduce the number of titles available from Bol.co.uk from 1.5 million to just 10,000. The core stock will focus on commercial titles and be discounted by as much as 60% off typical retail prices.

Christian Friege, CEO of Book Club Associates, explained the company's new strategy. "We will be focussing on what's hot and attractive. We wanted to be able to offer our customers something exclusive, and the new concept allows us to do this." Members of the bol.com club will have to commit to buying one more book after the initial purchase; the discounts will apply to any subsequent purchases.

Distribution will come from the BCA warehouse rather than through Bol's current wholesalers Bertrams and Gardners, cutting costs for the new business concept. In addition, the company will offer very competitive rates on postage, starting at £1 ($1.50) for one book, £2 ($3) for two books and free for three or more.