national bookstore research paper

Creating Competitive Advantage: The Growth of Independent Bookstores in the U.S. 2009–2018

• Published: 28 August 2019
• Volume 35 , pages 670–684, ( 2019 )

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• Samaher Baidis 1 ,
• Albert N. Greco 1 ,
• Michael D. Kontolios 1 ,
• Molly McCullen 1 ,
• Nan Rittenhouse 1 &
• Robert M. Wharton 1  

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Independent bookstores (often called “indies” or “independents”) sustained threats to their basic business model because of the growth of national bookstore chains and the proliferation of book sales online, in price clubs, supermarkets, convenience stores, mass merchants, and specialty stores, the emergence of digital e-books and eReaders, and the U.S. recession of 2007–2009. These events triggered the closing of hundreds of independent bookstores. In spite of stiff online and brick-and-mortar competition and the recession, many independents were able to grow in size and importance. This article outlines the competitive advantages utilized by many independent bookstores between 2009 and 2018, resulting in an increase in the number of independent bookstores between 2009 (1651) and 2018 (2470).

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Baidis, S., Greco, A.N., Kontolios, M.D. et al. Creating Competitive Advantage: The Growth of Independent Bookstores in the U.S. 2009–2018. Pub Res Q 35 , 670–684 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-019-09678-0

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Published : 28 August 2019

Issue Date : December 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-019-09678-0

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National Bookstore: a Profile of Its Marketing Mix Analysis

Product National Bookstore offers a wide range of products from the retail sale and distribution of books to the sale of various school supplies. National Bookstore’s products, specifically the school supplies, are mostly aimed for the students’ and office workers’ consumption and needs. However, the customers of National Bookstore are not limited to just students and office workers. The company also caters to kids through the sale of toys, coloring books, crayons and et cetera.

Adults are also customers of National Bookstore since they avail of the various selections of books that National has to offer. Students and other consumers as well know that National Bookstore offers products of good quality and of affordable prices that are of great benefit to the consumers. National Bookstore also offers branded school supplies like Staedler, Stabilo, Cattleya, and et cetera. However, National Bookstore also offers their own product line named Best Buy which is more affordable than other brands.

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In effect, National Bookstore gives the option to its consumers to choose the products and brands that suit their tastes and that fit in their wallet. National Bookstore products have become a necessity for students and office workers. So much so, that Filipinos equate and refer to bookstores as National, like how photocopying is equated to Xerox and marker to Pentel. Filipinos rely so much on National Bookstore providing them quality products that Filipinos no longer look at other bookstores in the market and instead, focus only on National Bookstore.

National Bookstore has thus become a huge and integral part of the Filipinos’ lives. Price Affordable pricing is one objective that National Bookstore has – every product is of the best quality at the best price. National Bookstore wants that students be able to afford to buy school supplies with their own allowance that is why National Bookstore’s products are priced at affordable levels, all the while keeping the best quality. Since what National Bookstore offers to the public are customer needs, the customers’ are more than willing to pay the prices set by National Bookstore.

Since consumers know that what National Bookstore offers to them are their needs, the consumers are willing to pay the prices set since using the products will maximize their utility. Luckily, National Bookstore has many pricing strategies that meet the demands of the different customers they have. National Bookstore uses Product Line Pricing which is evident in the many different brands of the same products they offer. Obviously, those products are priced differently and accordingly to the features that the product has and the benefit the consumer receives.

An example would be the school notebooks that National Bookstores sells. Some notebooks that are not branded have rough and thin leaves while other branded ones like Corona or Cattleya have smooth and thicker leaves. The prices of the two products are not the same, with the branded products having a higher price. This reflects the Product Line Pricing National Bookstore has since the better features a product has, its price should also be higher. National Bookstore also uses Bundle Pricing where it bundles products at a reduced price.

An example of this is the bundling of pens or pencils into three pieces or more for a price lower than if you buy the pens per piece. Also, when the school season is near, National Bookstore offers bundled pad paper of different sizes (size 1, size 2, size 3 and size 4 or more commonly, the intermediate, cross-wise, length-wise and one-fourth pad papers) for a lower price than if you buy the pad paper individually. Promotion National Bookstore uses many promotional strategies to communicate to their target market.

National Bookstore’s strategies hinge on the fact that their brand is already well-known in the country. Although their promotional strategies are not as aggressive as compared to other companies in other industries, National Bookstore still uses promotions to further remind their customers of National Bookstore’s presence in the market and to keep their customers loyal to the brand. National Bookstore uses a loyalty program called Laking National to emphasize the affinity of the company’s brand with its most valued and loyal customers.

Laking National was created to retain National Bookstore’s most valuable customers and to provide additional value for the business they have given National Bookstore over the years. Members of the Laking National program earn points from the products they buy and are given discounts on selected items, privileges to avail of services from partner agencies. National Bookstore also takes advantage of seasonality of their sales, especially during the months May and June where demand for school supplies is high.

The company heavily promotes during this period by using sales promotions and giving special offers like bundling of goods such as pad paper and pens. Lastly, National Bookstore operates and has its own website (http://www. nationalbookstore. com and http://www. nbsstores. com) where customers can visit and get information regarding the many products and services the company offers. The website, http://www. nationalbookstore. com is powered by myAyala. com, which is the largest online shopping mall in the Philippines. The partnership between myAyala. om and National Bookstore makes it easier for National Bookstore to conduct business online and to let customers who are not able to visit their stores to still order books from them. Place The 87 branches of National Bookstore are mainly located in shopping malls scattered all over the country. Some stores are located near schools and colleges for the convenience of the brand’s target market which is the students. Within the shopping malls, most of the National Bookstore outlets are located at the first floors of the malls. National Bookstore also makes use of an online shopping mall with the help of its partner, myAyala. om which is the largest online shopping mall in the Philippines. National Bookstore’s products, thus, are not confined to the buildings of their branches, but can now also be availed of using digital or online shops. Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from Welcome to Learnmarketing. net: http://www. learnmarketing. net/ NBS – About Us. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=1 NBS – About Us. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. bsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=4 NBS – Laking National. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/lakingnational. asp NBS – Products & Services. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/products. asp ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/products. asp [ 2 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=4 [ 3 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=1

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How National Bookstore’s ‘Nanay Coring’ grows a nation of readers

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MANILA, Philippines – National Bookstore has been growing since the 1930s.

“I’m confident we have contributed to society. It’s because we sell books that are good for our people, a lot of kids grew up with National Book Store – Laking National,”  said Socorro Ramos, the founder and chairman of National Book Store Incorporated.

Nanay Coring, as she is fondly called, shared her very humble beginnings in a Go Negosyo event honoring her lifetime achievements.

She grew National Bookstore out of a small store that sold books through a single window.

Socorro credits her brother-in-law, who first gave her a job at his own bookstore. She spent 3 years there learning the business. She also met there her husband, the late Jose Ramos. They wed, and opened a business of their own.

The “National” moniker was chosen on a whim by Nanay Coring, who recalled seeing the word printed on cash registers that time.

It proved to be an apt name for National Book Store’s journey to its present stature as the country’s biggest bookseller.

“From the first little store, I was lucky to open one in Avenida, then Recto, Cubao, Ayala Center – until I finally reached Mindanao!” she recalled.

Her wealth of decades as an entrepreneur earned her accolades left and right – the most prominent of them being the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year honor from Ernst & Young and SGV & Company, for which she represented the country in the Entrepreneur of the Year global competition.

Her life story was best penned and illustrated in a children’s book, Nanay Coring: The Life Story of National Book Store’s Socorro Ramos , written by Yvette Fernandez and illustrated by Liza Flores.

Way back, the late National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin also wrote about Nanay Coring.

Their “small store” grew into subsidiaries like Metrobooks in Hong Kong; National Bookstore mini outlets; and specialty store Powerbooks. Anvil Publishing is National Bookstore’s publishing arm.

Meanwhile, the Ramos family’s Anglo Philippines Holdings Corporation has stakes in United Paragon Mining Corporation; Philodrill Corporation; Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation; MRT Development Corporation; and MRT Holdings, Incorporated. The family also has interests in Vulcan Industrial Mining Corporation. The backdoor listing of National Bookstore though is shelved at the moment.

In December 2014, the Ramoses sold 15.79% of its stake in North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation (NTDCC) in Quezon City to the Ayalas, the developer of TriNoma mall.

Price was right

Nanay Coring said it was really the community that pushed the bookstore’s success. It was their persistence to have a bookstore in their community that convinced her to expand.

The popularity was because the price was right, she said.

A pragmatist, she only charged the converted dollar price on imported books because the slight discount she got buying such was enough for her, Nanay Coring reasoned.

“Besides, the buyers would see the dollar price printed on the back cover!” Nanay Coring exclaimed.

She added that her decision to post only a very small mark-up on books was partly motivated by her own experiences.

“I wanted to help people learn, since I myself was poor but eager to learn,” Nanay Coring said.

‘ A bowl of cherries’

Nanay Coring initially relied on catalogs such as the top 20 best-selling titles to guide her in determining which books to bring in the Philippines.

For instance, the book, If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? sold 3 million copies in the US so Nanay Coring decided to bring the title here. But it flopped.

She reasoned that maybe the book’s setting was not applicable to the situation in the country and it taught her the importance of developing an instinctive feel for her audience.

“Some work, others did not. Eventually I came to rely on feel. It was like gambling at first,” she said.

She reasoned that such contribute to the popularity of romance and self-help books throughout her decades running the business.

Nanay Coring highlighted How to Win Friends and Influence People as one that particularly resonated with her and the public, because it spoke both to a Filipino’s social and self-determined attributes.

Her biggest takeaway from the book: “Be humble!”

Not only ‘Twilight’

At 92, Nanay Coring is eager to hand over the reins.

She mentioned that her granddaughter, Xandra Ramos-Padilla , who serves as managing director of National Bookstore, is one of them taking over the bookstore chain, which to date, has about 2,500 employees in over 160 branches.

And National Bookstore, co-run now by the younger generation of Ramoses, will continue to grow the country by looking after the future of young, Filipino readers.

“Children’s books and fiction have lately dominated the market with nothing in between. But the emergence of teen fiction has catered to a whole new segment of readers that even adults are reading,” Xandra said.

She admits that Twilight is probably the best example of this but highlighted that there are “so many quality pieces out there.”

The advent of electronic books (e-books) has threatened traditional books and sellers, but the firm sees them as opportunity as well, Xandra said.

“Our physical book sales are still growing but we also offer e-books through our tie-up with Kobo,” she explained.

Xandra added that the company is also digitalizing its own books published through in-house arm, Anvil Publishing.

Reach a wider audience

Xandra pointed out that some of the new generation of Filipino authors are choosing to be published abroad.

Despite this, the firm is working to ensure that their material reaches the Filipino audience, she emphasized.

“We try to partner with their international publisher to launch them here,” Xandra said.

The firm is also focusing on publishing Filipino translations of prominent foreign authors for their works to reach the wider market.

The firm also plans to continue partnering with figures like Boy Abunda and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago , whose pop lit works have been well-received.

“As long as their works are relevant to people or culture [then] they will be published,” she said.

Overall, Nanay Coring said there are now more successful entrepreneurs than ever. And education plays a key role for such.

“Education is such that wherever you are, you have skills and knowledge. You know a little bit about every subject that has to be talked about,” Nanay Coring said.

It is the kind of knowledge that a good book can provide. – Rappler.com

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National Bookstore: a Profile of Its Marketing Mix

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Product National Bookstore offers a wide range of products from the retail sale and distribution of books to the sale of various school supplies. National Bookstore’s products, specifically the school supplies, are mostly aimed for the students’ and office workers’ consumption and needs. However, the customers of National Bookstore are not limited to just students and office workers. The company also caters to kids through the sale of toys, coloring books, crayons and et cetera.

Adults are also customers of National Bookstore since they avail of the various selections of books that National has to offer. Students and other consumers as well know that National Bookstore offers products of good quality and of affordable prices that are of great benefit to the consumers. National Bookstore also offers branded school supplies like Staedler, Stabilo, Cattleya, and et cetera. However, National Bookstore also offers their own product line named Best Buy which is more affordable than other brands.

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In effect, National Bookstore gives the option to its consumers to choose the products and brands that suit their tastes and that fit in their wallet. National Bookstore products have become a necessity for students and office workers. So much so, that Filipinos equate and refer to bookstores as National, like how photocopying is equated to Xerox and marker to Pentel. Filipinos rely so much on National Bookstore providing them quality products that Filipinos no longer look at other bookstores in the market and instead, focus only on National Bookstore.

National Bookstore has thus become a huge and integral part of the Filipinos’ lives. Price Affordable pricing is one objective that National Bookstore has – every product is of the best quality at the best price. National Bookstore wants that students be able to afford to buy school supplies with their own allowance that is why National Bookstore’s products are priced at affordable levels, all the while keeping the best quality. Since what National Bookstore offers to the public are customer needs, the customers’ are more than willing to pay the prices set by National Bookstore.

Since consumers know that what National Bookstore offers to them are their needs, the consumers are willing to pay the prices set since using the products will maximize their utility. Luckily, National Bookstore has many pricing strategies that meet the demands of the different customers they have. National Bookstore uses Product Line Pricing which is evident in the many different brands of the same products they offer. Obviously, those products are priced differently and accordingly to the features that the product has and the benefit the consumer receives.

An example would be the school notebooks that National Bookstores sells. Some notebooks that are not branded have rough and thin leaves while other branded ones like Corona or Cattleya have smooth and thicker leaves. The prices of the two products are not the same, with the branded products having a higher price. This reflects the Product Line Pricing National Bookstore has since the better features a product has, its price should also be higher. National Bookstore also uses Bundle Pricing where it bundles products at a reduced price.

An example of this is the bundling of pens or pencils into three pieces or more for a price lower than if you buy the pens per piece. Also, when the school season is near, National Bookstore offers bundled pad paper of different sizes (size 1, size 2, size 3 and size 4 or more commonly, the intermediate, cross-wise, length-wise and one-fourth pad papers) for a lower price than if you buy the pad paper individually. Promotion National Bookstore uses many promotional strategies to communicate to their target market.

National Bookstore’s strategies hinge on the fact that their brand is already well-known in the country. Although their promotional strategies are not as aggressive as compared to other companies in other industries, National Bookstore still uses promotions to further remind their customers of National Bookstore’s presence in the market and to keep their customers loyal to the brand. National Bookstore uses a loyalty program called Laking National to emphasize the affinity of the company’s brand with its most valued and loyal customers.

Laking National was created to retain National Bookstore’s most valuable customers and to provide additional value for the business they have given National Bookstore over the years. Members of the Laking National program earn points from the products they buy and are given discounts on selected items, privileges to avail of services from partner agencies. National Bookstore also takes advantage of seasonality of their sales, especially during the months May and June where demand for school supplies is high.

The company heavily promotes during this period by using sales promotions and giving special offers like bundling of goods such as pad paper and pens. Lastly, National Bookstore operates and has its own website (http://www. nationalbookstore. com and http://www. nbsstores. com) where customers can visit and get information regarding the many products and services the company offers. The website, http://www. nationalbookstore. com is powered by myAyala. com, which is the largest online shopping mall in the Philippines. The partnership between myAyala. om and National Bookstore makes it easier for National Bookstore to conduct business online and to let customers who are not able to visit their stores to still order books from them. Place The 87 branches of National Bookstore are mainly located in shopping malls scattered all over the country. Some stores are located near schools and colleges for the convenience of the brand’s target market which is the students. Within the shopping malls, most of the National Bookstore outlets are located at the first floors of the malls. National Bookstore also makes use of an online shopping mall with the help of its partner, myAyala. om which is the largest online shopping mall in the Philippines. National Bookstore’s products, thus, are not confined to the buildings of their branches, but can now also be availed of using digital or online shops. Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from Welcome to Learnmarketing. net: http://www. learnmarketing. net/ NBS – About Us. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=1 NBS – About Us. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. bsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=4 NBS – Laking National. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/lakingnational. asp NBS – Products & Services. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 2010, from National Bookstore Corporate Website: http://www. nbsstores. com/products. asp ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/products. asp [ 2 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=4 [ 3 ]. http://www. nbsstores. com/about. asp? article_id=1

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Do you feel the need to check out some previously written Research Papers on Bookstore before you start writing an own piece? In this open-access database of Bookstore Research Paper examples, you are provided with an exciting opportunity to examine meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices. Implementing them while composing your own Bookstore Research Paper will definitely allow you to complete the piece faster.

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Competing Business: Online Bookstore Research Paper Examples

Company overview.

The online bookstore will be known as booksgalore.com. The store will stock online and paperback versions of rare books on the following subjects: history, philosophy, theology, fiction and science. The bookstore will be in operation as from mid-January 2015. Its base of operation will be New York City where the company will have a warehouse for storing paper back copies of books. The company’s site will be hosted and maintained by Itl Internet Service providers which will be contracted on a yearly basis.

The company’s address is:

335 Park Avenue Street

New York City

United States of America www.booksgalore.com

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Problem Solving

Online students at Harrison College are unhappy because their books are not delivered promptly. What can we do to make the students happy?

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A modern way to teach and practice manual therapy

Affiliations.

• 1 School of Health Sciences, Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2HA, UK.
• 2 Allied Health Research Unit, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK. [email protected].
• 3 Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
• 4 Nottingham CityCare Partnership, Bennerley Rd, Nottingham, NG6 8WR, UK.
• 5 School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2HA, UK.
• 6 Department of Orthopaedics, West Herts Hospitals Trust, Watford, WD18 0HB, UK.
• 7 School of Physiotherapy, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6GX, UK.
• 8 Department of Orthopaedics, Duke University, 200 Morris Street, Durham, NC, 27701, USA.
• 9 School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Brighton, Darley Rd, Eastbourne, BN20 7UR, UK.
• 10 Clinical Neuroscience, Trafford Building, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9PX, UK.
• 11 University College of Osteopathy, 275 Borough High St, London, SE1 1JE, UK.
• 12 Department of Clinical Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Umeå University, S-90187, Umeå, Sweden.
• 13 The School of Soft Tissue Therapy, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1DQ, UK.
• 14 Department of health, LUNEX, Differdange, 4671, Luxembourg.
• 15 Luxembourg Health & Sport Sciences Research Institute A.s.b.l., 50, Avenue du Parc des Sports, Differdange, 4671, Luxembourg.
• 16 Department of Occupation and Health, School of Organization and Development, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
• PMID: 38773515
• PMCID: PMC11110311
• DOI: 10.1186/s12998-024-00537-0

Background: Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to global disability and health burden. Manual therapy (MT) interventions are commonly recommended in clinical guidelines and used in the management of musculoskeletal conditions. Traditional systems of manual therapy (TMT), including physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, and soft tissue therapy have been built on principles such as clinician-centred assessment, patho-anatomical reasoning, and technique specificity. These historical principles are not supported by current evidence. However, data from clinical trials support the clinical and cost effectiveness of manual therapy as an intervention for musculoskeletal conditions, when used as part of a package of care.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a modern evidence-guided framework for the teaching and practice of MT which avoids reference to and reliance on the outdated principles of TMT. This framework is based on three fundamental humanistic dimensions common in all aspects of healthcare: safety, comfort, and efficiency. These practical elements are contextualised by positive communication, a collaborative context, and person-centred care. The framework facilitates best-practice, reasoning, and communication and is exemplified here with two case studies.

Methods: A literature review stimulated by a new method of teaching manual therapy, reflecting contemporary evidence, being trialled at a United Kingdom education institute. A group of experienced, internationally-based academics, clinicians, and researchers from across the spectrum of manual therapy was convened. Perspectives were elicited through reviews of contemporary literature and discussions in an iterative process. Public presentations were made to multidisciplinary groups and feedback was incorporated. Consensus was achieved through repeated discussion of relevant elements.

Conclusions: Manual therapy interventions should include both passive and active, person-empowering interventions such as exercise, education, and lifestyle adaptations. These should be delivered in a contextualised healing environment with a well-developed person-practitioner therapeutic alliance. Teaching manual therapy should follow this model.

Keywords: Chiropractic; Evidence-based healthcare; Manual Therapy; Osteopathy; Person-centred healthcare; Physiotherapy; Soft-tissue therapy.

© 2024. The Author(s).

Publication types

• Musculoskeletal Diseases / therapy
• Musculoskeletal Manipulations* / education
• Musculoskeletal Manipulations* / methods

Paper Tiger? Chinese Science and Home Bias in Citations

We investigate the phenomenon of home bias in scientific citations, where researchers disproportionately cite work from their own country. We develop a benchmark for expected citations based on the relative size of countries, defining home bias as deviations from this norm. Our findings reveal that China exhibits the largest home bias across all major countries and in nearly all scientific fields studied. This stands in contrast to the pattern of home bias for China’s trade in goods and services, where China does not stand out from most industrialized countries. After adjusting citation counts for home bias, we demonstrate that China’s apparent rise in citation rankings is overstated. Our adjusted ranking places China fourth globally, behind the US, the UK, and Germany, tempering the perception of China’s scientific dominance.

All authors contributed equally. Address correspondence to [email protected]. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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