Whatever the future status of intellectual property, most
e-commerce sites will need to offer it in some form or other. In
particular, a Web site without content is not going to last very
long.
A case in point is the ambitious Bertelsmann Online group of
sites selling books, CDs, videos etc (www.bol.com)
Taking on Amazon.com requires guts - and a very good site. When
Bol.com was first launched, it had plenty of the former, and
practically no trace of the latter. Today, things have improved,
not least because Bertelsmann's approach is drawing ever-closer to
that of Amazon's in terms of both design and content.
So alongside short descriptions and Bol.com reviews, there is
also space for readers' comments. However, it is noticeable that
these are still much thinner on the ground than at Amazon.com - and
that Bol.com is the poorer for it.
Things are compounded by Bertelsmann failing to exploit its
unique strengths, which arise from the multi-lingual approach it
has adopted from the start. For example, when browsing books in one
language/country, it would be interesting to see what related books
are being chosen by those on sites serving other languages - and
whether translations are available. This would add a richness that
Amazon.com would find hard to match (currently at least).
The other aspects of the site are effective enough. The design
is very Amazon-like, and the check-out process efficient and
well-signposted.
Bol.com falls down on its relatively thin content - the Internet
Movie Database (IMDb) site, created by a group in Wales, was
originally pure content and only added commerce afterwards (www.
imdb.com). As it happens, the IMDb was acquired by none other than
Amazon.com, which obviously recognised the latent value of all that
content.
As you might expect, IMDb offers plenty of chances to buy
videos, DVDs and soundtracks as you browse its comprehensive
holdings. What it is less good at is delineating where content
stops and commerce begins. Too often, the Amazon.com ads emerge out
of the IMDb text. If visitors to e-commerce sites are to trust the
content, they must know that it is fully independent from the sales
pitch alongside.
The other aspects of IMDb show its Amazon.com heritage in a
positive sense. The design is very good, and the purchasing process
dovetails into the main site neatly enough.