Marketing Communications Mix

Barnes and Nobles online does very little advertising that is seperate from the actual stores. The company, as a whole, advertises as a single unit. The company does not run television ads or radio campaigns, nor do they create billboards. They do, however, sell thier gift cards at other stores. This makes the readily available and is a small sign within another store promoting themselves. The company also sends weekly emails out advertising new books that will be released soon to encourage customers to come in and buy them. Also, when searched in places such as google, Barnes and Nobles is listed as a sponsored link under the search bookstore. As a whole Barnes and Nobles does very little advertising.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.06/barnes.html
The company does run a series of successful promotions. One such promotion is the B&N Membership Card. Customers pay $25 per year to have this membership and then they receive discounts on various merchandise. They also receive a weekly email with additional sales. This membership encourages customer loyalty because customers will not get the same discount if the go somewhere else.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/membership/join2.asp?cds2Pid=16937
Finally, Barnes and Nobles runs sales frequently on various titles. Currently they are running promotions with discounts on gift ideas for mothers day and graduation.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/index.asp

Price and Distribution

Barnes and Nobles Online has very little control over its pricing. Ultimately, the must charge the price that the publisher wishes them to. If they are unwilling to charge this price the publisher can simply refuse to sell the book to Barnes and Nobles. However, Barnes and Nobles has acquired a large market share in the bookselling industry and it is predicted that it will ultimately become the largest seller of books in the near future.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WillBarnesAndNobleWinTheBookWars.aspx
This will allow them to have more power over the publishers. If they sell more books than anyone else, the publishers will be more willing to negotiate to ensure that their books are sold through Barnes and Nobles Online.
In order to distribute the massive number of books Barnes and Nobles Online sells every day they maintain a distribution center in Jamesburg, NJ. From this warehouse many books are kept in stock. However, not all of the books offered on the website are kept in stock at all times. Books that are sold less frequently are only purchased from the publisher when an order is placed for it. This method works well for the company. It prevents them from having overstock which they will never sell and allows them to offer thousands of titles beyond what they have the capability to store. Also, Barnes and Nobles has established a good relationship with many publishers which allows them to obtain books quickly and ship the quickly to their customers.
http://www.captaris.com/news_and_events/case_studies/Barnes_Noble.html