Online Bookseller Borders Has A Chance to Innovate

For a long time bookseller Borders has been saddled with an affiliation to Amazon. Amazon has run its web site, leaving Borders to run its offline stores. This year Borders has been given back control of its web site by Amazon, and is in the process of developing a new site, currently in beta, that will launch in alpha on February 1st of this year.

This is Borders' chance to break the mold of Amazon and introduce Web 2.0 features to its alpha launch. It has taken the first baby steps in doing this with the popular “magic shelf” feature on its beta site. The “magic shelf” offers customers a place to see recommendations on books, movies and music on a visual bookshelf. You can then scroll through the options in a way similar to the iTunes “view by CD cover” feature.

This feature is a start, but their beta site still hangs on to some moldy ideas about what a bookstore should be, online and off. The appearance is boxy and stodgy, in spite of an eye pleasing color scheme. It also seems crowded, as if it is trying to compete directly with Amazon and offer exactly the same options, but in less space.

Borders should take a page from the world of Web 2.0 startups and take this chance for a younger, fresher look and interface that will carry them into the next decade. They should also offer features that stand out against heavy hitters like Amazon. They have several “almost Web 2.0″ features on their site that they could easily take to the next level.

One example of a feature that could be so much better is the Open Door Poetry section of the site. Right now it showcases existing poets in all stages of their careers. I'd love it if Borders branched this out and offered a sub-feature you could jump to from the Open Door Poetry page - call it Open Mic Poetry, or Open Poetry Slam - a social place where readers and customers could submit video of themselves reading their work, then critique each other. That would be much more innovative than the passive experience of being performed to.

What about taking Amazon's review concept and bringing it into the Web 2.0 age? Instead of static reviews that are forever associated with a product, whether they are well thought out or not, why not implement other social features, like a review voting system? Let people review the reviews, and have them revolve in a type of widget under each book, dynamically changing as people comment on them and rate them and keep reviewing the book, movie or music in the process.

In fact, take the social aspect to the next level - match people as “friends” according to books they review, items the comment on, even what they buy. If they watch or participate in the Poetry room, match them with other poets. If they buy a book of poetry and are members of the social aspect of the site, have a widget that tells them about other users who like the same things. Think of the possibilities for author appearances, signings - the list of how this site would use more Web 2.0 features is long.

Borders has a rare chance to take its experience under Amazon and create something new. They have taken a baby step in that direction with a few features on their beta site, but it could be so much more. If Borders had the guts to innovate, they could bring the in store experience to the web through social media in a way no one with a brick and mortar store system has really tapped into yet. The web is waiting for the first truly innovative brick and mortar to web store - can Borders step up to the plate?

Edited 01/16/08 to fix broken link