Retailers
Perhaps there is no greater visible evidence of a changing publishing environment than in the book retail market. Among the challenges today, is the trend away from products that appeal to mass markets and gravitate more toward the niche, specialty markets. Retailers have limited shelf space and cannot possibly begin to cover the multitude of niche demands.
Even in cases where the retailer has a thorough understanding of the consumers in their immediate market, it is near impossible to adequately cover the growing demand for more specialized content. In addition, the demand for foreign language resources and local, consumer-generated content continues to rise. As a result, more and more consumers are turning to online outlets to search for and purchase their products.