How Barnes & Noble Thrives Despite Amazon

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In today’s newsletter:

• How Barnes & Noble Thrives Despite Amazon

• Quote of the day: Charles Darwin

• We value your feedback - Your opinion helps us improve

• Word of the day: Disruptor

• Interactive quiz

• Whenever you are ready, here is how I can help you

How Barnes & Noble Thrives Despite Amazon

How adapting to disruptors creates opportunities

I was in Cleveland, Ohio, in the week before Christmas, and I found one of my favourite shops: Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble is a famous chain of bookshops and a lovely place to lose a couple of hours. However, if you listened to economic commentators in the early 2000s, it shouldn't exist. Many people thought that competition from internet bookshops like Amazon and e-readers would kill traditional bookshops. However, they are still here and appear to be thriving. In fact, Barnes & Noble opened 67 new stores in 2025 and plans 60 more in 2026.

And so I found myself spending time browsing the titles, reading the personalised notes about some of the books by the staff and even having a coffee in store.

The Personal Connection

I think that it is important to stress that their success was not easy or automatic and, in fact, one of their competitors, Borders, went out of business in 2011.

However, as I see it, Barnes & Noble have not tried to compete with Amazon and e-readers, but tried to lean in to what it does well - personal experience. Hence, the handwritten notes from the staff about book recommendations. The presence of a coffee shop makes it a destination where you go not just to buy a book, but to socialise and spend time relaxing.

In other words, even with a major disruptor in the sector, they are trying to compete on their own terms by playing to their strengths.

What is a Disruptor?

Disruptors are things that fundamentally change the way we work or live and have always existed.

For example, tractors were major disruptors in agriculture. No longer did we need horses and so many people to plough our fields as machinery took over. Displaced agricultural workers moved to cities to work in manufacturing or the service industry. My own motorsport business transitioned from 100 percent weekly print advertising and telephone sales to 100 percent internet advertising and sales over a period of 20 years.

Disruptors require a transition but are usually seen as progress.

Will AI Take Your Jobs?

Remembering the narrative surrounding the internet of the 2000s and thinking about Barnes & Noble reminds me of the current narrative about AI - AI will take your jobs.

I am not so gloomy. I agree that AI is another major disruptor like the birth of the internet. I viewed the internet as a tool and Barnes & Noble have in fact embraced the internet (they have a website) without losing their core strength. I think that businesses should view AI in the same way - use AI as a tool while leaning into your core strengths like personalisation.

Do not misunderstand me: there will be disruption - but also opportunity.

An AI Bubble?

At this early stage, it is difficult to fully understand the opportunities with AI.

However, just like with the internet, its arrival and growth is inevitable. Will there be an AI bubble and subsequent crash? It is possible - there was with the internet and the dotcom bubble. However, far from being the death of the internet, the recovery was the start of several giants in the sector from Amazon and Google to Meta.

In next month's newsletter, I will show you how you can use AI to improve your English learning.

Quote of the Day: Charles Darwin

This perfectly captures the Barnes & Noble story. Success came not from competing directly with Amazon's efficiency, but from adapting by playing to their strengths - the personalised, human experience that online retailers cannot replicate. The same principle applies to AI today - success won't come from resisting change or competing directly with technology, but from adapting intelligently whilst maintaining what makes us uniquely human.

We Value Your Feedback!

Your opinion helps us improve and lets you suggest topics or ask Business English questions for future issues.

Word of the Day: Disruptor

Disruptor - noun - a person, company, or technology that fundamentally changes an established industry, market, or way of working; something that causes radical transformation through innovation

Literal Meaning: Disruptor comes from the Latin "disrumpere," meaning "to break apart" or "burst asunder." The prefix "dis-" means "apart" and "rumpere" means "to break." Originally describing physical breaking or shattering, it evolved in business contexts to describe innovations that "break apart" established ways of doing things, forcing industries to reassemble in new configurations.

Business English Context: In professional settings, "disruptor" describes innovations, technologies, or business models that fundamentally challenge and transform existing markets. The term became prominent in the 1990s with Clayton Christensen's "disruptive innovation" theory. Understanding this vocabulary is essential for discussing technological change, market transformation, and business strategy in modern professional environments.

Common Business Collocations:

Disruptor (noun):

• Major disruptor - a significant force causing fundamental change

• Market disruptor - something that transforms a specific market

• Digital disruptor - technology that transforms traditional industries

• Industry disruptor - innovation that changes an entire sector

Disrupt (verb):

• Disrupt the market - fundamentally change market dynamics

• Disrupt an industry - transform how an industry operates

• Disrupt traditional models - challenge established business practices

Disruptive (adjective):

• Disruptive technology - innovation that displaces established technology

• Disruptive innovation - breakthrough that transforms markets

• Disruptive force - powerful agent of change

• Disruptive business model - new approach that challenges incumbents

Professional Applications:

Strategic planning: "We need to identify potential disruptors in our sector before they gain market share" (= innovations that could threaten our business)

Investment analysis: "AI represents a disruptive technology similar to the internet in the 1990s" (= fundamental game-changing innovation)

Business adaptation: "Rather than resist the disruptor, we should adapt our business model to play to our strengths" (= acknowledge and respond to fundamental change)Text

Interactive Quiz

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Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The information contained herein is generic and does not take into account your individual financial circumstances. You should always consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions.

Additionally, the authors and/or publishers of this newsletter may hold investments in securities or other financial instruments mentioned herein. These are included for illustrative purposes only and should not be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell such securities or financial instruments.