Booksellers Take on Amazon with a Little Help from their Friends

There's a battle going on in France between booksellers and Amazon. An independent party, the government, may again be called on to render a verdict, though they are not nonpartisan. You know who they are going to favor in a battle between small French businesses and an American behemoth. Not involved in the dispute are people with their own personal interest, book buyers. There is much money involved in this, but ultimately, that money comes from the wallets of the book buyer.

Amazon sells books in France. As in the U.S., they have pricing power. It made it difficult for participants in France's substantial book trade to compete, at least with budget-conscious consumers (and how many consumers aren't?). America is more free market oriented, the government loathe to intervene unless absolutely necessary. In France, the government is far less reluctant to intervene in the market. “Socialism” is a dirty word in America. Not so in France.

Years ago, the government recognized the advantages large businesses have, online sellers in particular. So, they changed the rules. They passed a law mandating prices for books be the same online as in a store. Evidently, that was not enough. Around ten years ago, the government noticed that online booksellers, which by that time was essentially another word for Amazon, were still making substantial inroads on small booksellers. They wanted help, and while in America, the motto would be “the Lord helps those who help themselves,” the French government was more willing to play God in the marketplace. They made it illegal to ship books to your home for free. Amazon shipped free.

Now, those people at Amazon are no dummies. They complied with the law. They added a one-cent charge for shipping. Did the government not see that coming? It took them about seven years, but the authorities responded. They would set a mandatory minimum fee structure for shipping books to your home. For the cheapest books, it is €3 (a little over $3). That brings Amazon and dealer prices closer together, maybe even cheaper as the physical bookstore can charge the same price as the online retailer without the mandatory €3 shipping charge.

As we said before, Amazon is no dummy. They don't give up easily. They are now shipping books to collection points, notably lockers, that are placed in malls or retail stores where books are sold, though it may only be a small selection inside a grocery store. They are now, sort of, selling through retail book stores. They don't have to charge even the €3 delivery fee. It may not quite be to your home, but its to a nearby location that you may regularly visit anyway. These Americans sure are clever, though the French booksellers and government may have another term to describe them.

The SLF (Syndicat de la librairie française – French booksellers union) let its feelings be known. In an opinion originally published in Le Monde, and then on their website, they described Amazon as (translated from the French) “an all-powerful giant, the fifth largest company in the world with a valuation of 2,000 billion dollars, which considers itself above the will of the French legislature.” Not pulling its punches, the SLF continued, “Nor does it require any decoding to understand what Amazon is doing: continuing its predatory strategy, which consists of unravelling all the provisions that stand in the way of the expansion of its empire; behaving like a 'cowboy' who happily tramples, with complete impunity, on the votes of elected officials, who had clearly expressed their desire to preserve a diverse cultural model rooted in the territories.” But, to borrow an old joke, tell us how you really feel?

In a call to the legislature to act, the SLF concludes, “This is a genuine cultural battle that is being played out before our eyes and we expect the authorities to immediately put an end to this disturbance of cultural public order.”

What is happening in France is “foreign” to Americans, not something I would expect to see on the other side of the Atlantic. American small businesses have had to adapt to the threats posed by Amazon, and before that, large retail chains like Walmart. The strong survived, others fell by the wayside. Booksellers have made their shops more inviting, offer help and guidance, assist their patrons to find the books they like and build collections. Others turned to selling online themselves, but concentrating on specialized fields and offering expertise. That lowers their overhead. They have to sink or swim as the American government is unlikely to save them.

France takes a different tact. Instead of forcing small merchants to adapt, they seek to protect them by forcing Amazon customers to pay more. For the French people, this may be a small price to pay to protect an institution. Americans only want to pay a small price if it replaces a bigger one. Americans will work their fingers to the bone to get ahead; the French save their fingers to lift a glass of wine. Here's a toast to our long-time brothers. Vive la différence!