Fighting Against the Giant? The Competitive Strategy of the Actors in the Spanish Book Industry in the Face of Amazon’s Threat

Abstract

After consolidating its position as the undisputed leader in global commerce, Amazon arrived in Spain in 2011 and, as happened in other markets, caused an upheaval in the retail industry. At the time, the book industry, particularly vulnerable to Amazon's presence, was amid one of the worst spells in its history, caused mainly by the financial crisis of 2008. This dissertation seeks to determine how Amazon's arrival on the Spanish market has changed the competitive strategies of the different actors (publishers, distributors, and booksellers) in the Spanish book industry. Based on a theoretical framework focused on business adaptation, and through primary and secondary sources, such as interviews with industry professionals, the paper finds that Amazon, far from sealing the fate of the industry's actors, has increased their competitive capabilities, and made them more resilient to subsequent shocks. Furthermore, the paper finds that the current regulation, which establishes a fixed price for new books, has served as a safeguard for small businesses in the face of Amazon. Finally, the paper finds that the impact and implications of Amazon's arrival are different for each sector of the industry. At a general level, the dissertation seeks to contribute to the discussion on the impact that technology champions have on the local business ecosystem and the ways in which local players can adapt to remain competitive. More specifically, it seeks to address an existing gap in the academic literature on business strategy in the book industry.