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BOL.fr to cease operations from August
1st
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Editor: Frans
van Mieghem
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BOL.fr,
owned by Bertelsmann
and Vivendi
Universal Publishing, is to close at the end of this
month. It was announced at the same time that Bertelsmann will
buy Vivendi’s share (50 per cent) in the company France
Loisirs and hence become full owner of it. France Loisirs
sells books and leisure-related services and products, partly
via internet.
BOL.fr has been a key-player in the
French online books market, but has lost market share rapidly.
Aside from that, the general market situation for online
bookshops is difficult in France: online sales will account
for only 7 per cent of the overall books market by 2003,
according to Forrester
Research.
The main players in France now are Amazon,
Fnac,
Alapage
(Wanadoo/France
Télécom), Chapitre
and France Loisirs. The latter has a turnover (off- and online
combined) of E473m. BOL has until now been present in 16
countries and reached an overall turnover of E50m in 2000.
Both owners of BOL.fr have said that they will
undertake action to find new positions for the site’s 30
employees. The site will cease from August first but will
continue to process orders until September 15th. |
|
| Frans
van Mieghem Frans van Mieghem is a Senior Research
Associate at Van Dusseldorp & Partners. He studied in the
Netherlands, the UK and France, and has a Ph.D. in
Biochemistry and Biophysics, as well as a post graduate degree
in journalism. |
Click
here for Frans van Mieghem's page |
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