When people think of places to buy books, the first that come to mind are often Books-a-Million or Barnes and Noble. My goal is to find out which of these two popular retailers is the best.
First being examined is Books-a-Million. Books-a-Million or BAM is a United States bookstore chain with 260 stores nationwide. One of the best aspects about BAM is all of the different items they sell. They sell not only books, but also magazines, manga, collectibles, toys and technology. They also have coffee at Joe Muggs coffee and espresso bars that are featured in most locations. They have many experienced and kind staff members both in-store and online customer service.
Another positive thing is their membership program. BAM has the Millionaires Club, where for $25 per year, members get free shipping for online orders, 10% off all in-store purchases and 40% off all of their bestsellers. As someone with this membership, it is really nice to get more money off books and bookish items. I also love that these discounts apply to the coffee shop as well. They also have a vast discount section where shoppers can buy damaged books for as little as $5 for a hardcover.
On the downside, I personally do not enjoy the layout of their stores. In the last few years they have done a redesign, which has slightly helped the problem, but books can still often be very hard to find. They split up things into weird subcategories and shoppers can find books by one author in one section but have to search around the store to find other books by the same author. They also have an extreme focus on the social media subcategory Booktok. They have multiple displays that show off those books popular on social media, but do much less to advertise books with less of a following.
Next there is Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble is the largest American book retailer with 585 retailers across the 50 states. They also have Barnes and Noble Education which is the largest college textbook seller. They sell items such as books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, graphic novels, games, toys, music and digital readers.
One of the main components separating them from competitors is their offering of self-publishing services. Barnes and Noble gives more time to independent authors and puts more effort into advertising books that are less popular on social media compared to BAM.
They also have “The Barnes and Noble Review” which highlights opinions on fiction and non-fiction books. This move was met by opposing feelings, however, as some thought the move was only in the service of particular authors. Their stores tend to have a much more organized layout and are less crowded than BAM. However, they tend to have fewer discounts.
They also have a two-tier membership with one being free and the other costing $39.99, which is a bit more than the $25 for BAM. In the premium membership, members get $5 for every hundred spent, 10% off all online and in-store purchases, free shipping, a member exclusive tote every year, free upgrades in beverage sizes at locations with Starbucks, surprises for birthdays and early access to special editions.
In my experience, Barnes and Noble is the better retailer. They offer more things for their customers and offer more than just popular books. They have a better setup and though their membership may be more expensive, it also offers more perks than that of BAM.
