Borders' Amazon deal was smart. The seven-year stay wasn't.
In 2001 Borders handed its money-losing website to Amazon. It didn't relaunch its own site until May 2008. By 2011 it was liquidating 399 stores. Triage needs an end date.
Transcript
The story everyone repeats: in 2001, Borders foolishly handed its website to its future executioner. The record says the handoff was smart. Staying was the mistake.
Borders had run its own site before, and killed it, because the costs totaled more than the revenue. On April 11, 2001, Borders.com relaunched on Amazon's platform.
The problem was the stay. Borders did not launch its own e-commerce site again until May 2008.
That year, comparable sales at Borders superstores fell 12.8% in a single quarter. In February 2011, Borders filed for Chapter 11. By July, it was liquidating 399 stores.
Outsourcing a weak channel can be smart triage. Put an end date on it, and a plan to take it back.
The records behind this video
Every figure in the video comes from this Decision Record, each with its sources.
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