Are Books Different? The Impact of Price on Retail Market Development

Resale price maintenance (RPM) is widely regarded as having a retarding effect on market development. The abolition of RPM in the 1960s provided a catalyst for the development of the multiple retailer who, by virtue of scale economies, was able to compete aggressively on price for the first time. However, RPM remains in the UK bookselling sector in the form of the Net Book Agreement (NBA) and arguably many of the developments in the retailing industry of the last 30 years have passed this sector by. In the light of current challenges to the NBA from within the industry and other environmental factors affecting this sector, considers the impact on market development when one of a retailer′s important marketing weapons, namely price, is removed from its armoury. Reports results of an exploratory study into trade perceptions of the effect on market development of the NBA. Frames the analysis within the current theories of retail institutional change,concluding that a combination of environmental, cyclical and conflict theories of change is the most appropriate framework for an explanation of the current situation and future prospects in this sector.