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BOOKTRUCK.COM
FAQs
What
is BookTruck.com?
- A third generation E-commerce
business
- First generation
of E-commerce emphasized businesses that operated only on the Internet,
such as Amazon
- Second generation
("bricks and clicks") businesses supplemented their existing
sales and service facilities with extensive Internet capabilities. Barnes
& Noble typifies this second generation.
- BookTruck.com represents
an advanced approach to E-commerce
- combines
the strengths of the first two generations, while avoiding many of
their weaknesses
- can
penetrate sizable existing niche markets more effectively than Internet-only
businesses
- more
cost effective than establishing and maintaining a substantial retail
network or a major freestanding Internet portal web site
How
does it work?
- A BookTruck is a large
tractor-trailer rig
- The tractor is rented
when and where needed
- The trailer(s)
- is owned
(or leased) by the organization
- is painted
to represent a rolling billboard for the concept
- can
be opened up to serve as the stockroom and sales counter of a retail
outlet
- may
function as one side of a tented sales area with folding tables and
signs
- will
transport all of the above items, as well as the inventory, between
sales locations
- Sales locations are parking
lots
- Rented for individual
days before each academic term, near the campuses of large universities
- Ideally located in
parking lots of nearby shopping centers, to capitalize on customer traffic
to the centers and to also draw additional customers to the retail businesses
in the centers
- Inventory is limited
- Will emphasize the
most popular lower-division textbooks required for general education and
introductory classes in popular subjects
- Will sell this limited
selection of items on a discounted basis
- although
educational publishers do not offer substantial volume discounts,
the high margins in this market and Booktruck's low costs (compared
to college bookstores) would allow plenty of room for discounting
- Supplemented by used
book sales and trading
- Students will be
incented to bring their used textbooks to the sales event, where they
may be able to negotiate better prices by selling them to other students
rather than back to the campus bookstore
- Additional books
brought in by the students will supplement the limited selection of new
books sold from the BookTruck, and help generate more revenues for both
the BookTruck and the students
- Internet-assisted via
an associated web site
- will make it possible
for students to put advance reservations on specific textbooks
- will also enable
students to advertise the used books they plan to sell at the sales event
- will be used to
liquidate specific items that do not completely sell out in the on-site
sales events
- will be used for
marketing and promotion of upcoming BookTruck sales events
- BookTruck scheduling
- facilitated by by
different schedules of different schools in major metropolitan areas
- different
start dates for academic terms in 4-year colleges
- semester
and quarter systems
- California
community colleges have longer semesters
- can also sell nonacademic
books at non-campus locations
- county
fairs, major sporting events, special events
- Pre-Internet parallels
- bringing the retail
facility to the customer
- parking lot sales
How
was this project organized?
- Cal Poly CIS department (College of
Business)
- consistently
offers over 25 different programming, systems analysis, telecommunications
and web development/multimedia courses every quarter
- major IT
organizations, including IBM and Intel, recruit Cal Poly CIS students
- senior undergraduate
student project teams handled the programming and other technology development
on the BookTruck project
- Cal Poly E-Business department
(College of Business)
- senior undergraduate
student project teams developed business and marketing plans
- Constructivist
educational philosophy and theoretical basis
- students learned
by creating a project that could become a startup business
- revenue sharing model
if completed project is commercially viable
- 30%
of net profit/equity divided among students
- 30%
divided among participating faculty (who should have malpractice insurance)
- 30%
goes to participating schools
- 10%
divided among charities identified by participants
- students could have"hired"
additional participants out of their percentage
- to
acquire additional skills, as needed, to increase the probability
of ultimate success
- was
done with the Dash-Area.com project in 2000, but not in this project
Is
there any previous experience with this type of project?
- Dash-Area.com project
at Cal Poly, Spring 2000
Keep
on (Book)Trucking
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©
Ralph Westfall, 2002-2003
BookTruck is a registered trademark