The most nerve-wracking part of building something completely different is the experimenting. You never know what will work till you try it. It’s the part that fails as often as it succeeds. It’s also the fun part.
One of our recent experiments is to integrate Amazon search results into the Paperight site. When you search for a book on Paperight, you’ll see books from Amazon listed below the ones from Paperight.
The question is: why the heck would we send people to another retailer? Firstly, just to see what happens. But we have other more considered reasons, too.
Second, while our catalogue is growing, it’s still small compared to the range of books people need and want. If we don’t have the book you’re looking for, maybe we can help you find it somewhere else. It’s like when you go into a shop for something and they don’t have it, but the friendly assistant points out that the shop across the road has what you need. They’ve sent you to their competitor, but you’re grateful for the friendly help, and you’ll come back here again.
Third, we’re curious to know: if you don’t have Internet access or a credit card, would you let your local Paperight outlet buy a book from Amazon on your behalf? In other words, could our outlets be not only print-on-demand stores but also book-buying pick-up points? Maybe we’ll find out.
Fourth, if anyone does buy something from Amazon after clicking through from Paperight, will we earn enough Amazon affiliate vouchers to buy this for the office? We hope so 😉
We’ll let you know how it goes.