Bookpages was one of the largest online bookstores operating in the UK with a selection of over 1.2 million books. The online bookseller was aspiring to become as big as Amazon for its UK customers.
In its heyday, the online bookseller was garnering up to 28% growth each month and was moving ahead of other brick and mortar bookstores in the UK. The service claimed that it was expanding its reach with promotional efforts such as free delivery, unique search engine features, and discounts.
In 1998, the online bookstore Bookpages caught the attention of Seattle-based e-commerce giant Amazon. Amazon, which was already making waves in the US, aimed to gain a market share in Europe and provide the same quality of services to European users.
The acquisition was received with a lot of excitement by Bookpages as its managing director expressed that it was great news for the company. They hoped to combine Amazon’s resources with Bookpages market knowledge.
Amazon acquired Bookpages with two other European-based internet companies, thinking that this would allow them to successfully penetrate the European market.
