There was once a time when Amazon.com played the role of David going up against the goliath Barnes & Noble. Having beaten its rival, Amazon rose to take the crown of booksellers. Now, a smaller rival is using low prices, a key weapon in Amazon's ascendancy, to try and knock Amazon off its throne.
Yesterday, Overstock.com announced that it had lowered book prices across its site to undercut Amazon. Members of the site's Club O loyalty program, which costs $19.95 a year, will receive an additional 15 percent back in reward dollars for book purchases made through Cyber Monday (Dec. 1) in addition to free shipping.
Overstock's management has not made a decision on whether it will extend the deal to a later point in the holiday selling season.
"We will analyze the results and cost benefits of this price war against Amazon and decide how long to continue the promotion," said Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock, in a statement.
Overstock appears to have made a conscious decision to try and price promote its way to market share gains this holiday season and beyond. The company recently announced a deal to acquire $89 million (retail value) in liquidated merchandise from Bidz.com. The pieces it acquired will be featured in the new Jewelry Liquidation Vault on Overstock.
