14 DAY TRIAL // Barnes and Noble seems to be too successful for its own good. Even though December is already upon us and the world-leading book seller has been trying its hardest to get its Nook E-Book readers into stores, it has been foiled at every turn by its own product's popularity. Although Monday was supposed to mark the entrance of Nook in stores, plans have changed in order to allow for the fulfillment of more preorders.
"Based on the high volume of preorders and our commitment to fulfilling those preorders, we've decided to hold off on providing inventory to the stores until after the holidays," Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes and Noble, said.
The $259 device has been in seriously short supply since the second part of November. The bookstore chain was forced to regretfully inform the public that a large part of the preorders, and all those placed after November 20, would not be fulfilled until January 4th and those placing preorders after that date would, instead, receive a holiday certificate to give as a gift. The shipments of Nooks ordered before that time have begun but, now, it seems that meeting most later orders will not be possible before an even later date.
Barnes and Noble finally said on Friday that it wouldn't be able to fulfill current orders before January 15, 2010. Although it did not state exactly why it was unable to meet the demand, it is possible that the bookstore had a low initial supply of E-readers. Such a short supply may indicate that E-reader popularity was not expected to reach such heights, although business analysts believe that a true E-reader mania will be reached during the holiday season of the next year.
According to Barnes and Noble, the number of preorders continues to rise even now, hence the bookseller's inability to cope with them all. The E-Book reader continues to be the bookstore chain's best selling product. Although the delays are not exactly the best of news, the actual popularity of E-readers leaves no doubt to the fact that book reading is still widely practiced. Most likely, the general population's interest in reading will be, and is, revived thanks to these small gadgets, which allow for the full benefits of reading books without having to carry entire kilograms of paper just to enjoy some time off in the park.