Bertelsmann Group, founded in 1835, is one of the four media giants in the world, including six subgroups: Bertelsmann Direct Group, which has 55 million members worldwide (becoming the first choice for global customers and subscribers to buy media and entertainment products); The largest TV broadcasting group in Europe-RTL Group (with 23 TV stations, 17 radio stations, a large number of program contents and the largest independent TV distributor outside the United States, etc.). ); The largest book publishing group in the world-Random House (with more than 150 publishing houses in the world); Gunnar, the largest magazine publishing group in Europe and the second in the world (with more than 100 newspapers, magazines and professional websites); Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), the world leader in music and industrial information market, is the number one single record publishing company in the United States (there are more than 200 record companies in the world); ——Ovit Service Group, the largest media service provider in Europe, owns the second largest CD manufacturer in the world and the largest CD-ROM manufacturer in Europe, leading printing companies in Europe, call centers, data management and customer relationship management companies. ).)

From July 7th, Bertelsmann Book Club stopped accepting new orders, and online ordering and catalog ordering also stopped accordingly. Before February 25th, 12, book lovers can check the account balance online or call the call center. According to information disclosure, Bertelsmann's membership card has more than 500,000 rich members.

Membership cards, beautifully printed books for members, more than 20% discount, small gifts for books ... all these made China readers feel fresh and surprised in the 1990s, and mail-order Bertelsmann books was a fashion at that time.

Ten years later, Bertelsmann "failed" China. Some people say that it was lost to the local online bookstore headed by Excellence and Dangdang; Some people say that it is blind expansion, overwhelmed and losing money again and again; Some people say that it is a strategic adjustment, not a defeat. In a word, the book market after Bertelsmann left is foggy.

Over the past few days, our reporter has tried to find out the reasons for Bertelsmann's failure, but the answers are different.

Yesterday, our reporter came to Bertelsmann Guangzhou Member Center in Carrefour Supermarket on Industrial Avenue. The door here is locked. There is also a business phone on the door. In the shop next to it, many people don't even know what Bertelsmann does. Carrefour staff told reporters that the store was closed last month.

Bertelsmann Guangzhou Store 1 14 Information desk has been kept confidential by users; The phone registered on the website has not been answered; The location of "Shanghai Bertelsmann Cultural Industry Co., Ltd." found on Baidu map is a place called "Jinhua Hotel" in the old city, which was closed as early as four or five years ago.

Bertelsmann left, and the traces of retreat were cleaned up, as if they had never existed in Guangzhou.

The "book seller" flinched.

Ten years ago, Tianya netizen "Amethyst Glass" became one of Bertelsmann's hundreds of thousands of book friends. At that time, one thing that made Amethyst Glazed very happy was to "sit at home and buy books". Membership cards, membership books, 20% discount or more, small gifts of books, and books catalogues sent regularly ... In China, where the Internet is far from universal, these novel means are far from universal. In just a few years, Bertelsmann has penetrated into the hearts of the younger generation in China. Until many years later, as long as Bertelsmann was mentioned, their first reaction was "selling books".

However, with the Internet, everything seems to have changed. Searching for information about Bertelsmann in various forums, there are many complaints from Bertelsmann members. Customer service attitude is not good, and books are forced to buy every quarter. If you don't buy a book, you should mail it directly. "Payment must be made when the goods arrive", otherwise you will automatically lose your membership and the membership fee will be paid to Shui Piao. The online evaluation of Bertelsmann may have doomed Bertelsmann's withdrawal.

Judging from the data disclosed by the media, Bertelsmann has been unable to make a profit since he entered China 13 years ago. At the end of June, Bertelsmann officially announced the suspension of all business of China Book Club, and suspended the business of 2 1 century book chain bookstore, in which Bertelsmann was one of the shareholders, at the initial stage of adjustment. "These two businesses are affected by the rapidly changing market environment, so we can see that these two businesses cannot become long-term sustained and high-speed development and large-scale businesses."

The book club was dissolved, the bookstore closed, and the publishing business almost stopped, which almost meant that Bertelsmann's "Direct Group China Branch" had been completely cut off by the German headquarters.

Selling books by catalogue is a kind of gambling.

Among Bertelsmann's many businesses, the book club is the most distinctive and controversial, and is often used as an example of Bertelsmann's experience in Europe and America. In fact, in the Internet age, the book club model has been challenged not only in China, but also in the United States. The members of the book club in continental Europe are mostly middle-aged and elderly readers.

Bertelsmann Book Club has 28 million members all over the world and is the largest book club in the world. Shanghai Bertelsmann Book Club is the largest book club in China, with 1.5 million members. 1999, the number is 500,000. In 2000, the number of members increased to 654.38+200,000. In other words, around 2000, Bertelsmann added 700,000 members in two years, but only added 300,000 members in eight years.

Huang Yuhai, former editor-in-chief of Bertelsmann Book Club in Shanghai and now running 99 Online Bookstore, said that his book club business in Bertelsmann reached its peak in 2003, and the annual direct mail sales of books reached 65.438+0.5 billion yuan. However, a Bertelsmann employee revealed that in 2007, Bertelsmann's direct mail business income was only 50 million yuan to 60 million yuan.

The most important resource enjoyed by millions of book lovers is the book catalogue. It is understood that in order to recruit members, Bertelsmann has been advertising in popular journals for a long time, and the annual advertising fee is about 67 million yuan. Bertelsmann spends 3 million yuan a month to buy a free stamp album.

"Selling books according to the catalogue is actually a kind of gambling." Li Guoqing, co-president of Dangdang, told the media that the printing cost and distribution cost will increase with the circulation. If the books in the catalogue are not selected well, the opportunity will be completely lost. The number of books that can be listed in the catalogue is limited, which limits the overall sales, and it is even more disproportionate.

The huge number of members used to be Bertelsmann's bargaining capital with book suppliers. With a huge membership network of over 1 10,000, Bertelsmann's purchasing volume is usually 2-3 times that of Dangdang or Excellence. Coupled with the non-return feature, Bertelsmann's purchase discount can generally reach 3.8 fold, which is lower than the 4-4.5 fold of Dangdang and Joyo. However, the cruel fact is that online bookstores are highly competitive. Usually, when Zhuo Yue bids with each other, the book price can be reduced below the purchase price.