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`The book is a great product to put on the Net. It's catalogued, it has a unique number, and it can be dispatched easily by post... .' That's the philosophy driving Landmarkonthenet.

Hemu Ramiah and Jai Subramaniam.

When Jeff Bezos set up Amazon.com in 1994, he could not have imagined that he would inspire a woman entrepreneur in faraway India. To Hemu Ramiah, who launched the Landmark chain of book and lifestyle stores in 1987, Bezos was her role model.

It is no wonder, then, that her chain launched www.landmarkonthenet.com in 2001-02. Its Web site, updated in November 2004, is hosted by Sifymall.com. Today, it boasts of a customer care hotline (044-52182658), a search of its global warehouses, an upgraded search engine, author features, access to the New York Times bestseller list, and delivery within 25 days.

What guides Landmark's e-business, within an overall investment of over Rs 25 crore since the launch of its first Chennai store, followed by four other stores? At its swank two-tier, 45,000-sq-ft store at The Forum mall in Bangalore, Jai Subramaniam, Hemu's husband and business associate, outlines the larger picture, "The book is a great product to put on the Net. It's catalogued, it has a unique number, and it can be dispatched easily by post... . Our role model always was Jeff Bezos. In 1994, before we set up Westland (their publishing/ distribution arm), we went to the American book fair in Los Angeles. I read somewhere that Bezos was walking around the same fair that year to understand the book business. He was an investment banker, who wanted to get into book-selling through the Net. He didn't have appointments at the fair then, neither did we."

Was computerisation a major factor in Landmark's business? "From day one, we were a computerised, networked bookstore. So, it was logical for us to go into bookselling through the Net," says Subramaniam. "We had a retail and distribution company to back it, besides the technology." Because of sales tax issues, other Landmark variety products are not marketed online yet.

In 2000-01, at the peak of the dotcom boom, Landmark took a call "on whether to go for the eyeball method or the delivery method. Our investors insisted on eyeball, but we felt that was hogwash. Finally, selling on the Net is all about delivery, delivery, delivery," he reiterates.

The Landmark chain, which is into publishing (the Chicken Soup series), distribution, import, retail and selling online, views itself as an integrated media business. Has its e-business been impacted by Amazon.com's roller-coaster ride? "If you look at their figures, it's their marketing costs which are showing losses. They are making amazing cash profits, they've reduced their discounts," says Subramaniam, rushing to Bezos' defence. "I don't think their model is unsuccessful."

Landmarkonthenet.com has grown very slowly. After a good rate for the first two years, sales dipped sharply in 2004. He attributes this to poor on-site traffic, cancellations and delivery issues. "More and more obscure books are being ordered from our site, rather than the Grishams and the Dan Browns," he says. "Often, our US warehouses are unable to source these. We're trying to sort this out."

He feels future growth would embrace the upcoming and established middle class. "Internet cafes are packed. There's a laptop revolution on. Over the next two years, there should be a sharp jump, if we can deliver. That's our major challenge."

Why did they opt for a Sifymall site? "In those days, we didn't have money for marketing. So, we opted for a model that piggybacks on retail, distribution and a portal. We've basically invested in editorial and delivery. It integrates all our retail store stocks and prices, our distribution, our foreign warehouse. We have over one million titles available at the moment, with stocks updated weekly."

What of the future? "Today, we're basically going with the tide. But we are looking at substantial investments of about Rs 1 crore on technology and database over the next few years," he says. What's special about Landmark's Net delivery? "We're not dependent on other people for our operation. Ours is an integrated approach within Westland and Landmark. We're looking at another five stores within the next two or three years across India. We'll then have considerable stocks to help us service customers within seven to 60 days."

But Subramaniam points out that if a book is out of print, it is practically impossible to get it. They had tied up with an American out-of-print company, but it got into financial problems. "Besides, India is a great backlist country. We love reading old authors, like an Arthur Hailey or a Leon Uris, whom nobody reads abroad."

At the moment, barely three per cent of Landmark's book sales are conducted through the Net. Yet, he remains optimistic about the impact of the Indian diaspora, and middle-class migration from Hubli to Bangalore, from Thanjavur to Chennai. "It's essential for us to have a Net presence. With improved connectivity, the tier-two cities are going to be a huge market for us on the Net over the next three to five years," he says. "We've already accepted that books and music come at the end of the retail cycle for most customers."

On customer servicing hurdles he says the Net is very demanding because customer complaints get magnified. "Their criticism is much harsher, which we have to learn to handle. Face to face, it's easier to handle customers with courtesy, with responsive body language. On Word, it's much tougher."

Landmarkonthenet.com has reached a critical mass today with a million titles on offer, 30 to 40 transactions a day and an additional 200-odd titles a day.

"Amazon.com remains our role model, but we're Indianising it," adds Subramaniam in conclusion. "We couldn't get the huge investments they started out with. Our access to Indian publishers isn't the same as theirs to American publishers. Ours are not so gung-ho about e-tail. Often, we can't get databases or commitments from local publishers. There's that basic difference in size that allows Amazon.com to be more creative."

Picture by V. Ganesan

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