Pandora’s Box Opened: Amazon Enters Austria’s Book Market with Discount Vouchers
A few weeks ago, we reported that Thalia had completely legally circumvented the fixed book pricing in Austria with a voucher campaign. The Supreme Court (OGH) decided that books shipped by Buch.de are exempt from the fixed book prices under the principle of free movement of goods within the EU. A few days ago, Thalia once again bypassed the fixed pricing with a new voucher offer, and we were already wondering at the time how long it would take for other EU booksellers to follow suit.
Well, it didn’t take long. Amazon is now offering all customers with an Austrian delivery address a promotional voucher of 10 percent off book purchases. The fixed book pricing in Austria actually allows for a maximum discount of only 5 percent. The offer is valid with the code XMASATGC until December 15th. eBooks are excluded from the promotion, which is not surprising. Existing Kindle customers can hardly shop anywhere else anyway, and new customers are unlikely to be lured by a voucher offer for eBooks.
This development is certainly bad news for the independent Austrian book trade. Two large book retail companies have already (at least temporarily) circumvented the fixed book pricing, and at the moment it seems as though this will continue. The Austrian government has yet to comment on the matter.
However, Thalia might have shot themselves in the foot with this campaign. Several years ago, Amazon withdrew a similar campaign after massive protests. The retail giant did not engage in a legal battle. Thalia, however, wanted to take the risk and ultimately got the sixth court decision from the OGH in their favor. Now, even the toughest competitor understandably isn’t backing down and is also enticing customers with their own voucher campaign. Thalia’s Austria business has always been profitable until now – let’s see if that will slowly change if other EU retailers potentially keep pushing onto the 800 million euro Austrian book market with discounts.
