Why save money? Pay more here! (waterstones.co.uk)

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	waterstones.co.uk
Date:	27/05/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good selection

Disadvantages: price

Waterstones is a book store. As far as book stores go, they simply have more books on offer than any other shop in our city; as a book lover, perusing the Waterstones store is like taking a child to the fair - I love it! However, when it comes to book websites, all of them have a huge selection, so how would Waterstones stand up in the book store website battle?

The first thing that jumps out is the free delivery, which is no small feat, and puts them above Amazon right away.

To the left of the page, books are organised by genre, and then alphabetically, with a selection on literally everything. This makes navigation dead easy, which is a must for a major store's website.

Sadly, Waterstones remains one of the most expensive places to buy books; for me it's so expensive that I almost never buy books from there. Put simply, you can buy the same book online (normally at Play.com) at a much cheaper price. Even with their current 50% sale they have advertised on the front page, their prices still aren't the best around.

I often wonder how a store like this is still operational, and can only guess that the people who buy from here are those who are too afraid, or ignorant of, the other options. So let me give you some advice: www.play.com will always be cheaper!

In conclusion, I love the store itself, but the online site offers little of interest for someone looking for a bargain. Yes, it's easy to navigate, but price is the name of the game, and it just doesn't shape up.

Summary: don't bother!