Borders Announces New Web Site - Discounts More Than 100,000 Bestselling Titles; Offers Multiple Free Shipping Options, New Product Lines and More

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders® today announced an all new Borders.com featuring discounts on the 100,000 bestselling titles, multiple free shipping options, new product lines, strategic partnerships that complement the Borders brand and a more integrated social media experience.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060208/BORDERSLOGO )

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060208/BORDERSLOGO )

Low Prices on Tens of Thousands of Items

According to a study by the National Retail Federation, 44 percent of consumers plan to make some portion of their holiday purchases online. Borders is making it easy for consumers to purchase a great read at a great price,  discounting more than 100,000 of its top selling hardcover and paperback fiction and non-fiction titles online. Customers can find many of these titles including George W. Bush's "Decision Points" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth" by Jeff Kinney and more in Borders' new Holiday Gift Shop. The gift center includes thoughtful recommendations for everyone from the "Gleek," the "Political Superjunkie" and the "Super Mom" to the teenaged "Drama Queen" and the "Mad Men Fan." There's something for everyone at Borders and the retailer is making it both easy and economical for customers to find the perfect holiday gift for the book lover.

Multiple Free Shipping Options

To celebrate the new Borders.com – and to help customers get a jump on their holiday shopping -- Borders is offering free shipping on all orders placed on Borders.com today, Monday, Nov. 15. Borders offers several other ways for customers to enjoy free shipping on their Borders.com orders.

• Borders recently unveiled the paid Borders Rewards Plus loyalty program bringing customers more choices, richer benefits and better savings. Borders Rewards Plus members receive free standard shipping on Borders.com orders.  In addition to receiving free shipping, Borders Rewards Plus members also receive an additional 10 percent off the purchase price of most items on Borders.com.
• Members of the enhanced free Borders Rewards program enjoy free shipping on orders of $25 or more.
• The company recently announced a partnership with ShopRunner(SM), an online shopping program that offers customers unlimited free two-day shipping with no minimum order size, and free shipping on returns, across a wide variety of today's most popular retailers for $79 annually. Not only can consumers choose from more than 1.9 million books online and other products from Borders, but they can also select from a variety of consumer items, including apparel, beauty products and pet supplies offered by participating retailers. Consumers can sign up for a free, 30-day trial at www.borders.com/shoprunner .

"Ensuring a world-class online shopping experience is at the core of Borders' brand transformation strategy," said Mike Edwards, CEO of Borders, Inc. "We've listened to our customers, discounted tens of thousands of our top online titles, rolled out new product lines and a streamlined, more social online experience. We have to challenge ourselves to keep offering the best customer experience both in store, and on the Web and these changes demonstrate once again that Borders can deliver on the best consumer experience."

Additional New Products and Services

Borders is growing its online offerings with a host of new lifestyle-focused products and services in time for the holiday season.

• Creating a Social Experience Around Books – Online and In-store. Borders.com customers now have more of what they want – other customer reviews.  The significantly enhanced customer review capability is provided through a partnership with PowerReviews, the leading provider of social commerce solutions, including the customer review – the number one social shopping tool for consumers.  Borders is leveraging its vast Borders Rewards loyalty program database – which includes more than 40 million signups – to invite customers to share product reviews with their friends and followers via Facebook, driving traffic to Borders.com. The company is also tapping its employee base of more than 19,000 associates to write staff reviews on Borders.com. Leveraging its cross-channel capabilities, Borders will feature select Borders.com reviews in Borders stores, giving in-store customers the benefit of being able to read reviews by other book lovers before they make a purchase.
• Textbook Rental. Borders recently announced a new textbook rental service through a partnership with Chegg.com, giving students access to millions of textbook titles, fast shipping and the option to return their books for free. The service complements Borders' total textbook offerings, which also include 1.4 million new and used textbooks on Borders.com and the ability for students to sell back their used books.
• Expanded Selection of Lifestyle Products. Reflecting Borders' move to offer products beyond just books, the company has added posters, craft supplies and scrapbooking products to its online selection of more than 2.5 million items that inspire and entertain customers.

New Sleek Design

The new Borders.com features a clean, sleek design that invites customers to indulge in the joy of discovery. Customers will find reading gems by clicking on the New York Times Bestseller lists or search by category and genre to peruse Borders' huge offering of books, including eBooks. Borders recently launched eBook store, powered by Kobo, has over 1.5 million titles, which customers can enjoy on a number of eReading platforms. New tabs on Borders.com further segment product lines with drop down menus that intuitively guide customers to the products they want.  

Improved User Experience

Borders has made several changes specifically designed to improve the shopping experience. A partnership with ChoiceStream will enable relevant recommendations for new products that browsing customers might enjoy, and Borders will provide new lists of staff picks and books and products currently in the news.  The title detail page for each book lists all the formats in which that book is available, and some books feature a Google Books "preview" that allows them to virtually flip through a few chapters. Further, a partnership with Endeca will deliver the most targeted and relevant content to each customer, based on their actions, as they search and browse the online store.

About Borders Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., through its subsidiaries Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders® and Waldenbooks® stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com.  Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook.com/borders, twitter.com/borders and youtube.com/bordersmedia. For more information about the company, visit borders.com/media.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. One can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "expected," "planning," "possibility," "opportunity," "goal," "will," "may," "intend," "anticipates," "working toward" and other words of similar meaning. One can also identify them by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements are likely to address matters such as the company's future financial condition and performance (including earnings per share, profitability, liquidity, cash flows, debt levels, market share growth and other sales information, inventory levels and capital expenditures), its cost reduction initiatives and plans for store closings, and the expansion of product categories, including eBook content and eReaders. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the company's forward-looking statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, consumer demand for the company's products, particularly during the holiday season, which is believed to be related to general economic and geopolitical conditions, competition and other factors; the availability of adequate capital--including vendor credit--to fund the company's operations and to carry out its strategic plans; adverse litigation results or other claims, the performance of the company's information technology systems, the anticipated impact of our Borders Rewards and Borders Rewards Plus programs; and, with respect to eBook content and eReaders, the availability to the company of anticipated content levels and a variety of competitive devices.

The company's periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission contain more detailed discussions of these and other risk factors that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements, and those discussions are incorporated herein by reference. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Borders