So Amazon has bought Shelfari. The interesting thing for me isn’t Shelfari’s innovative User Interface, but the business strategy that led to the purchase by Amazon. It’s a strategy that has also included buying AbeBooks, a marketplace for used and rare books. Which happens to own 40% of Shelfari competitor LibraryThing! Promotion of the Kindle may see a plan to target students, and the continuation of the ‘See a Kindle in Your City‘ scheme.

And then there’s the launch of the new Amazon Universal Wish List (In the U.S. at least – I couldn’t get a UK date out of Amazon). And all of this is in the face of the credit crunch, recession, and all the other harbringers of doom for most business. So the startegy appears to be one advocated by many marketing people in continuing to spend and even expand during the harder times to make the most of them – and then to benefit in the next upturn. The people using Abebook for rare books probably won’t be hit as much as the general public by a recession – luxury items always continue to do well. ‘See a Kindle’ costs nothing – it asks Kindle fans to demonstrate the product to other people for the fun of it. Universal Wish List shows a good move to diversify and get value from outside Amazonville. The only strange choice is Shelfari in some ways.

I’m not a huge Shelfari fan, as my other hobbies and commitments mean that I don’t read as much as I once did (although I’m currently motoring through a re-read of Mr Nice, the autobiography of Welsh drug-smuggling legend Howard Marks). I did play around for a while (and here’s the proof), but although I joined a few groups and listed some of my favourites, I never really found much discussion about the titles I enjoyed. And the wish list function was less use to anyone wanting to buy me a gift than the Amazon counterpart. It’s growing, but not hugely (I’ve compared it to Librarything, and also to Virb, which is another niche site with nice UI)

If it wasn’t for the book focus, Shelfari wouldn’t have been bought – so what does it add to Amazon?

Well, it does add a hardcore devoted group who will have intelligent comments about the books they’ve read – rather than ‘reviews’ of products three months before they’re released – and advertisers are targeting core groups.

Or closer integration could see Shelfari used as a safeguard if mainstream consumers aren’t engaging with Amazon during the downturn – the hardcore will continue to spend. Although a recent emarketer report claimed U.S. shoppers were saving money by shopping more online.

In which case, how does Shelfari make sense as a purchase rather than a partnership, or offering it, and it’s competitors, better User Interface?

Any ideas?