Borders Online

Making a belated entry into one of the most competitive corners of electronic commerce, Borders Group, one of the nation’s largest book retailers, is expected to unveil an online bookstore today.

The https://www.borders.com Web site, where consumers can buy books, music and videos, is the first online venture for the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company, which had sales of $2.2 billion last year.

But Borders is an unusually late arrival in the online arena, given that archrival Barnes & Noble Inc. launched its Web site (https://barnesandnoble.com) more than a year ago, and Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com) has been selling books on the Net since 1995.

“We think it’s still early,” said Rick Vanzura, senior vice president of e-commerce at Borders, “and the market is going to be big enough that there will be room for us to be successful.”

Still, Borders’ short-term ambitions are modest. Vanzura said the company hopes for online sales of about $25 million in its first year, which would make the Web site the company’s top-selling “store.”