Competitiveness: Online Bookstores vs. Physical Bookstores
With the rising of online bookshops, a large number of physical bookstores have closed down rapidly in recent years. What is the relative competitiveness of online and physical bookstores?
This can be seen in the following case:
When I worked at a physical bookstore in Taiwan as a senior assistant, once a famous company would like to buy a business book in large volume from our bookstore. With an agreement, I gave the company 15% off to the books and placed the order. However, after two days, I received an email from the company. The email mentioned that they would like to cancel the order because they had found lower price from another online bookstore. However, at that moment, the large number of the books had been distributed to the bookstore. If you were me, how would you deal with it?
As mentioned above, online bookstores have become a major hit in recent years because books are typically offered at lower prices online than in physical stores. They do not have to buy or rent a space for the actual store nor hire a number of employees to help the clients. Therefore, online bookstores are able to provide a wide range of books while minimizing inventory costs.
Besides, convenience is another advantage of online bookstores. You can sit down in front of your computer and it is all there on the tip of your fingers just a few clicks away. If you are choosing a special book for a birthday present, it is much easier to browse online. In addition, you can easily check the offer at the competition and find the best price without the need to travel from store to store.
Conversely, many physical bookstores are still established around the world every year although a large number of physical bookstores have shut down. Physical bookstores have the advantage of allowing us to immediately obtain books. Many people prefer this way because they can see a product with their own eyes on wooden bookcases, touch it and make sure that it is a good purchase.
Furthermore, a physical bookstore is not only a space for selling books but also where readers can interact with each other. They can reach local community and connect to potential customers by means of hosting events at stores, such as book signings, author talks and book clubs, which helps the bookshop to get a better turnout and even increase extra sales and turnover.
To sum up, both online bookstores and physical bookstores have their own competitiveness. Physical bookstores are irreplaceable even though the rise of online bookstores has the influence on them. Therefore, people can buy books according to their preferences of buying habits.
By the way, I still replied the email as politely as possible to thanks for the notification of cancelling the order although I was really mad. However, I displayed those books at the best location of the bookstore with a slogan “(that company’s name) strongly recommends this book.”
Bookseller Association. (no date) Guide to Running Bookshop Events and Publicising Your Shop. Available at: https://www.booksellers.org.uk/BookSellers/media/Booksellers/Guide-to-Running-Bookshop-Events-and-Publicising-Your-Shop-2015_1.pdf [Accessed 04/02/2019].
Speaking Volumes Online (2011) Online Bookstores — Advantages of Buying Books Online. Available at: http://www.speakingvolumesonline.org.uk/ [Accessed: 04/02/2019].
