Digital transformation enabled the largest bookstore in the world to save its workforce

As NYC entered into the 4th week of social distancing, residents are starting to regain a sense of normalcy. Exemplified by the emails in my inbox, emails from local businesses started to take a different narrative- from that changed from shuttering businesses to pivoting online. It might be too early to start to point out the silver linings, given the gravity of the exploding cases in the nation. However, it is always appropriate to count the blessings. One of them is the long-awaited digital transformation.

Over the weekend, Powell’s Books, the iconic bookstore in Portland, Oregon that sprawls across an entire city block (and one that made multiple cameos in the hit show Portlandia), announced that it was able to re-hire 100 laid-off employees as a result of a rush of online orders.

Such a quick turnaround of Powell’s business is the result of years of online investments. In as early as 1993, Powell’s has set up an FTP based access to its technical books. In 1994, it had an established website, beating Amazon to its game (after declining an exclusive partnership with the now giant Amazon). Over the years, the early online investments enabled Powell’s to move its entire technical division to an online-only distribution. In 2010, Powell’s was a founding member of Google eBooks, selling out 5,000 Google eBooks vouchers in a matter of hours.

For a long time, Powell’s is the pinnacle of nostalgia, building a literal palace of knowledge and intrigues for an intellectual and hip crowd. Powell’s showed the independent retailer world that curating a sense of community does not have to come at the sacrifice of technology adoptions. Accelerating the digital transformation has never come at a more critical time.

Such digital transformations also mean opportunity for the entire supply chain such as website hosting services (Squarespace, Wix) and e-commerce platforms (3dcart, BigCommerce, Volusion, Magento. To view more, check out PrivCo’s eCommerce coverage).

Speak soon,

Whitney