Bookstores - Losing the Charm?

June 29, 2019

"I want to place my book in stores across the country."
"Will my book be sold through bookstores?"
"You don't provide physical store distribution?"

The queries are numerous.

Few facts to consider:

1. Ecommerce has badly hit bookstores in terms of sales. If earlier, 70% area of a store was allocated to books, it has shrunk to less than 40% with stationery, gifts, toys occupying most of the area.

Reason: Poor sale of books in physical stores; rise of sales through online stores.

2. Poor visibility of books in shelves. Unless, I am a celebrity author/best selling author, my book will not be made prominently visible to buyers. Pile-ups of renowned authors/publishers are the norm. Others merge with the rest - lying in shelves, waiting to catch a reader's probable attention.

Reason: Placing a book in a store doesn't always means good sales. One can rely on chance, but chance will not lead to huge sales.

3. Low or no profit to authors, if the book sells in stores. Bookstores demand 50-55% commission on the sale of books, citing the reason - upto 30% discount is to be passed on to the buyer. This is shocking. I have never got any book at discount, but MRP.

With 50% of the price already gone in the bookstore's pocket, one has to adjust the printing cost/ handling cost, etc. So what is one left with? On top of that, bookstores rarely make upfront payment for the books they place in their stores. They accept the books on Sale or Return basis with the agreement that if the book sells, they will pay 50% value to the publisher or return the unsold inventory after six months.

If we talk about ecommerce channels. we have few benefits to note:

1. The database of ecommerce channels is so huge that you would get the book of your choice 99% of the time. Books which are not available in stores can be found in online stores. Searching a book is fast and easy. There is no bias towards renowned or best-selling authors.

2. One need not travel far to visit a store only to check the book of choice is not available.

3. Most often, you will be offered some discount on the book online, which might not be the case in stores.

4. For publishers and authors, there is complete transparency in terms of sales/profit earned. Commission margin for online stores varies between 20-30%.

With the above facts in mind, one can choose which way to go

From the Director’s desk
Navsangeet Kaur