Brave Bookselling

On one side of the pond the ABA (American Booksellers Association) proudly proclaimed that some 44 new independent bookstores opened for business in 2013 and that 10 of these were in the technology state of California. In addition they also announce that 14 stores were bought by new owners. On the other side of the pond the BA (Booksellers Association of UK and Ireland) announced that the number of independent bookstore had dropped below 1000 to 987 and that in less than 10 years they had dropped by around a third from 1,535 in 2005 to today’s figure.

Both markets have lost major bookchains and now only one recognised national bookchain, but both face the same threat from technology, the internet and price discounting. Is the US showing signs of recovery or learning to adapt and change? So is it a case of the glass half full in the US versus the glass half empty in the UK?

The UK has some challenges from the subsidised charity shops and in particular Oxfam’s Bookstore, but these don’t sell new books, they sell used books, but they do enjoy rent and business rates advantage over the bookstores. The bookshops also face growing and targeted competition from supermarkets who stock a narrow range of highly attractive titles at deep discount. They face going competition from newspapers and others who sell off page reviews and have them distributed by the same wholesalers who support the bookshops. The High Streets continue to show signs of slow decline and have lost out to out of town stores and destination malls.

There are however many bookshop success stories and many who have embraced a wider remit than just books and coffee. There are some like Richard Booth’s Bookshop in Hay on Wye whose owner Elizabeth Haycox also has a café, a cinema and even facilitates weddings, but it is a unique location and an unusual lady.

However, in the main the independent bookshops we read about are sellers of only limited front list titles, which are displayed on the sale or return ‘safe’ model. The offer still has to compete with those that they will always find it hard to compete with in a price conscious and virtual internet shelf marketplace. Few have ventured into the bargain market, let alone the used and antiquarian ones and in essence they remain one trick ponies and increasingly vulnerable. Many sell on Amazon, eBay and other marketplaces but this is hardly a sustainable model and one where they have control over the margin.

Earlier this year we wrote about the sales boom that the Strand bookstore in New York run by Fred Bass has experienced over the festive period. Fred sells new, old, used, rare and even review copies. He does distinguish between any and sees only books and customers who want books, but he too has a vibrant and highly profitable merchandising offer selling his branded products and accommodates many filming shoots in the store. To top that the Strand building he owns is prime Manhattan real estate.

Government, local councils can make life easier for bookshops, but so can the industry. Do the publishers really do enough to help make this channel viable, or are they now too preoccupied chasing the high volume, low margin business or even in giving books away to promote reading. Have they forgotten the shop window that the bookshops give them, or has their view and disposal towards the traditional book retail channel been tainted by the demands made by the chains?

If Bookstores are to survive they must change and adapt. They must embrace all books and in doing so take some risks. They must widen their appeal and offer complimentary services and goods and they must start to see the glass half full and not half empty.

Are ABA's Members Ready For Another eRelationship?

The American Booksellers Association (ABA), has already walked away from one ebook marriage it said would solve all its members wishes and no sooner has the divorce papers been filed , it now appears to be teaming up for a new marriage based on Kobo. Is it a shotgun wedding , a marriage of convenience, or simply a marriage on the rebound?

The last relationship engaged with close to 400 stores but failed to work out. Now the same stores have another ‘arranged marriage’ with yet another suitor, but will this fair any better?. Maybe the Google relationship was destined to fail once the honeymoon was over and the reality sunk in. Just as the BA may have discovered in the UK, Google may have had different ideas about what they wanted, or expected from their partnership.

So stores are expected to simply flip from Google to Kobo , start to sell not just ebooks but Kobo devices and become overnight Kobo disciples. The ABA may be excited, Kobo may be excited , but are the stores really geared up to support it? 

In early 2011 we wrote two articles on the UK’s bookshops approach to selling ereaders and ebooks, we have since seen WHS dump Kobo POS displays and await the Waterstones  Amazon in store experience. We accept that Barnes and Noble offered a good in store experience but they were committed and it was their own show.

We must remember that the ABA stores will be basically selling other’s devices and the files will be sold by the service provider. They will not control prices, nor the overall experience and they will receive a commission for what some suggest is potentially handing over their customers to others to exploit. Some would say that it’s like inviting the fox into the chicken hut.

We would ask many questions, some obvious others not so and presume everyone signing up will have the answers:

·         Tax who owns the problem/issue and are equipment sales separated from file sales?

·         Are equipment sales based on sale or return or firm?

·         Who trains the in store staff?

·         Who provides the customer service first and second lines and is it online, offline or by retailer

·         Do stores train all staff or selectively will there by an expert on stand at all times?

·         Will stores sell proactively or passively?

·         If pricing is set by provider how do stores handle competitive questions?

·         DRM is a challenge, but can the customer play a kobo file on kindle, Nook, Sony or must they have a Kobo device?

·         How will staff handle questions about Google?

·         Must customers buy all their files for same store and if not, where else can I buy them and will they then appear as disparate accounts within the Kobo platform?

·         Who owns the customer data?

The important question is, how do stores handle questions about Kindle, Nook, Apple, Sony etc?

These and other questions can be thought through and can be negated, but we must remember this is not within one organisation, but across many different ones and the consumer is likely to be exposed to multiple experiences.

However, the experience maybe tested further with another ebookstore , Zola, setting its eyes on the same market opportunity and claims to be already in discussion with the ABA and have 50 stores signed up. Others such as Copia also can’t afford to be left outside. 

So is the KOBO agreement exclusive, or open to all? If it is open to others and how do the ABA plan to level the experience?

We wrote the Brave new World report some 6 years ago and at the time we strongly believed that there was an opportunity for book retailers to join the ebook marketplace. However, apart from exceptions such as Barnes and Noble, few rose to the challenge and those that did often stumbled and instead of collaborating to jointly develop and hone the opportunity, they choose to compete. Some would suggest that its somewhat ironic that they now find themselves at the same place, but without the same control. Instead of rising to develop their own offer, under their associations, they chose to ‘white label’ others with all the implications that strategy delivers.