No one buys a bookshop purely to make money.
Most other high street sectors are more lucrative options — if the bottom line is all that concerns you. Even so, running an independent bookstore still holds a special appeal.
Internet shopping has taken off in this sector like no other — over a third of book purchases are now made online
Bookshop owners often make big sacrifices to be surrounded by paperbacks and hardbacks all day. Not that it’s impossible to make money selling books independently – but you must be able to deal with the more mundane aspects of running a business.
As the Booksellers Association website says: “Your love and knowledge must be combined with business acumen if your bookshop is to succeed.”
Threats abound
This is truer than ever in the current retail climate. Threats to independent booksellers abound.
Internet shopping has taken off in this sector like no other — over a third of book purchases are now made online. Dedicated online retailers such as Amazon can pass savings made from lower overheads onto customers, who can also buy from the comfort of home.
In recent years high street giants such as Waterstones – who also now enjoy significant online sales – have accounted for a growing share of the market, while supermarkets have also muscled in on the act, intensifying competition further. In 1993, Waterstones, Ottaker’s, Borders and WH Smith occupied 1.3m2 of Britain’s retail space; that figure had grown to 5.6m2 by 2002.
Together, they account for almost half of the UK’s book market. The abolition of the net book agreement in 1997 was a major catalyst for the rise of the chains.
Suddenly, shops were allowed to sell stock at below cover price, enabling bigger enterprises to take advantage of economies of scale and undercut the smaller operator, often through special offers.
Nevertheless, forecasts of the independent bookshop’s demise are premature. Independent ventures still account for around a quarter of all book sales.
Since 2003 sales at independent bookshops have actually risen 6%, while sales at chain retailers have fallen 3%, according to the consumer research group BML. And in 2007, more independent bookshops opened – 81 – than closed – 72.
People “like the idea of being a bookseller”, says Michael Neil, managing director of book wholesaler Bertrams. “It’s seen as a noble thing to do.
“As the chain bookstores have consolidated over the past 18 months, there are opportunities for good local ‘indies’ to step in. There is a thirst for authenticity, and shopping at an indie bookstore seems to be part of that.”
Buying online is convenient if you’re simply ordering the latest John Grisham thriller, but you’re perhaps less likely to unearth an unknown gem. Wandering around a shop, reading blurbs and leafing through the pages of obscure novels is a three-dimensional experience only.
Harnessing the web
Similarly, there is little sign that people are willing to give up reading books in paper form in favour of downloading them onto electronic readers – although improving technology might eventually win people over.
Far from fearing technology, some independent bookshops harness the internet to sell books, increasing the scope for specialisation considerably. You might only have a handful of customers living within a small radius if you exclusively sell books about martial arts in a small-town bookshop; sell them on the internet and you can sell to martial-arts aficionados across the globe.
