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Bookstore of the future has arrived
I had written about an aspirational bookstore idea almost 2.5 years ago - I am glad that the idea is taking root and no other thanthe big daddy of e-commerce Amazon has come up with physical bookstores which encompass some of the ideas I proposed in my original piece.
Here are some news items along with excerpts on this.
Amazon officially opened its first brick-and-mortar store in New York City.
Every single book is turned to face outward, so that you can shop with your eyes--which only confirms that people do, in fact, judge books by their coverSource: https://www.inc.com/nicolas-cole/what-do-the-future-of-bookstores-look-like-amazon-just-showed-us-and-its-awesome.html
... customers can find recommendations based on other books, just like they would when shopping online. On entire walls, customers will find books side by side, with arrows pointing and instructing, "If you liked this, then you'll probably like this."
.. the tag under each book provides customers with a real Amazon review, along with the total number of reviews and star rating
Amazon's bookstores look ordinary at first glance. But by pulling out a mobile phone with the Amazon app, shoppers can use visual search technology to identify books and objects around them. The search reveals reviews, shipping options and price.Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/04/what-amazons-physical-bookstores-say-about-the-future.html
Ecommerce giant Amazon has opened its first physical bookstore in New York City, in the Columbus Circle shopping mall which once housed a now-defunct Borders. Like the Amazon Go store which opened late last year, this is a cashless business; customers can pay via membership on the Amazon app.Source: https://www.ogilvy.com/news-views/is-amazon-physically-building-the-bookstore-of-the-future/
The store itself is smaller than your average bookshop; 4,000 square feet compared to the average 25,000 occupied by Barnes & Noble. This is because the company is relying on data to hone their inventory; with the exception of new releases and bestsellers, the store will only stock books with a ranking of four stars or higher on the site.
But there are those who juxtapose Amazon's model with the good-old-indie bookstore model and find that the latter still has a different charm!
... the new Amazon stores are a study in contrasts with mom-and-pop shops. The Amazon store in Chicago, for example, feels more like a Best Buy than a neighborhood bookstore. It’s transactional, rather than connective. Efficient, rather than cozy. It’s a great place to come and grab the latest bestseller, but not a place where you’d go to lose yourself.Source: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/09/independent-bookstores-creative-business-models-amazon/539724/
It’s those contrasting reasons, that the indies are growing and will continue to do so. They’re comfortable hangouts away from home, welcoming spots where people can grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, meeting grounds they can read or talk with others about what’s happening in the world, all while discovering a new book or author that the owner and staff believe in.
This was the main thought in my piece penned 2.5 years ago, and I still continue to be optimistic about the Bookstore of the future. And I am glad, there are people doing this:
BookBar, a bookstore that also has a café with a robust wine and craft beer list... the combination has helped draw in a sizable audience: on any given day, three to five book clubs hold meetings in her shop ... upstairs from BookBar is BookBed, a literary-themed one-bedroom apartment that has helped attract high-caliber authors for readings and events.
Upshur Street Books hosts a series of events inside and outside the shop, ranging from readings and dinners to singalongs and historic neighborhood tours. And every Friday and Saturday, the bartender at Petworth Citizen creates a series of literary cocktails dedicated to a particular author
Brewery Bhavana in Raleigh, North Carolina [is] a space that’s home to a brewery, dim sum restaurant, flower shop and, yes, bookstore!
Read It & Eat has a kitchen and regularly hosts authors, cooking classes, wine tastings and even the occasional pop-up dinner.
Story & Song, in Amelia Island, Florida [is a] two-story shop will also have an art gallery and performance space, along with a café that sells beer, wine, coffee, and food.Source: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/09/independent-bookstores-creative-business-models-amazon/539724/
And to cap it all - there are numerous other indepdendent bookstores also trying out various ideas to sustain and evolve in this Amazonian Jungle (pun intended!)
.. the small kiosk model works for selling books... the core idea of selling books via kiosks is a proven guerilla tactic. The future of book retailing should not rest on hopes that wine bars and fancy food will save the industry. A guerilla approach to book retailing using kiosks makes this expansion affordable and manageable.Source: http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/post/future-bookstores-may-rest-guerilla-retailing/
Physical libraries and bookstores can still be relevant in a digital society in many ways. They can be community centers where people meet to discuss, create and listen to authors, experiences that cannot be taken online.Source: http://bigthink.com/disrupt-education/the-future-of-libraries-and-bookstores-lies-in-their-own-past
For the economic model, there could be revenue share based on location, e.g. if a customer decides to buy an ebook when he is inside a bookstore or library, the device would know this due to GPS and location awareness and therefore the publisher would share revenue the same way as with physical books. I believe that the experience tied to the physical space and the people who meet there is much stronger that we think.
One of the most convivial, thoughtfully designed spaces in the world is undoubtedly the Tsutaya bookstore in the high-end Daikanyama neighborhood of Tokyo. The store is a series of large, connected bookstores, ample outdoor space, and a cozy bar and lounge surrounded by first edition books, beautiful chairs, and perfect lighting. People can be seen chatting with one another.Source: https://skift.com/2018/03/26/what-this-tokyo-bookstore-can-teach-travel-about-the-tech-backlash/
The communal space is the perfect antidote to the maelstrom churning over technology these days, one that is leading to a growing backlash over concerns about privacy.
...the brand is now helping real estate developers design the communal areas of residential complexes.
When we consider what the shared space is like in even the sharpest residential developments around the world, most fall flat. People just walk through them en route to their apartments. And no matter how many beautiful Eames chairs are or pseudo lounge areas, they seem dull and lacking life. When you add the context of a bookstore style environment, where people can browse, read, and interact with other building residents, it makes a ton of sense.
The Bookstore of future
- Serendipity and discoverability of books
- Browse a book before buying
- Meet like minded people
One key element which is implicit to the above is quiet surroundings. The list sounds more like the requirements we have from community libraries than from bookstores, but indeed good bookstores are no less than libraries!
So let's start in the reverse order:
To satisfy #3, the bookshop needs to have sufficient real estate which should be utilized through a combination of large seating area - preferably a coffee shop - and enough room between the aisles for customers to sit and read books. If space permits, additional enclosures could be built for people to discuss books or organize book readings. Needless to stay, some footfall attracting tactics like organizing events, creating a book renting program, hosting book reading by authors and even renting out idle space to corporates for conferences or board meetings, need to be deployed to ensure maximum utilization of the real estate.
Moving on; given that most books - old and new - are today being made available online, it is imperative that #2 above can surely be satisfied by the bookstore by simply providing customers with pre-loaded Kindles (or other tablets). Given that different customers could have different choices, bookstores would to have an unlimited plan set up on their Kindles - that's just $10 per month in the US. Further, providing customers with devices will also help in attracting people who want interactive reading, wherein you look up words in the book, or even drift into a Wikipedia page while reading a chapter.
The most difficult part thereof remains #1. Serendipity comes from large book collection, shelves with several thousands of books stacked. Further given that in future most book purchases will be online, the bookstore need not stock multiple copies of the same book. This means that the bookstore can now restrict itself to be more of a browsing space, maximizing the number of books per sq inch - no need to waste precious shelf space in stocking inventory.
However, one important aspect is that most books should be at eye level; which makes high shelves unusable - and given that there is need for little or no inventory, higher shelves can't even be used to stock. This opens up an avenue for low ceiling stores - an existing store can possibly divide the vertical space into two - similar to how malls create two parking levels between one retail level. Other design hacks such as rotating bookshelves or using bookwheel type shelves (however used to storing books and not reading), can also be used to increase space utilization.
The key here is that #1 and #3 require real estate which is damn is expensive - especially in places where the bookstore may get better footfall. Downtown Manhattan has rentals are upto $3,000 per square foot [ref]; downtown Mumbai (ex. Colaba) can be anywhere between 10% and 25% of that.
To manage such cost, bookstores will need to tie up with online book sellers like Amazon for special schemes such as:
- Customers can order books through special Kindle apps meant for bookstores. These apps will allow customer to enter their log-in in the app so that the book even though bought on the store device will be uploaded to the customers' collection and can be read by the customer on their devices later.
- If a customer orders a book through the bookstore, the customer should get the book cheaper AND the store should get a commission. The first deal will make customers order through the bookstore than directly, the second obviously helps the store make money.
- If a customer discovers an old book in the store which is not available online, the same will be ordered through the bookstore and shipped by the publisher or online store directly to the customer.
Comments are welcome!
Update 2018: There are more developments in this space since this post - recording them here.
The Lost World of Book stores
Indie book stores have seen a revival around the world; In US, numbers increased from 1,651 in 2009 to 2,094 in 2014
http://t.co/gWKLGZCiIQ
— Nikhil Kulkarni (@kulkarninikhil) September 12, 2015
This article in Mint made me think of the dying trade of bookstores, which as a bibliophile pains me. Independent book stores have been downing shutters for a few years now - Borders the iconic bookstore chain - its Oxford street store was a landmark (even tourist attraction for Bibliophile Asians like me where I have spent couple of Sundays just reading) - shut shop in 2009; Fact & Fiction a similar iconic store in Delhi shut shop recently.
Some non-bibliophiles wonder why are bookstores needed when you can buy any book online much cheaper? Well, (at the risk of sounding politically incorrect) any woman would tell you why - the pleasures of Window shopping! Yes indeed - for bibliophiles, bookstores offer the same pleasures of serendipity - discovering a new book in a completely different genre or chancing up on an old book from your favourite author which you didn't know about.
There are other benefits - especially with bookstores with liberal policies for browsing books - you can read from the first chapter up to even half a book in the store, sitting there for a few hours before you decide you want to buy the book. In fact, the more 'mature' the book store, the more liberal the browsing policy. Many bookstores have stools, benches or even couches in the isle so that people sit and browse books, many have alcoves converted into coffee shops where you could sip a cup while reading a book (even without buying it).
Bookshops have also served as places of meeting like minded people, as this article puts it - "A section of the political circle often hangs out at The Bookshop... The Bookshop has the vibe of a global village.... Fact & Fiction's Ajit Vikram Singh, frequented KD’s Jor Bagh store as a college boy. 'I wanted to open a bookshop just like KD’s.... It was there that I first met writers like Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut and Jerzy Kosinski.' " There is a theory that the rise of bookstores along with coffeehouses contributed to the Age of Enlightenment aka Renaissance.
In essence, the bookstore has several reasons to exist, apart from just 'selling' books, which is the one need online retailers service much better. To be fair, some online retailers have tried to replicate part of the book store experience by allowing buyers to browse books before buying them; some new age publishers and authors also release the first few chapters of books free prior to the book release.
However, these attempts have failed to create the same effect and romance in minds of bibliophiles who still love their already dwindling book stores. So what is the way out? How should bookstores cope up with the challenge of rising property prices (rents), lowering margins, even dying of physical books (and rise of eReaders)?
Read on to Part II
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