We let Bookshop deal with online sales and will continue to talk to our customers about Bookshop as an alternative to Amazon.”Īt Blue Willow Books in Houston, selling online-particularly through social media-has become a “norm,” said owner Valerie Koehler. “We really focus on the in-store customer, rather than becoming a shipping fulfillment center. “It’s going well, though online sales remain only a small percentage of overall sales,” said owner Judith Kissner. Scout and Morgan in Cambridge, Minn., lets handle online sales. Others have outsourced their online sales altogether. Once Covid happened, the system started to work-our point-of-sale provider went from a few sales a day to tens of thousands, so we spent the last year scrambling.” I knew I wanted a good online system, and I agonized for months about that. At Capital Books in Sacramento, Calif., “probably two-thirds of our orders come from online,” said co-owner Ross Rojek. Still, Rattenborg’s plans for 2022 include growing both the store’s online and B2B businesses.Īs the pandemic continues, some booksellers have become dependent on online orders. “I didn’t open my store to become a shipping center,” she said. Kate Rattenborg, owner of Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa, where online sales represented a little less than 10% of business last year, was among them. That said, many booksellers were relieved that in-store sales have bounced back. “A lot of customers are checking if we have what they want before they come in, making sure it’s worth the trip.” “People are used to reserving items ahead now, too,” she said. “I think because we were closed for a long time, a lot of our customers got comfortable with ordering online,” said co-owner Hilary Gustafson.Īt Village Books and Paper Dreams in Bellingham, Wash., co-owner Sarah Hutton reported that she now has an online team because online sales have become such a critical part of the business. It’s absolutely going to be a permanent part of our business.”Īccording to Gretchen West, owner of Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, web orders “were about half of what they were in 2020 but five times what they were before the pandemic hit.” She predicted sales in 2022 will be about the same as 2021.Īt Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., which was closed for in-person shopping from March 2020 to end of May 2021, online orders took on a new importance and represented about 25% of overall sales in 2021. “Online sales were half in 2021 of what they were in 2020, but they are still a substantial part of our business. “Online sales in 2020 were up 2,540% over 2019,” she said. Barrett at Bookends and Beginnings reported online sales were down 50% from 2020, but only because 2020 was so huge. Online sales continued to be important at most bookstores across the country, though for some, it has cooled from the highs of 2020. “Overall, I think customers have become more conscious of where they buy their books and of the impact buying locally from independent stores, as opposed to Amazon, has on their communities,” she said. Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Va., said the shop-local trend resulted in her store having the best December sales in its history, after a slow start to the year due to a delayed return to in-store shopping. “It was an impulse purchase at all of our cash registers,” Barrett said. The top nonfiction bestseller at Barrett’s store was How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kans. Independent stores were also helped by a growing awareness of the importance of shopping local. The addition of a street-front facade (formerly the entrance to the store was through an alley) and the closing of two Barnes & Nobles were cited as reasons for the sales boom. Some did much better, such as at Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston, Ill., where owner Nina Barrett reported that sales last year were up 43% over 2020, and up 128% since 2019. In general, booksellers interviewed by PW noted significant sales gains in 2021 over 2020-typically around 10% for the year. Also of concern is the lack of networking and educational opportunities available because of the continuing cancellation of in-person conferences and conventions, such as the recently canceled in-person edition of Winter Institute. Staffing-particularly hiring and retaining employees and keeping them healthy-is a top priority for booksellers in 2022.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |