Shao Sheng|There are e-books for reading, online shopping for books, how can physical bookstores "break through"?
Yun Shaoyang Client 2024-06-15 11:32:15
Shaoyang Daily Yun Shaoyang client reporter Wang Chaoshuai
During the book promotion period on the Jingdong shopping platform, the "6·18" promotional information released by JD.com shows that from May 19th to June 20th, all kinds of books on the platform will be promoted at 2 to 3% off. Subsequently, two "joint statement notification letters" issued by the publishing industry fermented on social platforms, and 56 publishing units in Beijing and Shanghai also jointly issued announcements, intending to boycott the JD 618 book promotion.
In the current social reading environment, e-books are gradually popular, the price of books in online bookstores has plummeted, and physical bookstores have been squeezed by two "mountains".
The sales momentum is insufficient, and the store is forced to discount and promote
On the morning of May 27, the reporter visited two physical bookstores on Hongqi Road. In the Xinhua Bookstore Xiangzhong Book City in Shaoyang City, there are only four or five citizens reading books. In Shin Kong Book City, there are also only a few book-buying citizens.
"Usually no one buys books, but on weekends, some parents bring their children to buy supplementary books, and there are also many students who come to read books." A staff member of Xinhua Bookstore said.
In order to attract the public to buy books, the two bookstores have launched their own discount activities. During Children's Day, Xinhua Bookstore will launch a 20% discount on the purchase of 2 books.
Shin Kong Bookstore has also recently launched the "Book City Shopping Spend 28 or 68 Yuan to Get Homework Books and Student Teaching Materials" activity. In addition, it also implements a long-term membership system, and enjoys a discount on book purchases after recharging a certain amount. The front desk staff of Shin Kong Bookstore said: "Citizens get a 9% discount when buying world famous books, and members get an 8.8% discount. ”
In the afternoon, the reporter visited many physical bookstores along the street, and the books on the bookcases of each bookstore were readily available, but few people cared about them.
E-books are becoming popular, and online bookstores are selling them at low prices
The lack of sales momentum of physical bookstores is inextricably linked to the development of e-books. According to the statistics of the China Business Industry Research Institute, in 2023, the number of digital reading users in mainland China will reach 570 million, an increase of 7.53% year-on-year, and people aged 19~45 are the main force of digital reading, accounting for 62.7% of the total, and the proportion of people aged 60 and above has also increased. Analysts at the China Business Industry Research Institute predict that the number of digital reading users in China will reach 599 million in 2024.
Sales of e-readers, which use digital reading as a carrier, are also growing. According to the latest data released by Lotu Technology, in the first quarter of 2024, the online monitoring sales of e-readers in mainland China will be 122,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%.
Wei Chuanhao, a student at Shaoyang University, bought a reader priced at 698 yuan in 2021, Wei Chuanhao said: "The cost of buying paper books one after another is higher than that of e-books, and the e-reader is small and easy to carry, and it also comes with an eye protection mode, so you can enjoy the best visual experience at all times." ”
The popularity of e-books has forced online bookstores to promote paper books at low prices to a certain extent. Mr. Liu, a citizen who likes to read paper books and likes to buy books on the Confucius Used Books Network, said: "I want to buy a book I like when I see it in a bookstore in the city, and if the price is too expensive, I will choose to buy it on the website." ”
For example, in the hardcover collector's edition of The Outer History of Confucianism published by the same publisher, the price of a physical bookstore is 49.8 yuan, while the JD shopping platform is only 24.9 yuan without discounting. In terms of price, brick-and-mortar bookstores are not at all advantageous.
Growing online sales and creating a reading atmosphere is key
In the past, e-books were menacing, and then there were online bookstores in the backstab with low-price promotions, how should physical bookstores solve the dilemma?
Zhou Renfei, director of the Municipal Children's Library, said that physical bookstores have the shortcomings of slow book updates and incomplete types, so they can take the road of transformation and develop a "online + offline" parallel sales route, and make up for the above shortcomings while expanding the market scope while creating a unique website or APP to sell books.
Jin Guohui, director of the Songpa Library, believes that the popularity of online platforms such as WeChat and Douyin has generally reduced people's willingness to read, and at the same time changed everyone's living habits. Coupled with the low cost and portability of reading e-books, physical bookstore sales are facing difficulties. The fundamental reason is that the way people obtain information has changed, and paper books are no longer the best choice for obtaining information from the outside world.
"When I was younger, I studied in the house to see the outside world and increase my knowledge. Now, you can learn about the world with a single mobile phone, and you can search for any knowledge anytime, anywhere. Jin Guohui suggested that the largest consumer group of paper books is students and the elderly, and if physical bookstores want to break through, they need to take the initiative to create a good reading atmosphere, create an immersive reading area, attract citizens to come to bookstores to read and learn, and then sell books and related products, such as calligraphy and stationery.