NOT long ago, I decided to visit a bookshop whose pictures I had seen over Facebook and was impressed by the collection they had kept. I reached the spot only to discover that the bookshop was closed down due to low customer inflow and was becoming a liability for its proprietors. This is not an isolated incident but to my own little knowledge, I have witnessed bookshops shutting down day in and day out. While trying to figure out the reason for this recursion, it came to the fore that the shops were low on sales and witnessed scanty attendance. It seems as if the generation has lost its taste and temperament for book reading and the culture is on the ebb. But the larger picture, drawn by coalescing the different pieces shows that people, and particularly the younger generation is taking active interest in reading and are quite enthusiastic about the same. But the modes of reading have changed drastically and this change has altered our moods of reading in unforeseeable ways. Starting with internet and internet powered devices like Kindle and websites like pdfdrive.net, the access to books has become cheaper and easier than ever. Online delivery portals like Amazon, Flipkart and others have created another challenge of offering books to users at huge discounts at their doorsteps. Caught up in the whirlwind of challenges, the local booksellers find it extremely difficult to withstand the competitive pressure and to keep attracting a wide customer range.
Advances in technology and the creation of substitutes like e-books, podcasts, audio books and others can never replace hardcopies and there are people who cherish and will continue to cherish the uniqueness and the special aura associated with books in hard form. It is also true that there are thousands of titles which are available neither in audio book nor in e-copies, for these, the reader must shift his gaze to the racks of bookstores and this necessity is something which will never end. In addition to the intrinsic inevitability of books in their hard format, booksellers have also adopted innovative remedial and corrective measures to attract customers and to meet the challenges of time. One such measure is the sale of second hand and used books at marginally low costs and this offer gravitates booklovers in huge numbers to the bookshops. Another step taken is to keep available the books which aren’t usually found online and this section usually includes books on local history, culture and the like, but not limited to it. Most of the booksellers have taken to online modes of advertising and marketing and it not only helps them to develop a good customer base, but is also creating ease for the consumers as those who don’t like to travel to and from have their books delivered at doorstep.
Having outlined the challenges and opportunities which modern reading culture has brought with it, it must be restated that not enough is being done by local booksellers to be at par with the emerging trends and the market strategies. To begin with, bookstores need to go online, both in terms of advertising and marketing, not only for the customer ease, but for their own survival and subsistence. Our bookshops may not be in a position to offer as high discounts as are offered by the online stores, but they need to explore the possibilities in this direction, or else people will inevitably rush to online portals like Amazon etc offering high price margin, the facilities of return and refund. For their own interest, bookshops need to cater to the diversity of readers and stay abreast of the emerging titles and ensure that the same are made available the earliest. The usual phenomenon is that the books that are released on online portals today reach our markets a year later and by then they have lost their subscriber base, though there are few who have woken up to this challenge, but there are others still lagging behind. Bookshops can become quite attractive if they develop a reading space within their precincts – this may be of little market significance on the face of it, but has a definite role in attracting readers and creating a long term customer base. While we are witnessing a revival of the reading spirit among the young generation, the plight of booksellers presents a dismal case in view of the factors outlined above. It is only in addressing these issues that perennial prosperity can be had.
- Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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