GONE WITH THE WINDS OF CHANGE
Restrictions on public gatherings because of the virus could mean curtains for brick-and-mortar bookstores,Wang Yiqing reports.
The novel coronavirus outbreak at the start of 2020 brought in drastic changes in all walks of life. For brick-and-mortar bookstores, which were already gasping for life with the advent of e-commerce, the epidemic came like a sudden hard blow, pushing them to the edge of survival.
Crippling blow
In the era of internet and online shopping, offline brick-and-mortar bookstores hold little hope of making more profits than online bookstores, thanks also to the often huge amounts they pay for renting their fancy premises.
For years, brick-and-mortar bookstores have survived because of the unique offline experience they offer readers: of choosing books to read or buy while also socializing in a public space. However, this advantage, for which costumers were willing to shell out more, suddenly took a back seat because of strict epidemic prevention and control measures — prescribing social distancing and prohibiting gatherings — that came into effect following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The measures pressed a pause button for offline bookstores’ normal functioning, upsetting cash flow to the low-margin businesses.
According to an online survey by China brick-and-mortar bookstore alliance Shumeng, 926 of the 1,021 offline bookstores, which are mostly medium and small-sized independent brick-and-mortar bookstores, had suspended their business by Feb 5. More than 99 percent of the brick-and-mortar bookstores have almost no income these days, and most of them remain pessimistic about the future.
Xu Zhiyuan, a popular individual in his own right and one of the founders of OWSpace, a bookstore, wrote an open letter to the public on Feb 24, saying the enterprise’s income was expected to dip by 80 percent in February, as only one of their four bookstores was still open.
Utopia Bookshop, a small-sized independent brick-and-mortar bookstore in Haiyan county of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, declared on Feb 25 that it will have to down shutters after its business remained suspended for 31 days.
The unkindest cut actually came from readers, who overnight switched from buying books offline to online because of the epidemic.
According to a book retail market analysis conducted by Beijing Kaijuan, a book industry market research company, domestic book retail sales declined 15.93 percent in the first quarter of 2020 year-on-year; the sales through brick-and-mortar shops declined by 54.79 percent. Retail sales through online channels rose 3.02 percent year-on-year.
The public is aware of the plight of brick-and-mortar bookstores largely because of OWSpace’s SOS, appealing to readers to buy pre-paid membership cards to help the bookstore weather cash flow pressure. Popular actress Yao Chen reposted the letter on Weibo, asking the public to help the bookstore survive. Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, whom Xu Zhiyuan has interviewed in his cultural talk show “Thirteen Talks”, too, reposted the letter to express support.
“Among brick-and-mortar bookstores, OWSpace was the first to undertake rescue operations. The bookstore has its own, influential social media wing and many of its employees, having a media background, are more conscious about social trends and the economic situation,” said Wu Qi, chief editor of One-way Street Journal. “OWSpace’s SOS sent a message to the public that the brick-and-mortar bookstore industry’s survival was at stake”.
Salvation online?
The epidemic is now forcing brick-and-mortar bookstores to give up their “slow offline life” — at one point their unique selling proposition, attracting customers in droves — to embrace the fast-paced online space. Such a transition opens up a world of challenges as well as opportunities.
On March 9, OWSpace launched an online livestreaming campaign for “safeguarding independent bookstores”, inviting “China’s best live streaming saleswoman” Viya to promote books from six independent bookstores online.
Wu Qi says embracing the online business model is the only option before brick-and-mortar bookstores as the novel coronavirus outbreak has “cut off all offline channels.” He added that promoting the online model through livestreaming was a good idea, considering the influence Xu Zhiyuan and Viya wield in different circles. “Livestreaming is not only an effective sales promotion model but also a communication channel,” Wu said. “It’s just the business model OWSpace should be exploring to not only improve its advantage in bookstores but also media and content output platforms. And intellectuals need to do new things to improve their visibility in the new era.”
The online platform is sure infusing new blood into Utopia Bookshop. After its notice saying it was shutting down went viral on the internet, numerous readers from around the country placed orders for a blind box sale the bookstore was holding, before shutting down, to pay its employees. The sale changed the bookstore’s fortunes, at least for the time being. “Till now, we have sold around 4,000 blind boxes.
Any government subsidy to small and independent bookstores will prove crucial for our survival
Tong Xingjia
Bookshop
owner of Utopia
This is way beyond my expectations and is actually helping the bookstore’s revival,” bookshop owner Tong Xingjia said. “I’m sure the reason so many people are buying our blind boxes is this — they don’t want brick-and-mortar bookstores to die.”
However, many brick-and-mortar bookstores are actively exploring online options.
Mazi Bookstore in Beijing, dealing with books on drama, poetry and films, moved its operations online in February, less than a month after the epidemic hit business. Mazi has even tied up with e-commerce platform Meituan for express book deliveries.
And thanks to the livestreaming platform, the sun has not yet set on the bookshop’s cultural activities. If anything, it has got more pronounced. “Before the epidemic, we had gone online to promote and cultivate regular customers for our brick-and-mortar stores,” said Mazi Bookstore founder Li Suwan. “Thanks to this exercise, we were able to quickly move our cultural activities online and actively communicate with readers through the online readers club.”
A question of survival
“To be or not to be” is a tough question for brick-and-mortar bookstores and the sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus has only made it worse.
However, Tong Xingjia is an idealist. No wonder he named his bookstore Utopia. He admits to the difficulties of operating a brick-andmortar bookstore in a small county like Haiyan, where there aren’t sufficient readers or people willing to participate in cultural activities, unlike in first- or second-tier cities. “But then, if I didn’t open such a bookstore for serious reading and cultural activities in Haiyan, nobody else would have done it,” Tong said. “There definitely was the need for one.”
He didn’t expect the bookstore to make profits and was even prepared to incur losses every year, deciding to keep the bookstore running for as long as he could.
But registering profits is crucial for the survival and development of any business, brick-and-mortar bookstores being no exception. Tong is not sure how long Utopia will survive, particularly after the epidemic.
Mazi’s founder was more optimistic about her bookstore’s future. “Life will always go on. The economy will recover after the epidemic, and our bookstore will follow its original path to grow in the future,” Li said. “As long as Mazi retains its unique character and meets customers’ expectations, this online channel will help our bookstore’s offline growth.”
Wu Qi thinks brick-and-mortar bookstores have a cultural significance, but are comparatively disadvantaged in a society where entertainment and popular culture prevail. “Whether we should and how we could promote books and the reading culture is linked to the country’s cultural policy,” he said.
Most bookshop owners mentioned the significance of government support in these difficult times. Utopia Bookshop runs from a rented premises in a tony area and the local government stepping in to exempt the store from paying two months’ rent has helped the owner “breathe easy” in this income-less phase.
OWSpace and Mazi have applied for government subsidy. And Li Suwan supposes Beijing’s brickand-mortar bookstore support fund will help them get through this difficult phase. “Any government subsidy to small and independent bookstores will prove crucial for our survival,” Tong said.
“Brick-and-mortar bookstores are the so-called meeting points and public spaces for our society.” said Wu. “Such spaces enable face-toface communication among people, something irreplaceable in the internet age.”
“For me, nothing can be more joyful than seeing people reading books here,” said Tong.