Tuesday, September 18, 2012

High street bookshops must offer e-books, industry chief warns


All bookshops must start selling electronic ‘e-books’ by the autumn if they are to ensure their long-term survival, a leading trade body has warned.

The number of bookshops in Britain has halved in the past six years and nearly 600 towns have none at all.
Many independent bookshop owners say that they are on the verge of collapse Photo: PA
Tim Godfray, the chief executive of The Booksellers Association (BA), said that high street bookshops risk being “marginalised” by shoppers if they do not start selling downloadable books as well as physical books.
He said that the massive popularity of e-reading devices such as the Kindle has already turned shops into “showrooms”, where people browse the shelves before going home to buy a book off the internet.
Writing in The Bookseller magazine, Mr Godfray said he is “deeply concerned” that customers will simply stop using bookshops if they are not at least given the option to buy e-books in them.
Large chains such as Waterstone’s have already started to sell e-books. In the spring the chain announced a tie-up with Kindle-owner Amazon to allow customers to buy e-books from special wireless internet areas in its shops.
Mr Godfray said that independent bookshops must follow the lead of chains like Waterstone’s.

1 comment:

transpress nz said...

He doesn't explain why people would be more likely to buy e-books in a store than on-line. Aren't e-books in the same category as CDs and DVDs - and stores that sell them have been even more badly affected by on-line shopping?