Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores

(photo source: 〈百年洋樓 金石堂城中店6月熄燈〉.《蘋果日報》.劉耿豪攝. <https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180425/37995838>. This photo is taken intact from the aforementioned source and is therefore subject to immediate removal upon notice.)
 

Cindy Hsieh

     When was the last time you walked into a bookstore? Where do you purchase books nowadays? In these years, several famous chain bookstores closed down in Taiwan. Kingstone Bookstore’s Chengzhong branch on the Book Street (a.k.a. Chung Qing S. Rd.) in Taipei is closing down next Sunday after more than 30 years of business. Furthermore, Taiwan's popular Eslite bookstore chain said that its 24-hour Dunnan store in Taipei will probably close in 2020. How does the deterioration of the bookstore business happen?

     In my opinion, the change of consumer behavior is the primary reason. Because of the advancement of technology, we can get information whenever and wherever we want, as long as we have our cellphones are at hand. At the same time, electronic commerce is rapidly rising. Online bookstores are only a category of it. Without having to pay the rent of storefront, online stores save a considerable amount of money and could offer more discounts to their customers. Needless to say, it is so convenient that customers can go on line 24 by 7 to order what they want and pick up their orders at home or any convenience stores they choose. Gradually, a growing number of people get used to shopping on line. On the other hand, more and more people get used to reading on line, so more and more e-books are published. As you can imagine, all these innovations have impacted the business of brick-and-mortar bookstores.

     Now, let’s talk about the advantages of brick-and-mortar bookstores. There are still a lot of people who enjoy book shopping in a physical store. In a physical brick-and-mortar bookstore, we get to read the book title in front, the introduction at the back, and check for the bookbinding and the paper quality. I believe that meeting with a book through all your five senses is a much warmer and more exquisite experience than that of a mere glide of your finger and a glance of your eyes on the screen.

     The category of traditional physical bookstores are now branching into different market aims: some aim at special customers like the elders; some specialize in particular books like those printed in simplified Chinese characters; still some, while facing the setback posed by on-line bookstores, start combining their services with coffee shops’, allowing people a place to stay for a comfy reading time. Many people put efforts in supporting brick-and-mortar bookstores because they never want to lose a wonderful time having a vis-à-vis rendezvous with books. Maybe all of us should give a second thought next time we go for book shopping on line.