A daunting future
For Roxy Book Shop and Circulating Library in Mumbai, revenue poses a major problem as the number of members and daily traffic dwindle slowly
Roxy Book Shop and Circulating Library in Mulund, Mumbai, has been doubling up as a library and bookstore for 45 years. When it was established in 1967, library culture was quite prevalent in Mumbai, according to proprietor Bharat Chheda. It was Chheda?s father who started the store. Today is a different story as far as books and publishing in India is concerned. Most libraries have witnessed an unknown, forgotten death in Mumbai and the few surviving ones are struggling to stay afloat.
?We have more than 3,500 members and 40,000 books. We charge R250 a month as subscription fee. But the business has taken a hit as customers get better discounts on websites. Youngsters, particularly, buy online. So the overall store business is also getting hit and the library, by itself, can?t be a sustainable venture,? says Chheda. Roxy has a turnover of around R40 lakh a year, with the number of members slowly on the decline. The daily traffic of library members queuing up to borrow books has also halved in the last four years or so. ?From more than 225 members coming here every day, the number has now reduced drastically to about 100-110. Revenue is a major problem and this store and library is being sustained only because we also run another store where we sell cards, gifts, CDs and DVDs. Left on its own, it wouldn?t have managed to survive for this long,? Chheda says.
When asked if there?s a possibility of him shutting down the shop, he says it?s his personal endeavour to keep the library as well as the store running. ?If I was fine with this shop shutting, it would have happened long ago. It will be in business at least till I am alive. We are trying to reinvent ourselves a little and have introduced features like free home delivery and pick-ups from members? doorsteps. But there are daunting challenges still,? he says.
Swimming against the tide
Having diversified as a lending library as well, Chandigarh?s Browser bookstore is flourishing today, but that big monopolies will eventually control the value chain is something that can?t be ignored
For a good 15 years, Chandigarh?s Browser Library and Bookstore has been striking the right balance between a library and a retail outlet for books. Today, Browser boasts of more than 3,000 members and over 60,000 titles. It is located in a 2,500 square feet premises and has a turnover of more than R2 crore. The genesis of Browser was fuelled by the reluctance of many a customer to buy new titles and books by new authors without trying them out first. Cost was a concern for the regular consumer. ?Our stock copies for the store automatically become library copies and members can pick the title, read it and then return it to the library. They also have the option of buying it off the shelf directly. And once a particular copy of a title is opened for library use, it remains there and is not sold. Whenever a member asks for a book to be issued, if that title is not already present in the library section, a new copy is provided which then becomes the library copy,? says Pankaj P Singh, the owner of Browser. ?Thus, unlike other libraries, we don?t act as the filter and let our members decide what books should be put into circulation for the library,? he says. Browser has annual subscription plans that come out to be anywhere between R100 to R375 a month for a member, depending on the plan and services opted for. The upward plans include services like free home delivery, free pick-up, etc.
The future, however, poses a massive challenge for Browser. ?Retail overheads have shot through the roof and the online retail of books and e-books is hitting our business as well. Standalone bookstores are bleeding,? says Singh. With even publishers now opting for selling via websites, bypassing the intermediary dealers, it?s an upward climb ahead for standalone bookstores and even bookstores-cum-libraries like Browser. ?We are pretty comfortable in our business and operations as of now. But publishing, as well as sales, globally, are seeing a trend where, in the times to come, big monopolies will control the whole value chain. We will stick around for as long as we can viably do so, but the writing is on the wall nevertheless,? he says.
Hanging on to the loyalty factor
A lit fest, caf?, discounts and schemes for members are keeping the almost century-old Oxford Bookstore insulated from market trends
Ninety two years in circulation, Oxford Bookstore is a name few would plead ignorance to. Perhaps the oldest surviving bookstore chain in India, Oxford, a part of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, has 26 branches across the country. While e-retailing of books seems to be making a big impact on the sector, Oxford has been experimenting with retail formats for quite sometime now. No wonder then that officials at the chain say they are comfortable with the present market conditions, even while other stores might be bleeding.
With almost a century at its back, loyalty is one factor that drives the chain as well as their marketing and expansion plans. ?Customers who sign up for membership are treated to various offers and special privileges, such as exclusive discounts at every store, the facility to redeem their reward points directly at the cash counter, exclusive preview of sale and other annual offers and a chance to be invited to various literary functions organised by the book store,? says the official spokesperson for the store, whose name the company declined to give. Store locations, too, form an important part of their strategy to ensure sustainable footfalls. The locations are chosen using the expertise of the Apeejay Surrendra Group?s real estate division and, increasingly, modern retail is being preferred for locations, as presence in malls provides better footfall and conversions.
Oxford is big on events as well. It is the only bookstore in the country that has created a literary festival, the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, held in January every year since 2010 in Kolkata, from where the bookstore originated in 1920. Add to that a slew of regular book launches and author interaction events at various branches of the chain. The other facet of Oxford, which many book lovers would vouch for, is the Cha Bar, a caf? housed within the bookstore and aimed at developing a patron culture banking on the loyalty of its consumers. When asked if Oxford was looking at experimenting further with its format by choosing the path Landmark intends to take, the spokesperson responds in the negative, stating that the chain is already following three major formats catering to specific strata in their target group, ?We are presently focused on our own formats which are doing very well?Oxford Junior, Oxford Express and Oxford ?ber.?
Surviving the online revolution
NCR?s Om Book Shop is concentrating on expanding its stores in high-end malls, offering massive discounts and focusing on children?s literature
Primarily based out of Delhi and NCR, Om Book Shop has been a popular destination for book lovers for years now. With eight branches (including one in Mumbai) and its own publication division, it has been creating its own sweet space in the book retail segment for many years now. The book shop is still persisting with its expansion plans and is slated to come up with at least three new outlets by the next quarter in Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.
But does that mean that the popular bookstore chain is insulated from what might be called the Flipkart revolution? Of course not. ?Offline book sales have gone down considerably in the past three to four years. We are still quite comfortable and are, in fact, expanding, but our growth percentage has gone down by 10-15%,? says Amit Vig, head of retail operations for Om Books.
According to Vig, Om has been concentrating on expanding its stores in high-end malls and upmarket locales in metros. The chain has also started concentrating more on children?s literature both in terms of sales as well as publishing. ?Walk-ins in a mall can easily be converted into sales according to our experience. This is true particularly with regard to the children?s books segment, sales of which have not been affected to a large extent by online retail, and falls in the impulse buying category,? he says.
The overall turnover has gone up by 10% over the last year, but when compared to the 25-30% y-o-y growth in turnover, which the company used to clock in the previous years, it?s hardly impressive. But Om Books continues to stick to its guns and has no immediate plan to go the Landmark way. They have doubled in-store promotions, increased discounts, have made loyalty programmes more attractive and have started a home delivery service as well.
?We are concentrating on service, discounts and promotions. We have our own retail website also where we sell books as well as mobile phones and accessories. But that is not a frontrunner and is secondary to offline sales. We shall continue to focus on offline sales in the time to come,? says Vig.
