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A new online platform, Bookshop, designed to bring a ‘human touch’ to the experience of buying books online, will launch in the UK today, in a bid to support independent bookshops around the country. Authors praising the initiative include popular children’s writer, Michael Rosen, who said “We are rediscovering the joys of reading. What better way to find the book we want than through Bookshop!”
Reading has proved to be an enduring past time over lockdown, with publishers such as Bloomsbury enjoying their highest profits for over a decade.
But independent bookshops have been struggling under Covid-19 restrictions, with many now forced to close under new lockdown measures.
Bookshop - found at www.Bookshop.org - hopes to help these indies through the ongoing period of uncertainty. Founded by Andy Hunter who believes that “independent bookshops are vital to our culture”, the platform aims to give shoppers a new way to access their favourite local haunts online, instead of turning to Amazon.
Customers will be able explore each independent bookshop’s ‘store-front’ page, browsing virtual tables of recommended books, just as they would in a physical shop.
130 British bookshops have already signed up in just two weeks and its launch has been welcomed with open arms by the independent book trade, with industry figures calling it a “revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling in the UK.”
Bookseller Andy Rossiter, of Rossiter Books, commented: “Being an Independent bookseller has for so many years been such a David v Goliath battle that it feels slightly disconcerting when someone at last hands you a bazooka instead of you peppering away with your slingshot!”
Andy Hunter stressed the importance of supporting local bookshops during lockdown: “Bookshops are essential to a healthy culture, and online sales are vital to safeguarding their future. We can’t afford to lose them.
We are rediscovering the joys of reading
Michael Rosen
"Covid-19 has added further urgency to the need for bookshops to compete for online sales. Bookshop’s mission is to empower customers in supporting local, brick and mortar bookstores, providing book buyers with an easy way to shop online while continuing to support their local high street.”
Nicole Vanderbilt, the UK Managing Director of Bookshop.org, also pointed to the dizzying growth of sales on Amazon over lockdown, and encouraged shoppers to seek alternative sources in the run up to Christmas.
“At a time when Amazon has enjoyed even greater advantage over high street competitors as a result of the pandemic, Bookshop.org offers a socially conscious alternative to customers wishing to shop online."
Most authors support smaller outlets over the giants. Ann Patchett is such a big fan, she founded her own book store in Nashville, while Stephen King has called independent bookshops “the lifeline of intellect”.
For Alexandra Shulman, ex-Vogue editor and author, "I love my favourite independent bookshops because it’s often easier to discover new authors as you don’t feel so overwhelmed by the choice in some chain stores. They are lovely to browse in.”