Independent Book Selling Online Transformation
Independent bookselling has now taken enormous strides online since the internet and now the current global economic recession.
When actual original brands and physical bookstores are closing, Indie Bound and online sales had been the shopping trend alike. However, there are still a lot of challenges because of the effects of predatory capitalism in the world today.
As a brand conscious society, some online shoppers still look for major brand names online for great deals and of course expect first class service. Today, even major online party sites are making a living from the end consumer and the small third party independent bookseller.
What needs to be clarified is that there are major online sites with the exception of some who do have actual distribution or fullfillment sites or warehouses. What this means is sometimes when we order a book we should be aware of the actual seller and shipper who ultimately shoulders the responsibilities of shopping the order.
There are a no. of times consumers think that once they give their credit or debit cards that the money actually goes directly to the particular independent bookseller.
Unfortunately, that is not how the business flow is. The consumer is giving the money to the major online site who then is able to utilize these finances in the scope of doing their business. Of course, it is understood that there is cost of doing business like advertising, search engine optimization and ranking, etc..,
However with present economic hardships the major online sites who normally use to remit the money after deducting their commissions and fees with the bookseller in 7 business days has now been delayed from 30 to 45 days.
Meantime, the independent bookseller is compelled with the major online site standards best selling pratices to ship within two business days even if the book has been delayed for publication by a major publisher.
So in the long run, it is the small independent bookseller who takes the hit, scolding that they are not delivering on time, bad reviews and deal with angry customers. On top of that, the small bookseller has to shoulder the purchasing and shipping as there are not much credit available for them.
Hence, this is just few of the challenges that a struggling small independent bookseller has be faced versus the big major online branded names.
The ultimate way is of course for the small ones to sell on their own on their own websites so that they can show consumers that they are indeed competitive if only not faced with the harsh realities imposed on them just because they are small.
This way of cspitalism is just as comparable to what is going on with the financial bail-outs to major big companies today. Yet, everyone keeps on saying that the economy is fueled by small businesses.
If the online consumer is properly educated on the true schematics and challenges independent booksellers faced, they can perhaps more support the small guys by buying from them directly. It is just like in the old days of going to our local community bookstore to support the local bookseller. Today, this community can be enhanced by going directly to the individual websites and webstores of your local bookstore or bookseller.
When actual original brands and physical bookstores are closing, Indie Bound and online sales had been the shopping trend alike. However, there are still a lot of challenges because of the effects of predatory capitalism in the world today.
As a brand conscious society, some online shoppers still look for major brand names online for great deals and of course expect first class service. Today, even major online party sites are making a living from the end consumer and the small third party independent bookseller.
What needs to be clarified is that there are major online sites with the exception of some who do have actual distribution or fullfillment sites or warehouses. What this means is sometimes when we order a book we should be aware of the actual seller and shipper who ultimately shoulders the responsibilities of shopping the order.
There are a no. of times consumers think that once they give their credit or debit cards that the money actually goes directly to the particular independent bookseller.
Unfortunately, that is not how the business flow is. The consumer is giving the money to the major online site who then is able to utilize these finances in the scope of doing their business. Of course, it is understood that there is cost of doing business like advertising, search engine optimization and ranking, etc..,
However with present economic hardships the major online sites who normally use to remit the money after deducting their commissions and fees with the bookseller in 7 business days has now been delayed from 30 to 45 days.
Meantime, the independent bookseller is compelled with the major online site standards best selling pratices to ship within two business days even if the book has been delayed for publication by a major publisher.
So in the long run, it is the small independent bookseller who takes the hit, scolding that they are not delivering on time, bad reviews and deal with angry customers. On top of that, the small bookseller has to shoulder the purchasing and shipping as there are not much credit available for them.
Hence, this is just few of the challenges that a struggling small independent bookseller has be faced versus the big major online branded names.
The ultimate way is of course for the small ones to sell on their own on their own websites so that they can show consumers that they are indeed competitive if only not faced with the harsh realities imposed on them just because they are small.
This way of cspitalism is just as comparable to what is going on with the financial bail-outs to major big companies today. Yet, everyone keeps on saying that the economy is fueled by small businesses.
If the online consumer is properly educated on the true schematics and challenges independent booksellers faced, they can perhaps more support the small guys by buying from them directly. It is just like in the old days of going to our local community bookstore to support the local bookseller. Today, this community can be enhanced by going directly to the individual websites and webstores of your local bookstore or bookseller.
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