I wonder how many posts/blogs which have title which are similar to the title of this post. I think there is some clutter in eveyone's mind which one can't refer to as anything but 'random musings'.
The other day, I was at this bookstore in Bangalore called Blossoms. This is a book store which I have buying books from since my 'quizzing days' which was a long time ago.
There has been a lot off change in the 'book reading industry' since. There is Flipkart. There is Infibeam. The online retailer who offer you ~15-20% discount consistently. I thought this was the detah of the brink and mortar bookstore. Given that the average Indian reader reads little more than his annual dose of Chetan Bhagat, I surely thought the coming of Flipkart (who offers fantastic service and costs benefits btw) would kill them all.
But I like the was Blossoms has morphed itself. Infact it has grown stronger.
First of all, Blossoms was always a discount shop. He never sold books at MRP. Whenever he could give a discount, he did. So even today, his discounts are on par if not better than Flipkart's discounts.
He also sells good quality second hand books which Flipkart does not do. A good quality first hand book costing 100 may be sold for Rs. 80/- on Flipkart. But Blossoms can give you a second-hand version of the same book for say, Rs. 55/-
Also, one can shop online for books if he know if he knows what he is looking for. But generally people hardly do casual browsing for books. Although there is huge amounts of time spent on Facebook etc....people do not spend too much time on surfing for books. At Blossoms, in my experience, you tend to wander off into some corner of the store and start skimming through random titles and which trigger purchase. This has rarely happened to me online. I bought this book titled ' The Best of Lewis Grizzard'.
The problem with shopping online is that you are 'programmed for price'. You hardly focus on anything but getting the cheapest deal on anything and everything. The internet commoditizes everything for you.
It is very interesting the way Blossoms, subtly 'deprograms' you for price and makes you looks for interesting stuff and then gives you a good deal anyway.
If I had any doubt on the impact of these online retailers on people like Blossoms, I came home satisfied with the quality of response.
On a more global level, I had questions on whether the physical book - the paperbound and hardcover types - will survive or will they fall prey to the e-readers and tablets of the world. I think they will survive.
For a specific kind of reading and reader, I think the physical book will always make sense. A detailed treatise on this shortly.
The other day, I was at this bookstore in Bangalore called Blossoms. This is a book store which I have buying books from since my 'quizzing days' which was a long time ago.
There has been a lot off change in the 'book reading industry' since. There is Flipkart. There is Infibeam. The online retailer who offer you ~15-20% discount consistently. I thought this was the detah of the brink and mortar bookstore. Given that the average Indian reader reads little more than his annual dose of Chetan Bhagat, I surely thought the coming of Flipkart (who offers fantastic service and costs benefits btw) would kill them all.
But I like the was Blossoms has morphed itself. Infact it has grown stronger.
First of all, Blossoms was always a discount shop. He never sold books at MRP. Whenever he could give a discount, he did. So even today, his discounts are on par if not better than Flipkart's discounts.
He also sells good quality second hand books which Flipkart does not do. A good quality first hand book costing 100 may be sold for Rs. 80/- on Flipkart. But Blossoms can give you a second-hand version of the same book for say, Rs. 55/-
Also, one can shop online for books if he know if he knows what he is looking for. But generally people hardly do casual browsing for books. Although there is huge amounts of time spent on Facebook etc....people do not spend too much time on surfing for books. At Blossoms, in my experience, you tend to wander off into some corner of the store and start skimming through random titles and which trigger purchase. This has rarely happened to me online. I bought this book titled ' The Best of Lewis Grizzard'.
The problem with shopping online is that you are 'programmed for price'. You hardly focus on anything but getting the cheapest deal on anything and everything. The internet commoditizes everything for you.
It is very interesting the way Blossoms, subtly 'deprograms' you for price and makes you looks for interesting stuff and then gives you a good deal anyway.
If I had any doubt on the impact of these online retailers on people like Blossoms, I came home satisfied with the quality of response.
On a more global level, I had questions on whether the physical book - the paperbound and hardcover types - will survive or will they fall prey to the e-readers and tablets of the world. I think they will survive.
For a specific kind of reading and reader, I think the physical book will always make sense. A detailed treatise on this shortly.
1 comments:
Seems to be visiting your favourite places in B'lore. You are right the books have to migrate to tablets and kindle to save the trees. No matter how emotional you in holding the pages of the book.
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