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But nowadays readers can buy books at home because many online bookstores have started up in the past few years.
Miss
Vivian Pau, chief executive officer of a subdivision of the Commercial
Press in Hong Kong, said that her company is following the trend.
“People are very busy nowadays. Internet bookstores can definitely save them time,” said Miss Pau.
However, many people still have the habit of reading and shopping in traditional bookstores.
The main advantages of traditional bookstores are that customers have more choices and can read briefly before buying.
Miss Eunice Yeung, a 20-year-old student, has been buying books in traditional bookstores since Primary 3.
“I love visiting bookstores because I can read a whole book even though I don’t buy it,” said she.
She said that very often, Internet bookstores display only the title and the cover of the book.
Concerning this, Miss Pau said the Internet bookstore division of Commercial Press has started to provide a brief introduction to the books.
“You can also find comments from professionals on the books. I think this is an advantage.
“Also, it’s difficult to find some books in bookstores. Most people are too shy to ask for help.
“But customers can find books themselves by using the search engine in the Internet bookstores,” said she.
Recently, a local Internet bookstore, The Chinese Books Cyberstore, went bankrupt.
Amazon.com, the largest Internet bookstore in the world, also suffered a loss in running the business.
“Amazon.com suffered a loss only in other dimensions of their business. The online bookshop is actually earning a profit,” said Miss Pau.
As for the Chinese Books Cyberstore, Miss Pau said that it suffered a loss because it did not charge customers for the delivery costs.
“They had to bear the delivery cost for each book sold.
“They also had to lower the prices to attract more customers. That’s why they couldn’t earn much profit,” said she.
She said that it was unlikely that an Internet bookstore would earn a profit in the first 2 years, as the investment is very large.
Profits come in only after there is a large number of customers.
Concerning the key to success in the business, Miss Pau said that only having the computer technology was not enough.
“The most valuable asset is the book catalogue.
“If you don’t have a large amount of books for customers to choose from, then no one will buy books from you.
“However, it is very costly to build up a sound book catalogue,” said she.
The security problem online also hinders the development of Internet bookstores.
Many people worry that their credit information might be compromised in the online payment process.
“We are also very aware of this problem,” said Miss Pau.
“So we have spent lots of money in setting up two security systems, the SST and ICT, to protect customers’ information,” said Miss Pau.
Considering the prospects for online bookstores, Miss Pau said that traditional bookstores will not be replaced by the Internet bookstores in forseeable future.
“Rather, as traditional bookstores have an auxiliary function for Internet bookstores, they will go hand in hand,” said she.
Miss Yeung, the book lover, said that because only people with credit cards can shop online and because the time for delivery is long, traditional bookstores will not be replaced.
“Hong Kong is just a small place and it is easy to find a bookstore around,” said Miss Yeung.
“But surely Internet bookstores will grow rapidly in the coming future,”
she added.
