Chinanews client, Beijing, October 22 (Reporter Shangguanyun) Visiting bookstores in leisure time has now become a part of many people's spare time.
Drinking coffee, listening to lectures...In addition to buying books, people also have more choices in bookstores.
A few days ago, the "Book Retail Market Report for the First Three Quarters of 2020" was released. Data shows that the book market is gradually picking up, and the decline in physical store channels has narrowed.
Especially after entering the third quarter, the physical store channel has recovered significantly.
Data map: Citizens take pictures and check in at the "Zhongshuge", an online celebrity bookstore in Xidan, Beijing.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Sudan
The bookstore is often regarded as one of the cultural landmarks of the city.
After experiencing the test of the epidemic this year, many people began to think: What is the future of physical bookstores?
What role should those "net red bookstores" that attract many people come to check in?
Is "retaliation visiting the bookstore" coming?
Some time ago, due to the impact of the epidemic, in the face of rent pressures and reduced passenger flow, how bookstores "break through" became a hot topic.
But soon, the above problems were alleviated.
According to the data of the Book Retail Market Report for the First Three Quarters of 2020, after entering the third quarter, the physical store channel has recovered significantly. The index showed a significant increase in July, and there was a normal decline in August, but the magnitude was smaller than the same period in previous years. It rose further and reached the highest point of this year's index.
The above report also shows that if physical bookstores are classified according to different sizes and city levels, the decline of various bookstores has narrowed.
And this conclusion can also be verified by specific data from some bookstores.
According to the relevant person in charge of Zhongshuge Bookstore, taking Zhongshuge Beijing Rongke Store as an example, the current passenger flow is about 800 people on weekdays and 2,000 people on weekends, which has recovered to 80% of the pre-epidemic value. “Beijing readers' retaliatory visits to bookstores 'very obvious."
According to reports, as far as the Beijing International Trade Center of Jiantou Bookstore is concerned, based on the data for the past one or two months, the average daily passenger flow has increased by more than 40% compared with the second quarter, and sales are also close to the same period last year.
Are there protagonists and supporting actors in the bookstore?
In fact, some bookstores nowadays also have catering, coffee, lecture salons, etc., through creative design, cultural and creative surroundings and other methods to create distinctive reading spaces.
This is also an effective means to increase the popularity of bookstores.
Data map: Readers read books at the "Yue Bund" bookstore.
Photo by Yin Liqin
In other words, the book is still the protagonist.
But in addition to the protagonist, there are also more "supporting actors" in bookstores other than book sales and reading, in order to better match the rhythm and atmosphere of urban life.
Feng Xiaohui, manager of the open-book research department, described the situation: “After so many years of transformation and upgrading of bookstores, there are few bookstores that only sell books. With the development of online stores, online channels have become the main source of book purchases, and consumers are used to Irreversible changes have taken place."
In this case, the bookstore should look at its positioning from the perspective of the customer base.
She believes that bookstores should organize and display the products in the store around the audience and customers, from a space to a scene space that can meet the needs of the customers.
"Now many bookstores have different book varieties and allocation ratios, depending on the bookstore founder's positioning ideas. Some people want to be relatively pure academic bookstores, ancient bookstores, and some people want to be a light and fashionable cultural space." Feng Xiaohui said.
How to get rid of "embarrassment" for "net red bookstore"?
In addition, for some physical bookstores, becoming a "check-in place" is also a problem that needs to be faced in recent years.
An article once mentioned an embarrassing situation similar to the "net celebrity of physical bookstores": not many flipping books and a lot of photos.
Many of the bookstores that can become "net celebrities" have high appearance and design sense. For some readers, posing, taking pictures, and punching in are necessary links for them to visit the store. Whether or not to read a book is second.
"The bookstore is more beautiful, more refined, and people can't help but take pictures. It does not conflict with the bookstore's cultural mission." In this regard, Jin Zhongshu, deputy general manager of Shanghai Zhongshu Industry, gave an example, "For readers, Zhongshuge is a place of cultural gathering. ."
She mentioned that bookstores provide not only books, but also a kind of space, carrying people's cultural yearning and imagination.
A beautiful reading space can make people feel good about bookstores, thereby extending to the closeness and love of books, and realizing the transition from "beautiful" to "beautiful".
It's just that the "net celebrity" bookstores must also pay attention to the connotation while fighting for their beauty.
Zhang Quan, deputy general manager of Jiantou Bookstore, believes that this requires bookstore operators not only to provide readers with a comfortable reading environment, but also to provide dedicated products and services, and to attract readers with the unique temperament and atmosphere of the bookstore.
The physical bookstore of the future
On the whole, although the bookstore is not much different from other stores in terms of the characteristic of "retail", it is also a place to spread cultural knowledge and to a certain extent carry people's emotional experience.
Data map: People come to bookstores to buy books during holidays to "charge" themselves.
Photo by Li Nanxuan
What can the bookstore of the future look like?
Zhang Quan put forward an idea: it can better meet or even lead the spiritual and cultural needs of readers, and provide readers with higher quality and more distinctive cultural products and services.
Specifically, Feng Xiaohui feels that Internet celebrity bookstores can be said to be a normal product of bookstores in the development of the era. But for bookstores, how to increase customer flow and conversion, and how to form sustained and stable income Long-term plan.
"Whether it is a small and beautiful independent bookstore or a diversified cultural space, we must strive to better meet the needs of target customers and reflect our own value in providing readers with a better lifestyle." Zhang Quan said.
(Finish)