How physical bookstores survive the cold winter

　In the evening of winter, the cold wind blew.

The door of Yanjiyou Chain Bookstore in Wangfuzhonghuan Building, Wangfujing, Beijing is closed.

　"It has been closed for a while." The security staff of the building told reporters.

　According to media reports, the chain of bookstores has recently fallen into a salary arrears crisis.

A real-time updated navigation app shows that of the 8 stores that Yanji originally opened in Beijing, only 3 are still operating normally. 5 stores in prosperous areas such as Wangfujing, Zhongguancun, Xicui Road, etc., have been closed or suspended Open.

　As a well-known brand in the bookstore industry, the status quo of Yanjiyou has affected the nerves of the industry, and has also attracted some self-media criticisms of Internet celebrity bookstores, who believe that Internet celebrity bookstores are "virtual."

Looking further back, in the list of bookstores that have closed in recent years, there are many well-known bookstores such as Eslite Bookstore Shenzhen Wanxiang Tiandi Store and Chongqing Fangsuo Bookstore.

　A senior bookstore operator said that if Yanji has problems with a brand chain like this, it means that the physical bookstore has encountered difficulties in the business model of "increasing visibility—draining to the store—combined business operations—increasing revenue" previously explored.

　Internet celebrity bookstore, is it time to leave?

The "most beautiful" bookstore was once very prosperous

　　As the "physical bookstore version 2.0", the Internet celebrity bookstore is the product of the bookstore industry being hit hard by e-commerce after the rise of the Internet.

　　Relevant data shows that affected by factors such as changes in consumer shopping habits and rising land prices, as many as 10,000 private bookstores have closed down across the country from 2008 to 2012.

In response to this decline, physical bookstores have begun to work hard on multi-format operation and spatial experience, and strive to create the "most beautiful" bookstore.

Including Yan Jiyou, Sisyphus and Zhong Shuge, all of them were private chain bookstores founded during this period.

　　The "most beautiful" bookstore, with its beautiful appearance, exquisite cultural creation, and fashionable dining, naturally attracted media attention and even became an Internet celebrity.

They changed the situation of old physical bookstores in the past with a single function, and attracted many young readers to shop. They were once placed high hopes by the industry.

City business districts value their ability to divert traffic, and they have also introduced preferential measures such as rent reduction and exemption, inviting them to settle in.

With multiple benefits, Internet celebrity bookstores once expanded rapidly.

　　At its most prosperous time, Yanji had more than 60 stores across the country, and the total amount of 4 rounds of financing from 2014 to 2018 amounted to hundreds of millions of yuan.

The Maike Center store opened in Xi'an in 2018 alone, with an area of ​​4,500 square meters and an investment of over 100 million yuan, was designed by a well-known Japanese architect.

　　It's not just a few words that are booming.

　　Jin Hao, founder of Zhongshuge, recalled: “When we built the Shanghai Songjiang Thames store in 2012, we proposed the concept of the'most beautiful' bookstore. When this concept was the hottest, capital from any industry wanted to come in and get a share of the pie, and there were new openings everywhere. The'most beautiful' bookstore."

　　However, the operation of physical bookstores is, after all, a meager profit, high professional requirements, and an industry that takes a long time to settle.

Expansion speed is too fast, capital and management may not be able to keep up.

　　Stepping into Yanji's store in Huaxi Live Center, Wukesong, Beijing, the reporter's first feeling was "a little empty"-about 600 square meters of space, not many books, about two-thirds of them. The position was given to beverages and cultural and creative industries; under the corresponding classification, the number of new books was not abundant, which confirmed from one aspect that "the book supply problem occurred in Yanjiyou" on the Internet.

　　The industry believes that for bookstore operators, ping efficiency is a very critical concept-that is, the turnover per ping (1 ping = 3.3 square meters, editor's note) area.

If the bookstore pays too much attention to the experience of space, it will invisibly reduce the efficiency and increase the operating cost.

If after attracting people, it will not be able to transform the passenger flow into a stable turnover by virtue of its strength, and it will be difficult to operate for a long time.

Both "red" and "not red" face the pressure of survival

　　The core competitiveness of bookstores is books, but I have to admit that in reality, many physical bookstores that insist on selling good books also face operating problems.

　　In an interview with reporters, Jin Hao emphasized that Zhongshuge’s popularity is very high, but it is not an internet celebrity, but both internal and external: “We have always treated books as a long-term business, and coffee plus cultural and creative income accounted for less than 20%. Most of the revenue comes from books."

　　So, how do you think about the closing behavior of Internet celebrity bookstores?

　　"Part of it is the natural panning of the market, and part of it is due to the dual impact of the epidemic and online shopping." said Zhou Yaoguang, the head of the marketing center of China Gold Yiyun Technology Co., Ltd.

　　"There is no problem with the idea of ​​attracting customers to the store. Popularity is the first step to increase turnover. Without this step, there is no way to talk about subsequent operations. At present, physical bookstores are facing difficulties. The main cause is the new crown pneumonia epidemic. Take Zhongshuge's Chongqing store as an example. The longest queue for the forward store is two hours. Now this situation is gone." Jin Hao's most obvious feeling is that from the beginning of 2020 to the present, the passenger flow to the store has been significantly reduced.

　　The sharp drop in passenger flow will inevitably affect revenue.

According to the statistics of the operation status of thousands of offline bookstores nationwide by CICC Yiyun Technology Co., Ltd.: From July to November 2021, the total number of offline bookstores sold was 17.407 billion yuan, of which bookstore retail was 6.277 billion yuan.

Although the downward trend of total code ocean is not obvious, the code ocean realized through retail channels has decreased by 16.3% and 24.9% compared with 2020 and 2019, respectively.

　　Yang Jingxin, general manager of Paper Tiger Bookstore, which owns two physical stores in Beijing, told reporters: “In 2020, revenue will drop significantly year-on-year. In 2021, with the epidemic under effective control, revenue will increase by 30% from the previous year as of the end of November. , But there is still a big gap compared with before the epidemic.” Yang Jingxin believes that as a private physical bookstore, Paper Tiger can stand up under the impact of the epidemic. First of all, it cannot do without the timely financial support of the municipal government and relevant district governments.

At the same time, the bookstore adopts a rotation mechanism that determines the number of sales staff based on the number of visitors to the store to save costs as much as possible.

　　Li Chun, planning director of Shaanxi Jiahui Hantang Book City, which has several stores in Xi'an, told reporters: "The proportion of book operations has been declining year by year. Relying on our own brand, we have maintained a bookstore breakeven in the past two years and made a slight profit."

　　In what ways has the epidemic profoundly changed the industry ecology?

Yuanyuan Bookstore, which has been cultivating for 27 years in Tieling, Liaoning and owns 13 chain stores, has a deep understanding of this.

"Physical bookstores have offline cultural activities and marketing activities with core competitiveness, which cannot be carried out systematically; they basically have no channels to participate in industry exhibitions and expand offline new supply chains in other places, and product innovation is insufficient; normalized store-entry epidemic prevention Controlling the process has increased manpower and management costs." Jiang Tao, general manager of the cultural section of Yuanyuan Cultural Education Group, told reporters.

　　What worries Jin Hao even more is that the price of books in physical bookstores is not competitive with online shopping. The epidemic has prompted consumers to move online. Once a habit is formed, physical bookstores may find it more difficult.

"Going out", or an ice-breaking move in a physical bookstore

　　Qingyuan Bookstore, which has been operating in Nanchang, Jiangxi for nearly 30 years and focusing on humanities and social sciences books, now has 3 physical stores and provides operational services for 3 local public libraries.

　　“During the epidemic, wages will not be paid at the most difficult time. After many years of operation, we have actually had a stable private domain traffic and gathered a group of high-end readers who have the ability to consume. Members posted an article calling on them to store value and help the bookstore tide over the difficulties. The members are very helpful. In just a few days, we have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, this is by no means a long-term strategy." Wan Guoying, the person in charge of Qingyuan Bookstore, told reporters.

　　The secret of Qingyuan's ability to survive the difficulties and continue to operate is to actively "go out".

With a book selection perspective, they provide book purchase services for more than a dozen local enterprises and institutions in Nanchang, including courts, banks, and municipal public utility groups.

　　"This allows Qingyuan to have a stable cash pool." Wan Guoying said, "In addition to book purchase services, we also participated in the bidding of Nanchang Public Library operators. Three of the 10 companies were selected, which further expanded the source of income. ."

　　After the rapid decline in the number of visitors to the store, Zhongshuge’s method of making up for it was to “go out” and cooperate with the community, using books as the carrier to provide community residents with free cultural services such as lectures.

"They think the book is good, they will buy some." Jin Hao said.

　　As for the "price war" with online shopping channels, Jin Hao said, "Anyone who knows books will not think that a book with a discounted price is a good book."

　　Yuanyuan Bookstore has achieved a growth rate of over 10% in sales, gross profit, and profit in 2020 and 2021, relying on the business model of combining culture and education and providing reading services to the government.

　　"We strive to integrate the synergies of multiple business sectors within the group, give full play to the advantages of bookstore +, provide bookstore + education, bookstore + reading guidance and other services to student groups, and realize the professionalization and high frequency of cultural activities and offline education. At the same time. , We also actively participate in the construction of government reading service functions and become a professional operator of the urban study system." Jiang Tao introduced.

　　"The operation of physical bookstores is facing relatively great difficulties. In order to change this situation, in addition to the continuous improvement of their own capabilities, they also need multiple assistance. When the "net red" operation, which was once regarded as the road to breaking the game, was blocked. After that, we need to explore more directions." Zhou Yaoguang said.

　　"Blow out the reading lamp, and the whole body is full of moon." The fragrance of scholars in the city is one of the signs to measure the degree of civilization of a city.

The rise and fall of physical bookstores may never have been a simple business issue.

Netizens' views

@alien37:

Books were a luxury in ancient times, especially before the invention of printing.

The ancients are lucky to see one or a few books in their lifetime.

Thanks to the industrial revolution, books have become civilians, and books have become parity today, especially after the digital revolution.

However, a variety of leisure methods are currently popular, and free e-books, videos, and audios are almost killing physical bookstores.

Feelings can't stop the decline.

@现现小闹:

Nowadays people can't read books, this is the root.

@Angel凌子:

Nowadays, many bookstores, museums, cultural centers and other buildings are flashy. Except for the endless stream of people who come to check in and take pictures, few can quietly visit and read.

@繁萦:

From the perspective of customers, people who really read may not like the excitement, and the people who visit the Internet celebrity bookstores are more people who are pursuing novel consumption points and enthusiasm.

In particular, the incentive and attention effects of functions such as likes and comments on many social platforms currently make people more willing to "visit here" where the Internet celebrities check in.

As for whether it is an online celebrity bookstore or an online celebrity restaurant, it does not matter. After receiving likes and traffic, the enthusiasm gradually fades.

@kkk小匡: What a

bookstore has to do is not only be beautifully decorated, but also need to have a temperament and heritage from the inside.

I have been to the Pioneer Bookstore in Nanjing. Although it was a time to check in, I was touched by a detail. The takeaway boy came to the store to deliver the food. The employee of the bookstore just gestured to tell the boy to let it go. He didn't say anything during the whole process, for fear of affecting the bookstore. Atmosphere, under such exaggeration, it's hard not to spend money.

@井上多罗8151:

Online book sales are half cheaper than in stores, how to compete?

@Garry-guo: The

main

thing

is the price. If all the products are at the same price online and offline, then there will be room for e-commerce to survive?

　(Our reporter Han Han)