Don't judge a bookstore by its cover
By I. Christianto
JAKARTA (JP): The romantic comedy You've Got Mail portrays how a giant bookstore chain puts an independent, small bookstore out of business. People like to spend time in a bookstore that also offers coffee, Internet connections and other conveniences that keep them entertained for hours.
The two rival bookstores in the movie are totally different. One is a tiny bookstore catering to children, with a knowledgeable and book-loving staff, while the other is a modern, sophisticated superbookstore. The latter appeals to a much larger segment of the population, but employs a less knowledgeable staff.
To succeed in the bookstore business requires strategies other than simply offering discount prices to attract more customers.
In Indonesia, like in any other country, most book prices are set by the publishing companies, not the bookstores.
So just like the superbookstore Fox Books in the movie, many bookstores try to attract people by offering a wide variety of books, stationery, as well as other related commodities. And some of the big bookstores here have tried to offer merchandise other than books.
For example, Gunung Agung, a leading bookstore chain in Indonesia with 27 outlets, also offers stationery.
"Books account for only about 30 percent of the items we offer, while the other 65 percent is stationery and the remaining 5 percent is music and sports items," said the company's corporate secretary, Donny S. Sutadi.
But he said that over its 48 years of business, Gunung Agung has been able to maintain its reputation as a bookstore chain that offers customers the most popular books before they hit the racks at other bookstores.
"The bookstores offer general books, but we always try to offer favorites or other most-wanted books earlier than any other store," he said.
Gunung Agung's manager of merchandising, R. Eko Hananto, said the chain's book supply, however, was dependent on the publishing companies.
"We get local books from the publishing companies and import books or magazines through distributors," he said.
Both the publishing companies and distributors have set price lists that bookstores cannot change.
"Bookstores profit from the discounts offered by the publishing companies and distributors. The rates of the discount depend on the amount of books we order," he said.
Yohan Slamet, general manager of Tropen bookstore in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, said that the discounts also varied depending on the type of the book.
"Bookstores generally get a maximum 30 percent discount from the publishing companies. In addition to the number of orders, the discount also depends on the type of book.
"It varies around 25 percent for fiction, around 30 percent for nonfiction and between 20 percent and 25 percent for school textbooks. Bookstores usually get maximum discounts for an order of a minimum of 100 copies per title," he said.
Both Eko and Yohan said the only opportunity for many bookstores to offer discount prices on certain books was during the beginning of the new school term.
"We have to compete with schools, especially elementary and high schools, which now also sell books for the pupils. Many parents just want to see the books that are available at the school when enrolling their children," said Eko.
Yohan said that Tropen, which opened in 1929 and claims to be the oldest bookstore in Indonesia, would offer up to a 20 percent discount on school textbooks.
"Otherwise we won't sell the books," he said.
Competition
Since book prices are generally always the same, bookstores in Indonesia have to compete in their services and marketing.
Eko said a bookstore that is part of a publishing house would not offer books published by rival publishing houses that also run bookstores.
Yohan said a bookstore would win the competition if it could offer something special.
"Tropen, for instance, is well-known for its medical books. We have regular customers from hospitals, schools of medicine, as well as scholars."
According to Yohan, smaller, individual bookstores have agreed among themselves to specialize in a particular field to survive the tough competition.
"Just like Tropen, which focuses on imported medical books, other smaller, independent bookstores are focusing on law books, social/political books and so on. So everyone can survive as each of the individual bookstores has its own specialization," he said.
He said the major challenge for imported books was the price, as they were regarded as luxury goods and hit with high import duties.
Such a win-win solution for independent bookstores is reasonable considering that only a small percentage of Indonesians are fond of reading.
"My experience in selling books since 1982 tells me that reading is not yet a habit for most Indonesians. People only buy books when they have to, particularly school textbooks," said Yohan.
To lure more potential buyers, some big bookstores are trying to become places where people can browse and hang out. They also try to offer a vast selection of books and hire employees who are knowledgeable and helpful.