Bookshop.org is an online book marketplace launched in January 2020. Its stated mission is "to financially support local, independent bookstores."[1]
 | |
| Industry | E-commerce |
|---|---|
| Founder | Andy Hunter |
Area served | United States and United Kingdom |
| Website | bookshop |
Bookshop, Inc., a privately held company, has been certified as a B Corporation.
History
editBookshop.org was founded by Andy Hunter, who had previously co-founded Literary Hub and Electric Literature. Hunter started working on the idea in 2018.[2]
The American Booksellers Association endorsed the company in 2019.[3] As of February 2023, 70% of its members were affiliated with Bookshop.org.[4]
After launching the site in January 2020,[5][6] the business grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8]
On November 2, 2020, Bookshop.org opened a branch in the United Kingdom in partnership with wholesaler Gardners Books, which runs a similar profit sharing program with independent bookshops in that country.[9]
Since launch, the site has generated more than $33 million for local stores. In 2023, Bookshop.org replaced IndieBound as the American Booksellers Association's official platform for supporting independent, local bookstores when linking to books online.[4] As of 2023, Bookshop.org's booksales were about 1% of Amazon's, according to Hunter.[2] Hunter had set 1% or 2% of Amazon's sales as a goal as early as 2020.[3]
Model
editBookshop.org, conceived as a response to Amazon's industry dominance, offers an online storefront with the accessibility and convenience of Amazon and, by convincing media outlets that review and advertise books to link to Bookshop.org instead through higher commissions and emphasis on its mission, intercept potential Amazon customers.[10] Bookshop.org, operating on an affiliate marketing model, receives and fulfills orders for independent booksellers through its online storefront and returns 30% off the cover price to the bookseller. Bookshop.org lets authors, publishers, and reviewers also sign up as affiliates and take home 10%.[7] Any purchases made directly on Bookshop (through an affiliate store or not) see 10% of sales go into a pool to be split up among independent booksellers.[7]
In 2020, Bookshop.org started partnering with audiobook site Libro.fm to direct Bookshop customers looking for audiobooks to buy directly on Libro's website.[2]
In 2023, Bookshop.org started to publish works to be available exclusively through their website and independent bookstores.[2]
Reception
editAt launch, some independent booksellers and independent publishers expressed concern that Bookshop.org was, rather than a benefit to them, a new long-term competitor in the publishing ecosystem,[11] as booksellers received a smaller commission through Bookshop.org than if the customer bought directly from the bookseller.[12] Other booksellers and authors, however, praised the effort citing the desire to have an alternative to Amazon for buying books online that supported local bookstores.[13] Time Magazine wrote that the pandemic helped to silence some critics by providing support to independent booksellers when in-person shopping was not an option for many people.[3]
References
edit- ^ "About Bookshop.org". bookshop.org. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Knibbs, Kate (April 11, 2023). "How Bookshop.org Survives—and Thrives—in Amazon's World". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ a b c Chow, Andrew R.; Gutterman, Annabel (April 22, 2020). "Indie Bookstores Are Fighting to Survive the Pandemic. A New Movement May Have the Answer". TIME. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Nawotka, Ed (February 6, 2023). "Bookshop.org to Take Over Sales for IndieBound.org". Publishers Weekly.
- ^ Italie, Hillel (April 2, 2020). "New online store offers help to shuttered indie booksellers". AP News. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ Warner, John (January 15, 2020). "Bookshop.org hopes to play Rebel Alliance to Amazon's Empire". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ a b c Bhanoo, Sindya N. (April 24, 2020). "The little book sellers that could: How indie stores managed to take a slice of Amazon business". The Washington Post.
- ^ Qian, Jinghua (May 6, 2020). "US Independent booksellers rally together via Bookshop.org". Books+Publishing. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ Flood, Alison (November 2, 2020). "'This is revolutionary': new online bookshop unites indies to rival Amazon". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- ^ Lyons, Gila (December 11, 2019). "An Indie Alternative to Amazon?". Poets & Writers. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (June 16, 2020). "Bookstores Are Struggling. Is a New E-Commerce Site the Answer?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (December 4, 2020). "Why Bookshop.org is not the saviour the book world needs". New Statesman. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ Knibbs, Kate (January 30, 2020). "This Startup Wants to Help Indie Booksellers Take on Amazon". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
