www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Society

Rising online sales leaving bookstores on the shelf

By Hou Liqiang and Liu Kun | China Daily | Updated: 2017-08-18 08:57

Rising online sales leaving bookstores on the shelf

A customer browses the offerings at the Youhe Bookstore in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. HOU LIQIANG/CHINA DAILY

While it's common to see people holding cellphones as they ride China's subways, it's becoming increasingly rare to see more than two people in the same car reading books. Moreover, old-fashioned outlets that sell nothing but books are also becoming harder to find on China's streets.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in Central China, is a microcosm of the situation across the country. In the past two decades, thousands of bookstores have closed down in the city, which boasts a higher proportion of university students-all potentially avid book readers-than many other major metropolises. Last year, university students accounted for 1.06 million of Wuhan's population of almost 10.8 million.

According to Changjiang Daily, a newspaper in the city, in 2000, Wuhan was home to about 5,000 bookstores, but by 2015, the figure had fallen to 1,035. On the upside, Hubei Daily recently reported that the number rose by 10 percent last year.

Despite that seemingly good news, the reality is that life is hard for independent booksellers. Pressed by higher rents and competition from online bookstores, many bricks-and-mortar stores around the country are struggling to survive. Faced with low profits, or even losses, some owners are determined to keep their businesses alive simply because of their personal attachment to books. Douban, located near the prestigious Wuhan University, has been in operation for more than 10 years, but it has been forced to relocate at least three times as a result of rising rents, according to Peng Ni, 25, who has managed the store for three years.

In a good month, Douban can make about 10,000 yuan ($1,495), but the monthly rent is 4,000 yuan and other costs also bite into the profits, she said.

The rise of online bookstores has also hit the sector hard. A few years ago, bookstore owners found it profitable to purchase low-priced "worstsellers" in bulk from publishing houses and then sell them on. However, the same books now retail at much lower prices on online stores, with the inevitable result that profit margins at physical stores are being further eroded, she added.

Sign of the times

Last year, online book sales in China outstripped those at bricks-and-mortar stores for the first time, according to a report published by the Chinese Publishers Association in January, which noted that the value of online book sales reached 36.5 billion yuan, while offline sales stood at 33.6 billion yuan.

Peng said she has no choice but to control costs by purchasing fewer books and looking for cheaper business premises. If the problem becomes insurmountable, she will have no option but to fall back on her strategy for a worst-case scenario and move Douban to a residential area where rents are much lower.

Last year, when Douban's owners were considering closing the store, many customers urged them to use crowdfunding to attract funding. However, a trial period raised just 17,000 yuan, which was "far from enough", according to Peng.

Previous 1 2 3 Next

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久精品成人欧美大片免费 | 国产精品性视频免费播放 | 一级毛片在线不卡直接观看 | 国产一区免费观看 | 精品国产三级在线观看 | 亚洲午夜精品久久久久久抢 | 中文字幕中文字幕中中文 | 亚洲精品一区二区中文 | 免费国产一级 | 久久国产美女免费观看精品 | 另类欧美视频 | 国产精品女上位在线观看 | 日韩在线中文 | 成年人性网站 | 亚洲久草视频 | 亚洲经典在线观看 | 深夜福利视频在线观看免费播放 | 欧美成人免费sss | 欧美成人在线视频 | 国产精品一区二区国产 | 一级在线免费视频 | 亚洲精品在线影院 | 午夜宅男宅女看在线观看 | 欧美极品在线视频 | 亚洲欧美v视色一区二区 | 国产日产欧产精品精品推荐在线 | 国产一区二区三区高清视频 | 中文字幕在线观看一区二区三区 | 日韩一区二区久久久久久 | 亚洲欧美日韩在线播放 | 欧美一区在线观看视频 | 亚洲成人一区二区 | 国内精品免费一区二区三区 | 在线观看中文字幕国产 | 日本精品高清一区二区不卡 | 国产日产久久 | 91精品国产美女福到在线不卡 | 三级视频网站在线观看 | 欧美一线免费http | 欧美一区二区视频三区 | 免费在线亚洲视频 |