Britain’s biggest book chain Waterstones established in 1982, 3 months ago was bought by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut whom he then appointed James Daunt (Previous owner of “Daunt Books”) as managing director.
MR Daunt’s first decision as MD was to axe the 3 for 2 offer which has been running within stores for over a decade. MR Daunt had hinted at this decision just weeks before putting this into place which is set to apply from the end of September by saying that Daunt Books do not:
“despoil our books by putting stickers on them. We don't use price as a marketing tool'.
the proposed action is apparently down to the new owners of the company wanting to “refresh” the brand and make the Waterstones shopping experience a more “stylish approach to retail” The business has been struggling dramatically over the last few years owing to economic times and online sites such as Amazon being simply more affordable. Waterstones owner also owns that of Entertainment outlet HMV which have also been suffering in the financial climate and have seen thirty odd of its stores close since the start of the year.
The point of 3 for 2 offers was so that customers could try books of which they necessarily wouldn’t if they were paying for it outright. There was constant scrutiny of the offer by customers however though as they stated that they only wanted 1 or 2 of the titles which were part of the offer. A positive side of the offer however was that new authors could get their books alongside well known ones and get added custom by people who maybe wouldn’t have found them if the offer hadn’t been in place.
I, for one, am not sure whether this move by Waterstones is altogether that relevant any more anyway. The brand have been struggling, the high street is at the worst state it has ever been and I believe the majority of people that read this who actually are partial to a rather nice smelling book cover won’t necessarily have shopped in Waterstones for years! The reality is they are just downright expensive. Averaging over £12 for a hard back book, I, of course, understand all the costs such as those to the publisher and the printing fee on top but when you can usually get the same book from the likes of Amazon for averaging over 60% cheaper why would anybody pay the full RRP which Waterstones charge?
The likes of the iPad, E book readers & specifically the Kindle have now taken over 21st century reading and there is simply just not as much demand for a physical paper book any more. The smell, the feel of a book and the general pleasure in turning over every delicate little page may indeed be pleasurable but in this gadget world we live in... not really the “in thing” & I for one think that paper based books are now only appealing to the slightly older generation whereas the high proportion of books sold these days are to the younger generation but digitally rather than physically. Amazon released figures themselves stating that now they sell far more digital books compared to the traditional printed ones.
What is the advantage of having another expensive technological gizmo in your possession which doesn’t fit in your pocket? well maybe not for everybody, but 3000 books can be stored on one of the new found little gadgets. Think about it, taking an e book on holiday with 3000 novels, fictitious fantasies or maybe even a tarted up love story loaded onto it, able to pick which one you want to read when you want to. Much easier than physically taking 3000 books on holiday with you surely? Though of course not for everybody, the e books just simply don’t give you the same physical pleasure as an actual book does. Either an LED screen or “Digital Ink” for those that like to indulge electronically whereas everybody else still can’t push themselves away from turning over the slightly creased physical little pages, seeing actual print in front of them or even holding a physical book of knowledge and story.
If I’m honest I cannot see Waterstones lasting another 10 years. Technology shall have gone onto the next level by then and it shall be a new generation of e book reading. Libraries are closing left right and centre, the independent book stores are becoming no more... so it looks like if you want to escape in the world of Catherine Cookson in years to come, then indeed you can, though it just may be digitally rather than physically!
What are your opinions on the future of reading? Are you a traditionalist when it comes to books or have you entered the entirely new world of E books? Do comment below or email me:
matt.howarth@athertononline.co.uk & I shall publish your thoughts and comments next week.
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