Showrooming happens when people browse a brick-and-mortar bookshop, compare prices and then buy it online at Amazon. A story in City AM says that almost two thirds of shoppers in the UK admit to showrooming. As for the other one third, one can only guess if they were lying. The advantage transnational book stores have had is in the touch and feel of the books. Comparative shopping is not a crime, nor is it unethical, but what happens when traditional bookshops become mere showrooms for Amazon? Is it unfair? It certainly is not fair. Is the government going to do anything about it? Maybe in France!
"Today, everyone has had enough of Amazon which, through dumping practices, smashes prices to penetrate markets only to then raise prices again once they are in a situation of quasi-monopoly,” said Aurélie Filippetti, the culture minister in a story in The Telegraph
It appears that in the US and in Britain they are already in a position of quasi-monopoly. The interesting point is, what happens when there are no more shops to showroom off? Will Amazon be able to support the entire industry by itself? Or will publishers set up their own bookshops (like Apple does with its Apple store), or publisher authorised stores, and control the entire experience? One may soon find Penguin stores, Random House store, Faber stores and so on, all over the world, discounting the hell out of Amazon. And why not? It's either that or apocalypse of the book industry. No one seems to be interested in the return of the Net Book Agreement (NBA), or have I missed some threads in the argument?
At Silverfish Books, we opted out early when we saw the madness and predicted the carnage. We sell mainly Malaysian books, many of which are self-published or short print-runs, that Amazon and other big bookstores don't carry, although we can't say we are totally safe. The only way to survive now is to go small and local. That is, very small and very local, and wait for something to happen. It certainly will.
