The future for Christian bookstores is in doubt, but it's not just they who are affected. Bookstores in general are facing up to new trends in this internet era where more and more consumers are buying their books online.The article "E-book Readers" reflects on that growing phenomenon. The reality is that Christian bookstores have to embrace the new technological age in order to survive.
Christian Bookstores
In early 2010 in the UK, Wesley Owen went into administration (receivership). If the largest Christian bookselling chain in the UK is feeling the pain then you can imagine how difficult it is for the smaller ones to make ends meet. Christian books appeal to a very specialised market, and this market must be targetted aggressively and intelligently in order to make a profit.
Of course, a lot of Christian bookstores claim that profit is very low on their list of priorities, and many have succeeded in carving out a niche in the local market by functioning far beyond the ostensible goal of selling religious books. Often they provide a supportive and welcoming atmosphere for new Christians in a particular area. Some expand their services to include Christian meetings, Christian prayer groups, Christian choirs, Christian retreats or tours and even Christian dating. It's this kind of forward-thinking and progressive approach that is ensuring the continuing existence of these bookstores. Many now view them as more than Christian bookstores, almost as a kind of local ministry. The owners of Christian bookstores also like the idea of maintaining a Christian presence on the increasingly commercialised High Streets of our local towns and cities.
Taking the Christian Online
Despite all of this, to stay in business as independent, for-profit entities, Christian bookstore owners have to realise that they are in business and operate as a business regardless of their altruistic motivations.
More and more people are buying their books online. Giant multinational corporations offering extensive catalogues of Christian books online, like Amazon, are eating into the market that local Christian bookstores traditionally catered for. The future for Christian bookstores may be to combine the local communal ministry qualities that Amazon simply can't offer while at the same time embracing the opportunities of this new technological age. Thus they can provide the on-site Christian services for the local community but also attract Christians online, located elsewhere.
Will an online strategy be the answer? Perhaps the future for Christian bookstores is getting involved in social networking, creating websites and even developing apps for the mobile phone, in order to hold onto the niche market.
Nathan Fulham - I have an Honours degree in English Literature and History and a first class Honours Post-Graduate Diploma in Technical Communication. I ...
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