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Online book sale catching on

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S Bridget LeenaGayathri Chennai
Last Updated : Feb 15 2013 | 4:55 AM IST
Online book sales may not have made a big impact in the country so far but since the launch of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince in July, complete series of Calvin and Hobbes and the forthcoming launch of Jeffery Archer's False Impression, a change seems around the corner.
 
Jayasankar Subramaniam of Landmark said that the company had not made any headway on its online sale of books. He pointed out that the transaction costs due to logistics was a hindrance to the growth of online sale of books. Landmark, where retail major Trent recently took a majority stake, is a book and music store which has an online sales of books as well.
 
However, online store Fabmall's chief operating officer, K Vaitheeswaran, said that out of the 75,000 books of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince sold on its first day of launch, over 10,000 copies were sold online.
 
Vaitheeswaran felt that even though the market for online books was small, it was rapidly growing with the increased penetration of personal computers, internet banking and buying of airticket and railway tickets online. The Indian market for online books is estimated at about Rs 12 crore.
 
"There are no logistics issues, we have a supply chain whereby we can even import books from USA against orders (even single copies) and supply to customers in India at local delivery charges," added Vaitheeswaran.
 
Fabmall has about 2 million books catalogue. According to Vaitheeswaran it has a diverse collection of books people want to purchase; books unavailable in Indian stores is its unique selling proposition.
 
An avid reader said that of the nine books he had purchased in the last four months, two books were bought online. He pointed out that the compelling factor was the discount offered by an online store and the availability of books online, which are not found in stores.
 
The online Strandbook Stall offers Vikram Seth's Two Lives for Rs 556, vis-a-vis the cover price of Rs 695. Fabmall gives 30 per cent off on the pre-orders of Jeffery Archer's False Impression.
 
Vaitheeswaran pointed out that in spite of offering a discount it's profitable to sell books online. Sales of online books and music accounted for 40 per cent of the Fabmall's turnover of Rs 7 crore.

 
 

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First Published: Dec 02 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

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