Bookshop.org hits £3m profit for indie bookshops

Bookshop.org, the self-described “ethical book-buying alternative to Amazon”, has revealed it has generated £3m in profit since its launch for the 570 independent bookshops using the platform.

It has now set the goal to increase online sales for indies by five times in the next five years.

The news comes as a new survey from the Booksellers Association (BA) sheds new light on the digital footprint of independent bookshops in the UK, which Bookshop.org is set to expand even further over the next few years.

The BA and Bookshop.org will be conducting the survey on an annual basis, to report on the development of indie bookshop online sales in the UK.

The survey found that for independent bookshops in the UK online sales make up a total of 7% of their overall revenue, with over half of them (52%) reporting that they are either somewhat or very dissatisfied with their online business, and express aspiration to grow their online sales by over 20% in the next year alone.

The survey also reported that the main obstacles that stand in the way to the indies doing more online business are “lack of time and knowledge”.

Since the pandemic, the book industry has seen remarkable growth in online sales – with 60% of books now bought online, according to Nielsen BookData 2023.

Nicole Vanderbilt, managing director of Bookshop.org UK, said: “Thanks to ethically conscious book-buyers in the UK, we are proud to have reached the milestone of £3min incremental profit generated for independent bookshops. However, we believe the online book market has many more opportunities to offer to independent booksellers – in a way, we’ve only helped them scratch the surface so far.

“As 60% of books are currently bought online, independent bookshops should aim to see a larger proportion of their books also bought online.We want to help them be competitive in the world of ecommerce, translating their knowledge, passion and creativity to the online world, and freeing them of the logistics of online book order taking and delivery.”

She added: “Whether on our TikTok shop or on the curated lists on our website, we pride ourselves on experimenting and being at the leading edge of new uses of technology for selling books. But we can’t do this on our own: we need publishers, authors, partners, bookshops and readers themselves to embrace our cause.

“Bookshops are primed and ready on our platform, we need the book world to change their ways. We believe that a world where independent bookshops are successful businesses, with a robust online presence, is a better world for everyone.”