We know that in most cases, buying books online is significantly cheaper than buying them from the local bookstore, but Minister for Small business Nick Sherry today took it to the next level, claiming that bookstores will cease to exist with only a few exceptions within the next five years.
“I think in five years, other than a few specialist booksellers in capital cities we will not see a bookstore, they will cease to exist,” Sherry claimed today, adding that unless current bookstores adapted to online, they would end up going out of business.
Obviously, the recent bankruptcy of RedGroup Retail, the company behind Borders and Angus & Robertson, has been a clear factor in Sherry’s naming of bookstores in particular, but the message is equally applicable to any retail store today. Indeed it’s relevant to any store in any time – you need to adapt to the market in order to survive. As it happens, the market is shifting to the online space, so your business should really be there to make the most of it.
Either way, it will be interesting to see whether the minister’s predictions come true. Let’s see what the state of play is like in 2016, shall we?
[SMH]