When Brooklyn resident Andy Hunter founded Bookshop.org and launched it at the end of January, he estimated it would take 2-3 years before he and his team could get a serious appeal. Their goal is huge: to encourage people to stop buying books from Amazon and start supporting local bookstores by buying books online through the Bookshop.org site.
“We feel a real sense of urgency,” Hunter said. “It’s about how much Amazon has taken over the book market, and needs to get an independent bookstore so they can own it.”
Instead, the COVID-19 crisis occurred, forcing many bookstores across the country to close. Amazon has classified the book as unimportant during this time, which means that shipping will take longer to arrive. This has created opportunities for Bookshop.
“Now, there are days when we sell books worth $ 150,000 a day, and we currently support more than 450 stores,” Hunter said. At press time, they had raised more than $ 3,322,575 for independent bookstores.
All customer orders are sent to Ingram, the largest wholesaler for books in the United States. They package and ship from their warehouses in different locations throughout the country, follow safety protocols and only allow a number of employees to work at the same time.
“Bookstores don’t have to touch books. If you are a small bookstore, you don’t have a lot of resources to take orders online, to build a fancy website, “Hunter said.” We created a simple model to overcome all obstacles to e-commerce. It takes 30 minutes to build a site in Bookshop All they need to do is tell the customer that they are there. “
It’s easy to shop online, with a list of curators, staff choices, and books arranged by category, including sections called “Relieving Boredom” and “Reducing Stress and Growing Fun,” which seems very important lately.
“For independent bookstores and for Bookshop, this is wisdom,” Hunter said. “Hopefully some of these consumer habits – and the support we see now – will become permanent.”
To buy books online and support independent bookstores, visit bookshop.org.
