Sales at top online bookstore increase nearly 40 percent

The nation's largest online bookstore -- books.com.tw (博客來) -- has seen its turnover increase nearly 40 percent this year, thanks to its successful alliance with 7-Eleven, the company said yesterday.

Established in 1995, the bookstore posted sales of less than NT$10 million per annum in its first years and fell onto harder times after the dot.com crisis.

But an investment of NT$100 million (US$3.07 million) in the bookstore in January 2001 by President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) -- which runs 7-Eleven convenience stores in Taiwan -- revived the business.

The alliance has since provided customers with a new option -- paying for books upon delivery at any 7-Eleven outlet nationwide.

The bookstore's turnover increased to NT$1.37 billion and its net profit reached NT$53 million last year, with almost 90 percent of orders paid for at 7-Eleven stores, the bookstore said.

This year, the online store's turnover has further expanded to NT$1.9 billion, with book sales accounting for NT$1.3 billion, up approximately 40 percent year-on-year, the officials said.

A total of 6 million books have been sold so far this year -- an average of one copy sold every five seconds -- they said.

According to President Chain, the nation's book market has the potential to bring in NT$30 billion per year, with NT$12 billion, or 40 percent, coming from online sales.

The total turnover of online booksellers was, however, only NT$3 billion to NT$3.5 billion this year, President Chain said.

President Chain said it expects online book sales to increase by up to NT$4.5 billion next year.