The Eslite Corporation (誠品) is the latest retailer to announce plans to join the increasingly popular Internet bookstore business in Taiwan, though industry observers say that online bookstores are unlikely to replace traditional stores.
The book selling industry has seen a boom in online bookstores since Bookland started the nation's first online bookshop -- books.com -- four years ago. Commonwealth Publishing (
"There is still plenty of room for online bookshops to grow in Taiwan," said Michael Chu (
According to Chu, Taiwan's annual book sales are NT$44 billion and online book purchases account for less than 0.3 percent of the total. By comparison, online book sales account for 12 percent of total sales in the US.
"Sales of books purchased through the Internet will reach at least 10 percent by 2004," Chu said.
Currently, online bookshops set up in Taiwan include books.com, silkbook.com, and bookzone.-com.tw, which is also operated by Commonwealth. There is also ylib.com.tw, run by Yuan Liou Publishing (遠流), and kingstone.com, run by Kingstone Bookstore (
Most of these stores offer about a 10 to 20 percent discount over a book's retail price. Most companies charge delivery fees.
"The book market for the Chinese-language reader is huge," Chu said, when asked why he set up an online bookstore. Chu said that silkbook.com is setting up warehouses in Hong Kong and China, so their customers can get the books faster and do not have to pay expensive delivery fees.
The online bookstores in Taiwan generally have been set up by computer companies, publishers or bookstores, said Jason Han (
"It [setting up online bookshops] is a trend, every one is doing it, so dare we not do it?" Han said.
Online bookshops may be the trial run for the introduction of e-books for publishers, Han said. Onlines stores can help publishers set up a reader database and act as a medium to interact with readers, he said.
However, industry sources suspect that the creation of such companies may be part of the Internet frenzy.
Amazon.com Inc, the world's largest online bookstore, has lost more than US$550 million since it began selling books in 1995. However, its share price has surged from as little as US$1.59 in July 1997 to a high of US$106.69 on Dec. 10.
Online bookshops offer many services that traditional bookstores cannot. Limited by space, traditional bookstores can only offer customers a finite number of books inside the store, while online bookstores have an unlimited database, according to Chu.
Furthermore, customers can shop online bookstores 24 hours a day. "It is convenient for people who do not have time to shop," said Sophia Chang (
Despite those advantages, online bookshops are not likely to replace traditional bookstores in Taiwan, said industry observers. "People do not go to bookstore just to buy books. It is also a leisure activity," said Lee Yu-hwa (
"Nowadays, bookstores also offer many services online bookstores cannot provide such as exhibitions and lectures," Lee said.
And added Chang: "People can feel and touch books in traditional book shops."
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS