What makes a good bookstore website? First, let's tackle the more common question I got in response to my last column: Does it matter if you make a good bookstore website? Is it possible that you can build it and they still won't come?
"The one big question that I think every bookseller has to answer is this: 'Why would any customer (except the few loyal local supporters) go to any site other than Amazon for this book?' " Deb Evans of Troubadour Books, Boulder, Colo., wrote. Diane Van Tassell of Bay Books, Concord and San Ramon, Calif., echoed this sentiment: "People want to be loyal to their independent bookstore, but Amazon is just too easy and has become synonymous with books, just like Kleenex is the name for all of those tissues that people buy, no matter what brand."
This felt defeatist to me. So I went to look at the January stats for my site, which has been live for about 10 weeks. We built it. Did they come?
They did. In fact, as of today, almost 4,700 of them came. And that's 4,700 unique visitors. The majority came via links from our newsletter or social media. A quarter of them stayed on the site longer than 30 seconds, which means they read an event listing or a book description (or maybe got up to make a cup of tea). And the number of people who bought something? 12.
Yes, 12, no need for zeroes.
Now, as the person answering the phone at WORD 75% of the time, I can tell you that the commerce capability of the website probably led to at least 20 in-store sales as well. People called after seeing that something was in and asked us to put it on hold; some had trouble with checkout and preferred to buy their books over the phone. So let's round up. We probably had 40 sales this January as a result of our e-commerce site.
Which I don't sneeze at; it's January, for heaven's sake. But the site isn't free, and neither is the time of the people who work on it. It's hard not to ask myself: Could I be doing something differently to make e-commerce worth my time? Or should I stick to the fancy business card model? Many booksellers who wrote in asked those questions, too, because they've had a similar experience, often over a longer period of time. Is there something we could be doing differently?
Kenny Brechner of DDG Booksellers, Farmington, Maine, who's been selling books online since 1999, is one of the only booksellers I've ever spoken with who loves his website and thinks of it as a vital part of the store. He wrote: "My strategy has been to provide a lot of content and personality." He's taken what he calls the "all roads lead to Rome" approach, linking his website everywhere he can---in the newsletter, on social media.
"In terms of getting customers acquainted with ordering from you, I think you need to make ordering from the site feel like ordering from your store," he continued. "Character and content, the same personal knowledge and attention which sell books off the floor, will make people feel that ordering from your site truly is an interactive extension of being one of your customers." If you spend some time on the DDG site, you'll see that by creating special content for the web (like lists of toys available for purchase) and using content developed for in-person events (like a school book review contest), DDG has managed to strike just the right note.
The Maine Coast Book Shop & Cafe, Damariscotta, Maine, has another striking website, with an entire page devoted to Barbara Cooney, who has had a close involvement with the shop over her lifetime (among other things, she was at one time a silent partner). I loved this page because for me it created an instant emotional attachment to the store: I felt that I knew what sort of store Maine Coast was (even though I truly have no idea).
My more cynical Internet side was also intrigued by the Barbara Cooney page. I wondered: What if Maine Coast sold books on their website? After a few months of "buy books" and "Barbara Cooney" filtering through search engines, Maine Coast could become the first hit for anybody looking for a copy of Miss Rumphius (especially if they took advantage of search engine optimization, which I will cover in a future column).
The best response I got, though, was from someone who isn't connected (as far as I know) to the professional side of the book biz. Sally Gawne discussed a number of bookstores, their websites and their book-of-the-month programs: "One store that is really great is Rakestraw Books, Danville, Calif. They hold my book of the month for several months and then send them to me to save postage... that is, after letting me know what is available and chatting with me about books. A 10-minute phone call a few times a year and they sell me 12 books a year or more."
She ended by saying, "Although my face is not recognized, I am still regarded as a viable customer, and that will be the secret of the online indies."
Our personalities have kept us in business on Main Streets across the country for years, so it's not a stretch to think that they might be the key to increasing online business as well. So take a look at your website and compare it to your store. What are you expert in? What are the titles you're selling that nobody else is selling? Is your customer service as good online as it is in the store?
In other words, I think Deb and Diane are correct: Amazon and buying books online are currently PB&J. So what is on your website that isn't on Amazon's?--Stephanie Anderson
