Published on August 27th, 2009, 10: 33: 03, has been read by 402 people.
World Roof Bookstore fled Zhongguancun.
The low-price promotion in the first month of opening has turned into a loss fate for the roof of the world bookstore for three years. They will move out of Zhongguancun, Beijing, just because they have met a competitor who can't afford to offend.
"We are not closed down, but we are interested in moving, but the specific location has not yet been decided." For half a month, Guan Bo, general manager of Roof of the World Bookstore (hereinafter referred to as Roof of the World), kept repeating this sentence to others. In July 2009, it coincided with the third anniversary of the establishment of "the largest private bookstore in China". With the pain of losing 46 million yuan, they are ready to withdraw from the Zhongguancun business circle.
"The reason for moving is the price war, and we can't help it." Guan Bo said. He took a deep breath of his cigarette, and the smoke spread, only the air conditioner made a low hum. The roof of the world, once named as the first cultural theme shopping mall in Beijing and the first cultural and creative industry project base in Haidian District, is now under the hype of "closing down".
In July 2006, the roof of the world was officially opened. Guanbo launched a 15% discount as usual, hoping to attract attention and make a good start. Unexpectedly, it attracted three years of "disaster". According to Guan Bo, Zhongguancun Book Building, which is less than 500 meters away from the roof of the world, immediately reduced its price by 75%.
Zhongguancun Book Building is fully invested by the state-owned Beijing Xinhua Bookstore. It is reported that after the price war began, Roof of the World communicated with Beijing Xinhua Bookstore. Although senior officials and government departments came forward, they failed to reach an understanding, and 20% discount became the "market price" of book sales in this area.
"This industry can't compete as fully as other industries, and some even offer unreasonable discounts and promotions. The unhealthy ecological chain of the industry has led to the lagging development of the industry and a bad competitive environment. " Guan Bo is very helpless.
Opening up and promotion has become a three-year protracted war.
"The roof of the world has been caught in the dilemma of price war from the very beginning. It is difficult to get rid of the situation that you need to move out today without fighting for it. " Li Jun, director of the northern sales department of the distribution center of Shanghai Century Publishing Group, commented on the situation when it opened that year: "The one-month promotion on the roof of the world may make Zhongguancun Book Building feel threatened."
Compared with Zhongguancun Book Building, the roof of the world with different "origins" is doomed to face a "fierce battle". During this period, Roof of the World had a low price of 30%. Looking back at that time, Guan Bo said with a wry smile: "The sales performance has improved, but it is not profitable. State-owned bookstores are inefficient and private bookstores can't afford them. I have calculated that any bookstore can't support it for a long time in a state of 20% discount like ours and Zhongguancun Bookstore. "
But Guan Bo didn't realize at that time that his competitors were not alone. Zhongguancun Book Building is backed by Xinhua Bookstore. According to media reports, most Xinhua bookstores mainly rely on textbooks to survive, and 70% ~ 80% of their profits come from this; In rural areas, this ratio even exceeds 90%. More importantly, primary and secondary school textbooks account for 80% of the market share of China's publishing industry (about 20% abroad).
Weak private capital lacks monopoly profit sources and will inevitably suffer in the protracted war. After continuous losses, the business area of the roof of the world has changed from four floors to three floors now. "At the beginning of this year, Guan Bo told me that he was considering moving to the second floor underground, but he still couldn't escape this business circle and price war. As a result, he later said that he would leave the top of the World Tower, which was also a helpless move. " Mr. Li recalled the step-by-step retreat of Roof of the World.
Under such circumstances, because the roof of the world does not have to pay rent to the roof of the world building, the major shareholder of the roof of the world is also a shareholder of the roof of the world building, which may not last for three years at all. According to Guan Bo and publishers, the average purchase price of the roof of the world is 62%. In order to achieve a basic break-even point, the discount can only reach 93% at most.
In 2006 and 2007, the operating performance of the roof of the world was about 654.38 billion yuan. In the first half of 2009, the total sales volume of Rooftop of the World reached 63 million yuan, and it is expected to reach 654.38+32 billion yuan for the whole year, but it is expected that there will still be a loss of 654.38+05 million yuan at the end of the year. The annual purchase amount of Roof of the World is about 65.438+0.2 billion ~ 65.438+0.3 billion yuan, which is almost the same as the sales volume. It is conceivable that Roof of the World is hard to make money.
At present, the roof of the world is busy negotiating site selection. The roof of the world has more than 700,000 member resources. Guan Bo said that they prefer to stay near Xueyuan Road and Beijing Normal University in the North Third Ring Road, Haidian District, Beijing. There are no large bookstores in Chaoyang District at present, which is the second choice for bookstore relocation.
Meng yanfeng
The roof of the world plans to leave Zhongguancun: online bookstores occupy living space.
Three years ago, the Roof of the World Bookstore, which made a high-profile appearance in Zhongguancun, a bustling area in Beijing, would never have thought of today's situation of "losing to Maicheng". Guan Bo, general manager of Roof of the World Bookstore, admitted in an interview with the National Business Daily a few days ago that the three-year price discount war with Zhongguancun Book Building caused the sales loss of Roof of the World Bookstore to be 46 million yuan, and the bookstore also defaulted on the property rent for three years, so he would choose to quit Zhongguancun and find another place.
The experience of the World Roof Bookstore is not a case in the private bookstore industry. In recent years, many private bookstores have been in crisis. Private chain bookstores once famous in Beijing and Shanghai, such as Xishu Bookstore, Mingjun Bookstore and Thinking Music Bookstore, all closed down or were acquired because of unpaid wages.
Why is the operating environment of private bookstores so difficult? Under the double squeeze of online bookstores such as Dangdang and Zhuo Yue and traditional state-owned bookstores, can these well-known private bookstores around us survive?
The discount war drove away the roof of the world?
"The Roof Bookstore of the World is still in normal business, and we are looking for a suitable venue." Guan Bo, general manager of Roof of the World Bookstore, recently told the reporter of National Business Daily, "In fact, I had the idea of moving two years ago, but because the shareholders did not reach an understanding, the time dragged down."
The Roof of the World is the first cultural theme shopping center in Beijing. When it opened in July, 2006, Roof of the World Bookstore had a grand idea: "A large-scale' property-style' cultural theme shopping center with Roof of the World Bookstore as its main format and six base camps of joy, books, education, fitness, tourism and commerce."
However, the price discount war with Zhongguancun Book Building, which began at the beginning of its opening, has tortured the Roof Bookstore of the World and brought it great operating pressure. According to the report at that time, when Roof of the World Bookstore just opened in 2006, the price war with Zhongguancun Book Building was fierce, and even the audience was 30% off.
Lei Ming, an individual bookseller, told the National Business Daily: "Under normal circumstances, a discount of 15% on book purchase price plus rent and labor cost can barely maintain the balance of bookstores, and it is difficult to break even if it is less than 20%."
According to Guan Bo's rough estimation, if calculated according to the turnover of 200 million yuan, the discount war since the bookstore opened three years ago has caused a sales loss of about 46 million yuan, so the bookstore has been in arrears for three years.
"Although the bookstore is a shareholder of the building, there must be a profit return in doing business. Everyone hopes to get out of the quagmire of price war through relocation, loosen the rope around his neck and gradually realize the long-term planning of our bookstore. " Guan Bo said.
The collapse of Roof of the World bookstore is not a case in the private bookstore industry. At the end of last year, the news that Monsoon Bookstore might quit the South Shaanxi Road Station of the subway because of the rising rent set off a storm of public opinion in Shanghai. Finally, under the pressure from all walks of life, the subway company renewed its three-year contract with Monsoon Bookstore at a more favorable price.
Yan Bofei of Monsoon Bookstore is lucky, but more private bookstores have to quit this industry. In just a few years, many private bookstores have fallen into crisis. Xishu Bookstore, Mingjun Bookstore and Thinking Music Bookstore, which were once famous in Beijing and Shanghai, all closed down or were acquired because of unpaid wages, repeating the same fate.
The high rent aggravates the dilemma of bookstore management.
Why is the operating environment of private bookstores so difficult? With this question, the National Business Daily reporter visited many people in the book publishing and retail circles in Shanghai. One of their understandings is that the most direct reason for the difficulties in the operation of private bookstores is the meager profit of books, and on the other hand, the rent of shops has risen in the past two years.
A senior person from Shanghai Century Publishing Group told the reporter that under normal circumstances, the publishing cost of a book accounts for 35% to 40% of the book price, plus the management and distribution costs, which is 63% in the hands of publishers. This price fluctuates slightly due to different channels, but it will not be too big. If the bookstore sells at a discount again, the bookstore will basically be unprofitable.
Take Jifeng Bookstore as an example, the average purchase discount is about 64%, leaving 36% annual gross profit, 65,438+09% rent payment, 65,438+04% employee salary, and 3% water, electricity and administrative expenses, which have not been calculated yet. "Monsoon basically doesn't make money." Yan Bofei, general manager of Shanghai Jifeng Bookstore, once revealed to the media.
The above-mentioned veteran told reporters: "This is still because Monsoon Bookstore insists on not selling at a discount. If it is discounted, even at the current favorable rental price of the monsoon, the loss is inevitable. "
Thinking Music Bookstore, which once expanded at a high speed in Shanghai market and quickly closed down a year later, was also caught in a business dilemma because of the heavy rent burden. In order to cater to the young people's market, the four stores of Thinking Music Bookstore are located in the bustling business district, and the annual rent accounts for 1/3 of its annual turnover, which makes its operating cost too high to bear. Someone once calculated an account for Silezheng Store: the annual turnover is 6,543,802 yuan, but the rent is as high as 4.5 million yuan. Generally, the purchase price of books is 6.5%, excluding transportation costs, and it is 6.8% at the bookstore, with a difference of 32%. After deducting 6% tax and 8% labor, the rent is 4.5 million yuan, and the annual loss is 2.8 million yuan, which does not include the discount for members to buy books.
Online bookstores occupy living space.
The increase in rents and the decrease in profits are just internal operational difficulties of private bookstores. In fact, the survival of private bookstores is also facing great pressure from the outside. The rapid development of online bookstores such as Dangdang and Zhuo Yue and the double pressure of state-owned bookstores have made private bookstores caught between Scylla and Charybdis and come to a "crossroads" of fate.
"Now online bookstores generally offer a 20% discount on new books and a lower discount on old books. In traditional bookstores, new books are often not discounted, and old books are generally not less than 20% off. " Miss Wang, who often buys books, said.
The reporter of National Business Daily randomly inquired about a set of Illustrations of China Ancient Literature (Volume I and Volume II) on the Internet. 3.7% off the original price in 48 yuan and Joyo. Only 17.7 yuan. Dangdang's discount is only 4.9%. Such a price is simply unimaginable for a physical bookstore.
Low price is the main means for online bookstores to catch up and successfully suppress traditional private bookstores. Lei Ming told reporters: "In addition to the high rental cost, the online bookstore has a much lower price than the physical bookstore." According to him, the average online bookstore takes goods at a price as low as 50%. If you cooperate with publishers or booksellers in other special ways, the cost will be lower, and it is entirely possible to get a discount of 20% or 30%.
It is understood that due to the small discount of physical bookstores, many readers regard bookstores as "sample book showrooms", copy down the titles they are interested in and go back to buy them online at a cheaper price.
Yan Bofei said helplessly: "With the support of transnational capital or venture capital, online bookstores can' irrationally' kill the price to the lowest. The huge sales of online bookstores also enable their cash flow to circulate smoothly, even if there are 5% to 6% liabilities every year, it doesn't matter. These advantageous physical bookstores are simply incomparable. "
Another pressure from private bookstores comes from state-owned bookstores represented by Xinhua Bookstore. "Most Xinhua bookstores have their own properties, and the rental cost is very low. Coupled with its nationwide sales channels, taking books is lower than that of private bookstores. In addition, Xinhua Bookstore completely monopolizes primary and secondary school textbooks, and it is difficult for private bookstores to get a share. This is precisely the main source of the annual profit of Xinhua Bookstore, which is close to 60%. " Lei Ming said.
Open up the industrial chain or make a way out
"We have been looking for a suitable venue. If you can't find it, you may stay in Zhongguancun for a while. " After leaving Zhongguancun, Guan Bo hopes to find another suitable place to place the roof of the World Bookstore. According to his idea, he hopes that the venue will still be in the core business district of Chaoyang or Haidian District, with an area of 1 to 20,000 square meters. In addition to finding a venue, Guan Bo is also looking for a new business model for Roof of the World.
"In the Internet age, we are looking for a combination of entities and networks." Guan Bo said. He believes that the impact of online bookstores on physical bookstores is not fatal enough. He said that the Internet is a platform, and the physical bookstore is the support point of book sales in a region. If the two can be effectively combined, book retailing is promising.
"The future development of private bookstores is either to form their own characteristics, expand the influence of bookstores, reduce the operating costs of bookstores, and survive with low profits; Either seek diversification, introduce other value-added projects, such as activities, coffee bars, online bookstores, or even participate in the upstream production of the industry for publishing, or buy out the sales rights of publishers. " A senior person from Shanghai Century Publishing Group told the reporter.
Private bookstores set foot in upstream publishing, which is one of the outlets given by many people in the industry. According to the reporter's understanding, with the relaxation of the state's policy of private capital entering the news publishing industry, many physical bookstores have set foot in the publishing industry in order to get through the upstream and downstream of the book industry chain.
A person in charge of the Popular Bookstore told the National Business Daily reporter, "After the successful acquisition of Zhulang.com in June 2006, the Popular Bookstore began to change from a simple book retailer to an information content provider, and three business models of the Popular Bookstore, online reading and online bookstore were established."
According to the above-mentioned senior sources, compared with the price of 6.5% off the purchase price of ordinary books, the books that bookstores participate in can be obtained at 20% to 30% off the full price, and the profits are far greater than ordinary books. "What's important is that by participating in upstream publishing and gaining pricing power, bookstores don't have to rely on the weather to eat." Xiong Xiaohui