In an effort to pivot the guide publishing enterprise again to its glory days, earlier than streaming platforms had lured away prospects, bookstore chain Crossword has set itself formidable targets. These embody a renewed deal with youngsters’s books, cementing an omni-channel play, rising its retailer rely, and launching personal labels throughout classes.
According to trade estimates, the bookstore enterprise had been rising at 9-10% yearly earlier than the pandemic, however in 2020, the degrowth was about 5%. “A large portion of the business also went online,” mentioned Aakash Gupta, CEO and MD, Crossword Bookstores. But in 2021, the enterprise nearly returned to regular. World over, impartial booksellers and bookstore chains are clocking in progress numbers. For instance, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and Dymocks are all again to profitability within the final one 12 months, owing to bodily books being “back in fashion”, and e-books and Kindle gross sales reaching a plateau. In India, e-books don’t discover many takers, apart from upmarket readers/ travellers.
The larger risk has at all times been on-line guide purchasing, notably on Amazon. “We are a bit behind everybody else when it comes to omni-channel and e-commerce, being a physical retailer traditionally,” Gupta mentioned. Crossword is now upping its omni-channel play, with plans to launch a brand new app and revamp its web site within the subsequent six to 9 months. The firm hopes to distinguish itself by making its web site extra curated, like a neighborhood for guide lovers. “We want to be a bit of Goodreads, a bit of Amazon and a bit of our physical store,” Gupta mentioned.
Late final 12 months, Shoppers Stop offered Crossword Bookstores to its largest franchisee, Pune-based Agarwal Business House (ABH), for `41.6 crore. Under Shoppers Stop, Crossword had prioritised high-margin, non-book classes like toys, electronics and equipment, with the contribution of books to total income shrinking over time to about 55%. Under ABH, this determine is already at 65%, with the rest break up equally between toys and stationery.
Going forward, the contribution of books to total income might even contact 70%, in Gupta’s estimate. The goal, clearly, is to hero books as the first product as soon as once more.
Within the guide universe, the lion’s share of consideration will probably be on youngsters’s books. “A majority of these are discovered at the store itself,” Gupta mentioned. “While not necessarily a higher margin business, children’s books are our biggest category, forming almost 38% of all books.”
Moving past books, Crossword plans on launching its personal personal labels in classes like toys and stationery over the subsequent 9 months. “Families still want puzzles, board games, edutainment toys or premium, exclusive stationery and gifting items,” Gupta mentioned. The firm additionally plans on rising its publishing line, The Write Place, which helps first-time authors get printed.
For FY23, the chain, which has a retailer rely of 80, plans to launch 19 new shops. It just lately opened two shops in Lucknow, with a 3rd one on the anvil. It is current in cities comparable to Nagpur, Nashik, Udaipur, Bhopal and Siliguri, along with main metros. “Our vision is to have 300 stores in different formats. Our network will help in last-mile online deliveries too,” Gupta mentioned.
In addition to forays into tier-II cities like Patna, extra shops are being deliberate inside metros, too. “There are so many cities we have not fully penetrated yet,” Gupta admits. For occasion, in Delhi, the corporate has just one retailer at current. Crossword claims to presently have a run price of 150 crore, with estimates of taking it as much as
170 crore by the tip of this fiscal. “The turnover projection for Brand Crossword is `400 crore in the next two years,” Gupta mentioned.
In phrases of codecs, the corporate presently has seven flagship shops, all on excessive streets, with plans to launch 5 – 6 extra within the subsequent two years. It additionally has a couple of shops in hybrid workplace complexes, for instance in Gurugram and Noida. “We plan to grow in this space as we are a good gifting destination for these offices, and this is a highly involved customer base.”
Travel retail is one other avenue for progress. Crossword has three shops at Mumbai airport, with two extra within the offing. Talks are on to bid for Bengaluru airport. It might quickly open shops in Metro stations as nicely. “Unlike other airport bookstores offering many categories of items, we are proper booksellers with 50-60% space exclusively for books,” Gupta mentioned.
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Source: www.financialexpress.com”