COVID leaves book industry struggling
The local book industry is now facing several challenges, including revenue loss and waning interest among parents regarding purchasing textbooks, as the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic spreads beyond health and the economy.
Key book industry players are reporting that consumers adopting a wait- and-see approach with purchasing books, even as the back-to-school shopping season draws to a close.
Camelle Ricketts Moore, managing director of Sangster’s Book Store, told the Jamaica Observer that last year Sangster’s saw a 35 per cent fall-off in sales and this year the losses are already at 35 per cent with projections showing an eventual 45 per cent loss in revenue.
“It’s really tough because we only have one season. We are not like a supermarket where every month end you are guaranteed cash flows because you must eat. We don’t sell medicines or food. We make majority of our sales in the book season, which runs from June to August, September there about. Last year the book season didn’t happen. This year it’s the same thing. It’s even worse this year because the numbers are worse this year in terms of the COVID,” Ricketts Moore said.
“We are really in a tough, tough spot. Retail operators don’t make much on margins because the margins are really low and we are a bookstore, so therefore we really have a one shot in the year to make it. For the last two years that one shot has just not occurred,” she added. “We find people coming in trickles or you get a lot of quote [requests] but it is not turning around how it used to. This year is worse than last year. There was cash coming from 2019 for 2020, but now in 2021 there is no income from 2020.”
Ricketts Moore further pointed out that the impact did not affect procurement in terms of supplies, however, stock intake was reduced.
“Last year they procured for the season — nothing happened and stores were stuck with the books. The larger organisations have a return policy, but the smaller places can’t return them, so a lot of people don’t want to make that mistake. Even the bookshops at schools don’t want to make that mistake this year, to purchase early and be in the same boat like last year where many didn’t buy,” Ricketts Moore said, adding that many parents refrained from purchasing books, thinking their children did not need them because classes were online.
“One major reason sales have dropped off is because when parents heard they were going online for school they thought they didn’t need books. But they do need books, and even now more than ever [because] even if they go face-to-face they will be six feet apart, so they can’t share. Also, while online inappropriate content might come up, that will not happen in books,” she pointed out.
To address that issue, the bookstore launched an online campaign outlining the importance of obtaining and using textbooks to encourage parents not to disregard the purchases.
Sangster’s’ Retail Sales Manager Pauline Shuttleworth also underscored the need for physical books and highlighted that the bookshop had launched its e-store, which supplies the electronic versions of some books and makes it more convenient for people to shop.
However, Shuttleworth said going full-scale electronic will not happen in the near future because of Internet connectivity issues, which already make online learning challenging.
“E-books are coming and will happen, but based on the fact that we have connectivity issues in various parts of the country, E is going to take a long time. We are not there yet, and as a result of that books are essential now. E-book has to also become more interactive to be that substitute for text. It is mainly PDF, which is not interactive.”
In addition to book purchases, Shuttleworth said stationery has also been impacted as, “when parents would purchase pencils and pens, folder leaves each week, that’s not happening. With all the essential school supplies there is no sale. Everything has died down”.
Nigel Walker, interim chairman of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica, said across the board his members have reported a 50 to 75 per cent loss in revenue, which is a major hit as it is not a high-profit industry.
Regarding the fall-off in sales,Walker also encouraged parents to try and get the textbooks so the children can get the best online experience necessary to not have major learning gaps.
“They need books now more than ever and they need content books that can help parents to provide some sort of teaching at home. Parents are not teachers, so the more content they have to help, the better. There is, however, a perception that the teacher will provide content so you don’t need a book. But if you are having connection issues and they have no books, how will they even learn anything at all? But we are stuck between a rock and a hard place as some parents think they should wait to see if school is going to open physically before they get any books,” Walker said.
Further, despite the wait-and-see approach many people have opted for, Walker said the book industry has had to gamble big.
“We have to ensure we have the books so when they [parents] want it, they can buy it. It’s a big risk [and] last year a lot of people in the book industry took that risk, brought in a lot of books and it didn’t materialise [in sales] as parents didn’t really purchase books. We were hopeful things would have been better as the numbers [of COVID-19 cases] were going down, but now we are in the third wave [of the virus], it’s a little worse and people are not purchasing much,” he said.
But four parents who spoke with the Sunday Observer said part of the problem with the reluctance to purchase textbooks was the non-usage in various classes and also the delay in receiving book lists this year.
“I love literature and I encourage my children to read, but when I buy six literature books and only two were used I am not a happy camper. Those books are expensive. Right now, I am not looking to have a personal collection. I am looking to save. Other parents are looking at it that way too. Let us not talk about receiving the voucher and book list last week with just mere days before school is to start. What would we have bought the books from?” one parent said.
Another parent with a child in grade five said it was only last week that she got her child’s report and book list so that also impacted her ability to adequately get things in order.
“Most of us living hand to mouth now. No one is spared, really. When I get a book list so late, what I must do when I am trying to figure out my steps before the no-movement days coming up?” she asked.
The other two parents said they were scrambling to get things in order for September as they, too, received the book list late.
“Honestly, it’s just seeing how best I can quickly sort out things. It’s ridiculous and it’s not like we weren’t pressing for the book list. But they chose to send it on their own time — at the end of August — and expect us in the middle of a pandemic, where we are surviving off the most minimal things, to just spin roun’ with everything in place. Before COVID we had it rough, but you would take your time buy up things as you would know school fee and book list requirements from end of June,” the parent said.
The other parent added: “I am just having faith now because they sent out vouchers early August and then told us not to pay as some [students] might repeat and promised an answer in less than a week. Is literally almost two weeks later they told us who were promoted to the next grade then said pick up books tomorrow, leaving majority of parents flat-footed.”