Publishers eye online sales in digital era

Agnes Winarti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 07/03/2008 10:38 AM | City

An increasing number of publishing firms now market books online, embracing the rapid transition to the cyber era.

"It is crucial to open up to new possibilities in packaging information instead of simply printing books," executive director of Mizan Publika, Putut Wijanarko, told a Monday public discussion at the Jakarta Book Fair at Istora Senayan.

The 2008 Jakarta Book Fair, which opens daily between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., will run until July 6.

"We see ourselves as an information provider rather than just a book publishing firm. Cybermarketing represents an inevitable step into the future for book publishers like us," Putut said.

Putut cited research done in the United States showing that younger generations are more familiar with screen than paper.

He said 11 percent of United States readers, many of them younger people, were currently enjoying books digitally instead of in print.

"This will eventually happen to our young generation too. Youngsters here, like my own children, have already spent more time online than previous generations," Putut said.

He added the Internet only started entering the country in 1995, "But as you can see now, it is growing rapidly."

People are spending 14 hours per week online according to another 2005 study in the United States, cited by the strategic partner for development of Google Singapore, Erik Hartmann, who spoke at the discussion.

There have been website hits on between 750 and 1,000 Mizan Publika book titles per month, over the last six or seven months, from online enquiries on book availability, via Google.

"There have been up to 1,000 clicks per month from people wanting to buy the (Mizan) books online," Erik said.

"One of the advantages of cybermarketing for book publishers is that anybody can find a book, even though they may not have started out by looking for it," he said.

Mizan is not the only local book publisher currently joining hands with the Google search engine to market books online. There are many more including Gramedia, Elex Media Komputindo, Kanisius, Grasindo, Erlangga, Tiga Serangkai and BPK.

Erik said there were various forms of online book marketing available on Google, including author or book websites, contextual advertisements, author blogs and videos, newsletters and chatgroups as well as podcasts.

The president director of Agromedia Group publishing, Antonius Riyanto, said books advertised on the Internet could be marketed for longer than books on a bookshelf.

"On a website, we can display the same books for up to 10 years, while there are time limits of only three to six months for books marketed on shelves in stores. After that we need the space for new titles."

Antonius said the effectiveness of cybermarketing depended on the type of books and the type of readers.

"If the book is widely read by young people, from 14 to 21-years-old, then marketing via mailing list groups and websites can be effective."

Antonius said, however, there had been no survey to measure the success of cybermarketing of Indonesian books.

Major book publishers like Gramedia said that they had not yet obtained satisfying results from cybermarketing.

"Ten years ago, we tried establishing cyber-bookstores in Kelapa Gading (North Jakarta) and Taman Anggrek (West Jakarta). But, up until now the sales only reach one-tenth of our average conventional small-sized bookstores," said Budi Santoso from the research and development division of Gramedia bookstores.

"The new online marketing approach has great potential, but we have not yet seen significant results," Budi said.

Conventional book marketing is currently still the main approach by most bookstores, including Gramedia, Agromedia and Mizan. These traditional marketing approaches include in-store promotions, print advertisements, newsletters, book tours and direct mailing.

Budi said the latest data showed that 46 percent of Gramedia sales nationally were in its Jakarta bookstores.

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