Online shops should show reliability, safety

The Jakarta Post   |  Mon, 07/06/2009 9:06 AM  |  City

With many Indonesian bookworms still unfamiliar with buying books online, the management of online bookstores have to put more effort into campaigning for the safety and reliability of their services to attract customers and enhance sales, a discussion recently concluded.

Mula Harahap, a book marketing expert, said although the number of Internet users in Indonesia had grown rapidly within the last decade, online bookstores had yet to play a major role in selling books as people still had doubts about the reliability of online transactions.

“Most Indonesians are cash-and-carry costumers. If many never use online stores, it is because they have the idea that buying something on the Internet is complicated and unsafe,” said Mula, also the secretary general of the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Publishers Association.   

“Moreover, a lot of people still consider buying books in bookstores as a ritual. They need to see, touch and flick through the book’s pages before deciding to buy it or not.”

Erik Hartmann, Asia-Pacific Lead for Google Book Search, echoed Mula’s view. Considering online bookstores as the future of book retailing, he said it was important for the management of online bookstores to give their costumers reliable service as well as adding more user-friendly features to their websites.

“They can create a feature that can make their costumers able to access real-time information about their books delivery, including the shipping schedule and when they will receive their order.”

Windy Ariestanty, chief editor of Gagas Media publisher, urged online bookstores to initiate a creative strategy to help the publishers promote their books and become more than a digital showroom.

“Online bookstores can provide a space for selected bloggers to post their review about a new book.”
The number of Internet users in Indonesia has increased rapidly within the last decade. Currently, the country has more than 25 million Internet users, far higher than 1 million in 1999.

This rapid growth has also created a room for online bookstores business to mushroom. From only 10 online bookstores in 2004, the country has seen more than 100 new online bookstores within five years.

However, the existence of online bookstores has yet to significantly  contribute to the country’s publishing industry as they can only sell less than 1 percent of the 36 million books locally published every year.

Tyas Legawa, owner of inibuku.com, the oldest Indonesian online bookstore, acknowledged this
limitation. He regularly sends information about new books and promotions to those who used the Website.

Syafiq Alielha, founder of khatulistiwa.com, shared another strategy.To compete with longer-established rivals, Syafieq, who started his business in 2007, specializes in books with social and political themes.

“Most of our managerial members were part of the social and political faculties at their universities, which means we are familiar with the book that we sell.” (JP/hwa)

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