Flipkart’s book sales doing fine, paperbacks fight off competition from devices

Now one of the country’s largest e-commerce players, Flipkart kicked off business in India around 2007 with its Books segment. And while the company does not want to go into how books are doing versus its other product categories, it seems there’s enough growth in the sales of physical books for Flipkart to keep believing in them in the age of online content consumption and the rise of digital reading devices across markets.

When Amazon opened its first bookstore in the US not too long ago, book lovers everywhere may have seen it as a decisive victory for physical books. But with only an online presence, Flipkart sells nearly two-thirds of its books to South and North India, according to a recent survey by the company on how Indians are shopping online.

The survey also found that Bengaluru ranks first among its Top 5 book-buying cities, followed by Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, indicating that urban India prefers the physical book.

Anil Goteti, Vice-President, Retail at Flipkart, says, “India was not reading some years ago as much as it was studying. But we believe we’ve revolutionised how books are bought, while dealing in millions of products.”

Flipkart’s fiction and non-fiction categories feature largely Indian authors thanks to many of them remaining fan favourites for years together. Along the way, celebrity authors, like Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Twinkle Khanna, have become ‘preferred’ authors. While names like Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Ravinder Singh and APJ Abdul Kalam make the favoured list, popular women writers include Rhonda Byrne, E.L. James, Harper Lee, Eleanor Catton, J.K. Rowling, Gillian Flynn and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

Books remain affordable for most middle-class Indian wallets. And although hardcovers have their takers, paperbacks come out on top for a good reason.

“The Indian market is price sensitive, so the majority of our sales are paperback. We offer collectibles and special editions in the hardcover category.

“We also cater to those who read online too through apps, even if we don’t have our own device in the market. But we’ve noticed that a lot of shorter content is read on digital devices,” says Goteti.

According to Flipkart, the country has seen a 25 per cent hike in the sales of children’s books since 2014 – children and young adults’ fiction increasingly performs well with social media and positive peer pressure influencing more reading among teenagers and children. The Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson series as well as John Green books reportedly do at least 10-15 per cent more business than new titles released. Goteti reveals that children’s fiction also does well on pre-orders, clocking at least 5-7 per cent more hits than a regular adult title does.

However, let’s not forget the value of strong delivery capabilities. The company says that being able to serve many non-mainstream locations is what gives it an advantage.

“We have invested extensively in developing a robust supply chain mechanism and can proudly say that today we deliver to over 10,000 pin codes. We have delivered books to even areas like Srinagar, Shillong, Imphal and Buxar,” Goteti says.

But India hasn’t yet given up being a ‘studying’ nation. , Flipkart’s overall book sales get a boost with seasonal favourites such as academic books and exam preparation material doing well, he says.

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