Paperless Book store

I've certainly heard of stranger business ideas that worked out.

I can only see this working out if it provides a friendly environment for readers to socialize in. The coffee may help, but you would need to go beyond that. Maybe you could provide a home for book clubs, pull in authors for readings, and anything else that you can think of that will both bring in revenues and negate the "but it is easier to buy it from the comfort of my home" mentality.

Another useful service would be the ability to browse a book from cover to cover on a broad range of devices. I have run into far too many books where the quality of the preview versions does not represent the quality of the book. (This is especially true for information books where the introductory chapters are very different from the bulk of the book.) And, of course, some books work well on tablets that don't work well on eInk devices. It would be nice knowing which prior to buying.

[tubemonkey]

I don't care one way or the other. I don't visit physical stores or libraries for my reading material. I do it all online.

[church mouse]

An entirely paperless bookshop - no.

However, since both my step-daughter and my best friend dislike e-books with a vengeance, but cannot walk past a bookshop without venturing in and spending an hour or so in retail therapy, I find myself browsing the shelves of bookshops quite a lot. However, I have not bought a paper book for myself since my first e-reader entered my life 3 years ago.

What I crave is a bookshop which has the ability for me to buy an e-book copy in the shop, rather than me having to note the name/author of a book I come across in store and searching the net later for a site from which to purchase it. Almost always this means the physical store group ends up not getting my money. Had they had a way that I could buy in store, then download to my laptop later from a dedicated download site, I would have happily purchased even knowing I could have bought for less on-line elsewhere.

Supporting my local bookshop would be lovely, if it supported my e-book habit!

(The download to a laptop is important to me for "cleaning" purposes).

[Bookworm_Girl]

I'm not really interested in a paperless bookstore. I'm more interested in finding an independent coffeehouse (or wine bar) with free Wi-fi and great ambience where I can read and relax.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't B&N sort of already have that (in-house ebook)? Last I went, you could play with the Nooks on display and if you bring your own Nook, I do believe you can download and read select titles while in-store. Of course, you've also got access to the complete B&N Nook library for purchase regardless of whether you buy in-store or from the comforts of your own home (or wherever you may be at the moment).

Yep, read-in store for an hour a day on select books at B&N. And, you get coupons on your Nook too, like for cookies and smoothies. However, in the year that I have owned a Nook, I've never actually used this feature! I stopped visiting the B&M bookstores once my local Borders closed. I don't need to browse the shelves to find what I want. I just download samples from B&N or Amazon or Overdrive. I already have more books than I can read in years on my ereaders and on my wishlists. If I need a paperbook, then I usually end up buying it at Amazon, and it shows up on my doorstep free of shipping charges.

Originally Posted by church mouse

What I crave is a bookshop which has the ability for me to buy an e-book copy in the shop, rather than me having to note the name/author of a book I come across in store and searching the net later for a site from which to purchase it. Almost always this means the physical store group ends up not getting my money. Had they had a way that I could buy in store, then download to my laptop later from a dedicated download site, I would have happily purchased even knowing I could have bought for less on-line elsewhere. Supporting my local bookshop would be lovely, if it supported my e-book habit!

I realize that you are in the UK. However in the US, Google ebooks have partnered with independent booksellers. They operate as a storefront for the booksellers. Some of the bookshops have embraced this partnership. They have setup computers in their stores so people can buy in-store through their bookstore website (which is linked to Google's bookstore and they share the profit). They are offering demo classes on how to buy ebooks and use ereaders. Here is a list of stores in the US.
http://www.indiebound.org/google-ebooks

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't care one way or the other. I don't visit physical stores or libraries for my reading material. I do it all online.

Partly so. I'll do my shopping online. But if I do go to town (which is rarely), I'll always try to go to the bookstore. If it were paperless-only, it'd be an empty building...

Now, if that bookstore (which does have its own online site as well), would offer a wifi connection (limited) where you could go to the website and buy the ebook online after leaving through the pbook... That would change the matter!

(naturally, this requires that all pbooks have an e-equivalent, so, it'll be a dream only atm...)

[patrickt]

I would be neither happy nor unhappy because I wouldn't use it. My computer is a paperless bookstore. I see absolutely no advantage to going out to use someone else's computer in a store.

When I go to a bookstore it's to browse books that are unsuitable for an ebook format such as photography books, travel guides, and so forth.

[afa]

The way I see it, this idea sort of brings the worst of both worlds.

The problem with having a brick-and-mortar store is that there are significant overheads. The rental/leasing/purchase costs, sales staff, shelves, counters, sofas, other assorted furniture and furnishings, hiring an interior designer to help make the place look good, maintaining all of the above, hiring a cleaning service to keep the place spiffy, replacing damaged items, depreciation on the assets... In short, there are a lot of overheads.

eBooks, meanwhile, while growing are still a minority of book sales. So you're going through the expense of a brick-and-mortar, all the while limiting your demographic.

Sorry, but I just don't see such a store working.

[garrybuck]

I doubt if it could work economically. But even if it could, I would never use it. I have a Kindle, which gives me a virtual bookstore everywhere I go. Why should I go to a specific place?

More importantly, I'm an introvert. Reading for me is an escape, something I do to get away from the world. It is not a social activity for me. I'm not the Unibomber, I'm capable of socializing, and I actually need to do that from time to time. When I'm in 'socializing mode', I have to face outward, I can't read under those conditions. When I'm in 'reading mode', I'm facing inward and can't handle any distractions.

So for me, anything that could be labelled as 'social reading' is something I would avoid like the plague.

[LauraPony]

Originally Posted by church mouse

What I crave is a bookshop which has the ability for me to buy an e-book copy in the shop, rather than me having to note the name/author of a book I come across in store and searching the net later for a site from which to purchase it. Almost always this means the physical store group ends up not getting my money. Had they had a way that I could buy in store, then download to my laptop later from a dedicated download site, I would have happily purchased even knowing I could have bought for less on-line elsewhere.

Supporting my local bookshop would be lovely, if it supported my e-book habit!

I completely agree with this. I feel like bookstores haven't caught on as much as they should with this. The one thing I miss about being a ebook reader is that I don't get that in-store experience any more. How great would it be for each book to have a code, or even for the barcode to be scanned to your device, so you can buy or add an ebook to your reader. That would be brilliant.

My guess is that something like this might happen with the big retailers first who already have ebook stores (B&N kind of does it, I had hopes for Indigo/Chapters before they sold Kobo). It will be hard for local retailers to create their own ebook "libraries" to sell.