When the first movement control order (MCO) was implemented last March, people found new and creative ways to keep themselves busy at home. Seemingly overnight, many jumped aboard the home baking and cooking experimentation bandwagon.
As they braced themselves for an extended period of home isolation, books flew off the shelves at bookstores as people resolved to read more or finally get to that book they have been putting off reading.
Did they really end up reading more? Who knows, but they certainly bought more books.
According to Lit Books co-founder Fong Min Hun, they saw a spike in book sales during the initial stages of the first MCO and the CMCO last year.
“As terrible as the pandemic has been, I think that being stuck at home also inspired people to do more to better themselves. People were cooking more, exercising more, and yes, reading more, ” he says.
Fong muses that despite the negative atmosphere surrounding the retail sector in general, bookstores – at least the indies – did surprisingly okay.
“Sales rallied during the year-end as we suspected, and this is purely anecdotal, that people started turning back to books as gifts during this period of uncertainty. There is probably something philosophical about that, ” he adds.
Other independent bookstores like Petaling Jaya-based Pelita Dhihin Bookstore also saw a similar pattern. In 2020, it saw an increase of 30% in sales compared to 2019.
“Last year was a whole new experience for us but luckily we have our webstore and we are also on Shopee, so we shifted our focus to these online platforms. Surprisingly, there was a spike in orders during the MCO. Contributing factors were students purchasing books for their assignments and research, new titles that were supposed to be featured at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (which was postponed) and unconditional support from our customers to keep our business going during trying times, ” says Firdaus Pozi, Pelita Dhihin Bookstore co-owner.
Last August, the independent bookshop initiative Swadaya MY’s Mer[d]eka saw Pelita Dhihin Bookstore joining forces with Tintabudi, The Bibliophile, Gerakbudaya PJ, Nur Innai Bookshop, and Lit Books to create a "library card" tour to get readers to visit and support all the stores.
Over at The Bookshop At A Word Affair, founder Vannitha Balasingam shares that she has been welcoming many new customers on her Facebook store during this MCO. She used to have a pop-up store space in Kuala Lumpur last year, but had to give it up because of all the uncertainties affecting business.
“The absence of a physical space has definitely had an impact on sales. Many who visited A Word Affair (the last physical spot was at Taman Desa in Kuala Lumpur) were there for a very unique browsing experience, which is impossible to replicate online, ” she says.
Still, Vannitha notes that the uptrend in online shopping generally has helped in filling the gap and for now, she has decided that A Word Affair will be only on Facebook, until further notice.
“I was initially looking out for a new space, but now with the lockdown and all the uncertainty surrounding vaccines, the rising number of cases and so on, I have decided to put pop-ups on hold for a while and focus on the Facebook store until things get better. A Word Affair has been on FB since 2015 – first Itch 2 Switch, and later The Bookshop at A Word Affair and Books at Ten – so there is a strong base there, which continues to grow steadily, ” she says.
Like many other businesses, bookstores have been – and will continue being – tested during this challenging period.
How will this year, with our soaring number of Covid-19 cases and the implementation of a second round of MCO in most of the country, be for these bookstores?
Tintabudi founder Nazir Harith Fadzilah does not mince words, stating that he expects a difficult year ahead, but lessons from last year and the first MCO will be invaluable in weathering this storm.
“We are more prepared this time and will focus on pushing more content on social media on the new and interesting titles available in our shop. It was because of online sales that we did okay last year," says Nazir, who has kept the pocket sized Tintabudi store in KL afloat through hard work and effective book curation.
"Our regulars bought even more books than usual, and we had lots of new customers through our website. This whole (pandemic) situation has put a lot of stress on many people. If you find solace in reading, we will gladly suggest book titles that might interest you, ” he adds.
Firdaus, too, is expecting that MCO 2.0 will be more challenging than the first round last year.
“As we are a specialised bookstore that focuses on non-fiction academic books, we have customers buying books for their studies. We had one who purchased a book worth RM174 only to verify and cite one footnote from it. This year, I think people are more likely to be spending their cash reserves on basic necessities. But we would have to say that just like the body needs food for nourishment, the mind too needs reading and thinking to keep sharp, ” says Firdaus.
During the current MCO, bookstores are currently allowed to operate in accordance with the SOPs and a limit on the number of customers entering the store.
But walk-ins have been negligible for most bookshops.
Petaling Jaya-based Lit Books, which has a cafe station, have ceased its beverage service for the time being.
Everything else is running as per usual.
“Our online catalogue is still being updated and we are still fulfilling online orders. We are also open for people to do local pick-ups and to browse for books. We would just like to remind the public to stay safe during this time, and that if they ever find themselves short of things to do, they can always come look for a book with us, ” concludes Fong.
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