Online bookstores thriving in India

Bangalore, Mar 28: Greater IT penetration coupled with easy accessibility and reach and the sheer convenience of shopping online, was driving the online book store market in India with players expecting this market to receive a further fillip with the onset of e-commerce and the digital book era.

The experience of dropping into the quintessential bookstore and scouring for books, or quickly chatting up with the owner and booking for one''s copy of the bestseller before it is sold out, may soon become passe with online bookstores and digital books inching their way forward in the market.

"The current size of the online bookmarket is estimated to be about Rs 70 crore in annual sales and it is increasing at the rate of 50 per cent year on year", said Rahul Sethi, President-e-Commerce, ibibo web Private Limited, which launched TradusBooks.in, an online bookstore for India.

"The increasing internet penetration, consumer confidence in online retail as a format is driving this growth. The convenience of shopping online and the wide choice and attractive prices available online are also growth drivers", said Sachin Bansal, CEO and co-founder, Flipkart.com.

"On an average 10,000-12,000 people shop for books everyday.Most are men within age-group of 25-35. Almost 50 per cent of the orders come from the top eight cities and the remaining come from B

PTI