Sitting in a dark room, surfing the Internet in the wee hours of the morning, temptations lurk around every corner.
Flashy graphics scream from the screen. Advertisements clog email inboxes. But for many students, the greatest seduction doesn’t come from illicit pictures posted on the Web. Instead it comes from online shopping sites.
Young adults spend millions of dollars every year on online retail. The convenience and selection make online shopping enticing. College students are increasingly looking to online stores from textbooks, which cost a pretty penny at the school bookstore.
But shopping online often hurts local stores, because they can’t compete with the web sites’ selection or price. Richard Carlson, owner of Bookman’s Alley, 1712 Sherman Ave., knows this first hand.
His biggest competition is the computer, but he doesn’t know how to turn one on. “I do have a computer,” said Carlson, 77, wrinkling his eyes in a half-smile. “I just have someone else use it for me.”
Twenty-four years ago when Carlson opened Bookman’s Alley, a rare and used bookstore, he only worried about a few competing stores. But business has changed for brick-and-mortar shops since 1979.
Customers who once navigated the creaking wood floors of Carlson’s store now navigate the homepages of eBay and Amazon.com. With a few quick clicks, the customer can locate and buy almost any book Carlson stocks.
“The competition has changed, certainly,” Carlson said. “Presently, yes, it’s the Internet, more than anything. There’s just no getting away from it.”
According to a study by Massachusetts-based Forrester Research, online retail book sales are expected to nearly double over the next five years. The study also predicted e-commerce will comprise 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales by this time.
Joseph Warnick, 48, who owns Amaranth Books, a rare and used bookstore at 828 Davis St., said the popularity of online retail quickly forced him to “re-orient” to the bookselling industry.
“It’s almost like I’m in a different neighborhood than I was when I opened 11 years ago,” Warnick said.
But neither owner complained about losing customers or profits to bookselling mega-stores Barnes and Noble at 1701 Sherman Ave., or Borders Books & Music at 1700 Maple Ave. Carlson said these large chain stores even send customers to him when they don’t have an obscure book a customer requests.
“Oh sure, they’re competition, but they recognize that we’re small potatoes,” Carlson said. “We’re not a threat to their livelihood.”
Warnick agreed and said the idea of large bookstores moving into town and putting independent stores out of business is a myth. He said big chain stores actually increase the quality of books in circulation, providing a better product to sell later.
But keeping sales steady will require a change in marketing tactics, Warnick said, adding that used bookstores owners today must conform to the industry changes or lose money.
“Most of us have responded by putting books on the Web,” Warnick said. “I haven’t broken down and done that yet, but I will have to soon.”
Although putting books online may not make a significant difference when it comes to Northwestern students. While books can be cheaper online, some students still prefer a more tangible buy.
Peter Minta, a Weinberg freshman, said he thought about purchasing books online because he heard they were cheaper. But Minta decided it was more convenient just to go to the bookstore.
“Once you’re online, any number of things can happen,” Minta said. “[In the bookstore] I know exactly what I’m getting.”
And the Web has proven it isn’t always reliable. Last year, Communication junior Lauren Young bought books for some of her classes online. She said buying on the Internet was inconvenient and not worth the lower price.
“I ended up not having books for the first three to four weeks of class and by the time I actually got my books we were done with two of them,” Young said. “I’d never do it again.”
