[photopress:dandang.jpg,full,alignright]A contradiction which is not easy to explain. On the one hand the low level of readership in China is a continual subject of public criticism. There has been no suggestion in the last five years or so that the situation is changing for the better.
On the other hand, a recent survey conducted by AC Nielsen, the marketing information company, suggests that China has the highest online book-purchasing rate in the world.
Now Peggy Yu, the co-CEO of Dangdang.com, the leading online Chinese book retailer, predicts China is on the cusp of a neo-readership era.
She said, ‘The revenue from traditional bookstores cannot be referenced to endorse the survey results because the figure is really not that big. But it is not the same story with online bookstores. As a matter of fact, since E-commerce became a part of everyday life, the book market has seen a big leap in sales volume and readership.’
Buying books online is so convenient, and attractive discounts make online bookstores compelling. People have access to more options online (an idea explored by Chris Anderson in The Long Tail) , allowing them to shop in the same place for both reference books and literature.
Dangdang.com recently saw a serious boom; sales volume and readership quintupled and quadrupled respectively.
Peggy Yu said, ‘Interpretations of Analects of Confucius by Yu Dan, and On Three Kingdoms by Yi Zhongtian are among the current best-sellers in Shanghai, marking a happy trend that more and more people are seeking an educational and mentally stimulating experience in books instead of a merely recreational one.’
Sure beats the hell out of Japanese style manga comics.
Source: China.org.cn