James Daunt‚ Waterstones managing-director points at unfair business rates as main reason for high-street shops closing down. He explains that brick-and-mortar stores face direct taxation which online shops dont have to deal with; this creates an un-balanced playing field for retailers
Last year Sainsburys reported that business rates eat up half of its tax payments (about 500m pounds) The government promised changes but reform wont happen till 26: this means more shops might close before any help comes
We have a direct taxation upon our physical bookshops which an online retailer doesnʼt have. It is so egregiously large that itʼs directly counterproductive
Interestingly Daunts view on Amazon has changed over time - from calling it a “job-destroyer“ about ten years ago to seeing it as a friend now. He explains: Amazon handles boring books like driving-test manuals which lets Waterstones focus on better book selection; this co-existence helps both businesses grow
The book-selling veteran started his career with a single shop in London back in 90s. Now he splits time between UK and US managing both Waterstones and Barnes & Noble. The latter faces similar challenges as Waterstones did some years ago but its getting better despite covid-related delays
New challenges keep coming though - AI-written books flood self-publishing platforms trying to trick readers. “Weʼre endlessly putting in filters to keep that out“ Daunt says adding that political events also affect book sales:
- Fake books imitating famous authors
- Content moderation issues
- Political controversies impact
- Need for constant filtering
The high-street situation remains tough with many retailers leaving town centers. In places like Newport or Barrow-in-Furness Waterstones stays as one of few big shops left alongside maybe Greggs or a chemist