Startups turning a new page, online

READINGis still alive and kicking but the way people buy books is changing for sure. Like most other things, people want to buy their books too, but online. Some enterprising entrepreneurs have spotted this opportunity and are bridging the gap, setting up online book stores and discussion forums, connecting discerning readers. 

    So now we have librarywala.com, weRead, Flipkart, Shelfari and Indiaplaza, all selling books online or offering a forum to discuss and compare books. 
    After working for a few years with Amazon, Sachin Bansal startedFlipkart.com, an online bookstore which is doing brisk sales. He aims to reach Rs 25 crore in sales by March this year in just over a year of operations. "The main reason is that it is easier to start online, and you can start it from anywhere," says Bansal. It was a similar story with weRead, called iRead before being bought by Lulu.com. When Harish Abbott and Krishna Motukuri started iRead in 2007 in Bangalore, they looked at a void that was waiting to be filled—how to compare books and talk to discerning readers around the globe? So they started off with this site, which is like a social networking site for bookworms. More importantly, they developed an application with the name 'iRead' which was one of the most popular on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Orkut. And reading is popular—currently the company has more than 3 million registered users. 
    The books market in India is pegged at Rs 2,300 crore of which 5% is being bought online, according to Publishers Association. The online segment though is growing at 50% year on year as online payments become more secure and people buy online without hesitation and doubt. "Now I can go to one of these websites and buy stuff, without any worries," says Prof T Krishnan of IIM Bangalore, who works with startups in their incubation phase. He adds that online security firms like BillDesk and eGestalt Technologies and startups have now put in place a full ecosystem to ensure payments are secure. 
    Also, some of these new firms are using cloud computing to make the identities of buyers secure. For example, if a customer buys a book which might be objectionable in his country, and his identity is made public by a hacker, it could mean serious trouble for him. To prevent such situations, online bookstores are now tying up with eGestalt, and others. "We offer security from any cyber attacks, and from internal sabotage," says Anupam Sahai, President, eGestalt Technologies. Also, if the start-up plans on listing, then it can use the same software to make sure all security regulatory clearances are met with, wherever it wants to list. 
    So is this the end of the traditional bookstore? Ironically, online bookstores and sites like weRead have generated even more interest, says Bansal, because many a times people just get all the information on the site and buy at an offline bookstore. 
anirvan.ghosh@timesgroup.com