Moreover, online bookstores are on the VAT exemption list, which makes Zhu Min worried. Online bookstores offer lower prices, which attracts huge amounts of Internet traffic, more advertisements and even venture capital. Selling books, in this regard, seems like a clever tactic.

With tax exemptions, is it possible for online bookstores to intensify price competition with traditional bookstores? If so, the beleaguered traditional bookstore will inevitably disappear.

"Government support cannot solve the fundamental problem because it cannot produce the immediate effect of increasing revenue," Zhu said. "A zero-sales situation might set off alarm bells. It takes up too much space, ties up a great deal of manpower and increases liquidity occupation costs."

To some extent, a higher VAT reflects high sales. Zhu prefers to pay VAT rather than have a zero-sales situation.

Self-relief in its unique way

Bookstore owners agree that tax exemptions alone will not guarantee survival, meaning they must reform and innovate their daily operations in line with this favorable external factor.

"We should not solely depend on selling books anymore," said Qian Xiaohua, general manager of Nanjing Librairie Avant-Garde.

According to Qian, besides maintaining a solid readership, the bookstore has also developed an innovative marketing strategy, luring young clients through the sale of cultural and creative products such as handicrafts and souvenirs. Unsurprisingly, product revenue has doubled and it now represents half of the bookstore's total revenue.

After relocation, the Popular Bookmall that Zhu served, diversified its commodities and began to sell cosmetics, clothes, coffee and other goods, and rearranged their store's layout in an attempt to provide a more relaxing and convenient environment for customers. For instance, the bookstore divided cookbooks into three categories of western dessert, home-cooking, and drinks, and put these books on different shelves.

"Xinjiekou, where our bookstore is located, has a huge flow of people. We should make full use of it in order to provide a reader-friendly environment and attract potential customers," Zhu said.

For traditional bookstores, the tax exemption allows them to upgrade and transform. In Chen's blueprint, the saved capital could be used to speed up the bookstore's construction and purchase high-end technology devices.

"We are in the process of upgrading. In the future, our customers could not only enjoy a better reading environment in our bookstore, but also have free digital reading on our website," Chen said.

"Bookstores cannot compete with department stores in terms of revenue. But books could pass people's spirit on, giving us great comfort and support, which in itself is invaluable," Chen continued.

"To save traditional bookstores, it is impossible to solely depend on self-relief or favorable policies. Our society has an obligation to improve reading atmospheres and cultivate culture," he added.

(Source: Xinhua Daily)