Abstract
Antique bookstores record the history of urban development and are crucial for urban cultural construction. Traditional business models can no longer meet antique bookstores' survival needs in the digital era. Thus, this study investigates a traditional physical bookstore, Suzhou Antique Bookstore, as the case to re-examine its functions and values as an urban cultural landmark, proposing a new sort of sustainable niche cultural tourism. Based on interviews, the authors discuss the pros and cons of the bookstore's current position using the STP model and the 7Ps marketing mix. Despite the current strategies, there is still room for improvement in digital trends. As an urban cultural benchmark, they suggest three transformation strategies for the bookstore: product selection, experience creation, and media joint. Scant studies have proposed insights into the sustainable development of antique bookstores from the perspective of urban cultural construction, especially in Asia.
TopLiterature Review
Development Models of the Antique Book Industry
Antique bookstores have not only economic value but also irreplaceable cultural value. Within China, experts have investigated how antique bookstores can adapt to the digital age. Antique bookstores carry a city’s cultural history and play an essential role in the progress of urban civilization and the life of residents. Thus, the support of policies, the cohesion of public welfare, and the maintenance of the Bookstore’s characteristics are all necessary to promote the revival of bookstores (Yang & Deng, 2018). Su et al. (2019) investigated antique bookstores in the Jiangnan area of China and suggested that since antique bookstores reflect the cultural accumulation of a city, the government, society, and consumers should work together to save these declining cultural symbols. In the context of Internet plus, Liu (2020) analyzed the antique bookstores in Nanjing and proposed a transformation model by combining online and offline channels, expanding the business scope, and creating urban cultural landmarks. Shi and Bu (2021) propose a method for antique bookstores that conforms to the digital age by integrating four levels of marketing: tools, processes, organization internals, and relationships.
For international research, Lloyd-Jones and Davies (2006) opined that antique bookstores in the British countryside should provide online sales and service models and establish a user-friendly website to ensure competitiveness. An and Seo (2013) used service quality testing techniques to analyze and study customer satisfaction in used bookstores in Korea and suggested improvement strategies for them. Other related international studies are quite limited.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Antique Bookstore: A type of bookstores majorly acquiring, collecting, and selling antique and rare books, second-hand books, and perhaps also calligraphy and paintings of famous artists.
Cultural Landmark: A place being of cultural significance for a group of people, including monuments and ancient buildings, serving as an iconic representation of, for example, a culture, belief, and historical events.
Urban Culture: The culture of a town or city that may represent the behavioral patterns of the people living in that town or city in the past and present, such as living cultures with living styles, customs, and traditions.
Cultural Tourism: A sort of tourism that tourists are motivated to learn and experience the tangible and intangible cultural attractions such as arts, architecture, literature, living cultures, traditions, customs, historical heritage, and cultural heritage.
7Ps Marketing Theory: A kind of marketing mixes comprising seven elements, i.e., product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence, to assisting marketers and researchers to develop feasible marketing strategies. Sometimes, it may also be assisted in analyzing current marketing strategies of the organizations to uncover any possible deficiencies.
STP Model: A marketing model comprising three elements: segmentation (S), targeting (T), and positioning (P), which is frequently used for creating strategies of marketing mix and product positioning. It may also be used to analyze the current situations of the organizations and reforming marketing strategies.
Suzhou Antique Bookstore: The bookstore located on Renmin Road, Gusu District, Suzhou City, China, which is one of the main streets with the longest history in Suzhou. Formerly as 18 well-known traditional bookstores in late Qing Dynasty, the Bookstore acquires and sells vintage and rare books and other cultural artifacts for local residents, tourists and cultural professionals as well as high education institutions, public libraries, and academic institutions.