Okay, times have changed. How are things going? Apparently not so well. I decided to do a SWOT analysis to discover what I think are the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities Canadian Christian bookstores are facing today.

Strengths of Christian bookstores

They have generally been safe places to find books to give as gifts – you knew you could trust a book from Moody, Zondervan, etc.

They can carry a number of books on each topic, and not just the bestsellers

If you are looking for a book on a specific topic – prayer, marriage, raising children, you should be able to find something good.

Because many see it as ministry, staff will often do all they can to help you find the perfect book

There is a sense of belonging, rather than just being in a store, in many of them

You don’t have to worry about the content of what your kids pick up

Weaknesses of Christian bookstores

Many of them are small and don’t actually have a lot of books – may have more giftware and other items

Popular books are often higher priced than on the internet or at Costco

Some of them are more gift stores than bookstores

Some of them are dangerous for small kids because of all the breakable giftware: at Walmart, your kids are in a cart and you can relax more

You may well have to order the book you want and sometimes it’s not available or takes a long time to come in

Many stores are in out-of-the-way locations

Many of them don’t have the finances to keep up technologically

Many of them order one book at a time and therefore may not have adequate stock

High reliance on American books

Threats against Christian bookstores

Higher overhead and smaller orders lead to higher prices on books

Because of the almost complete reliance on books published in the US, the change in the value of the dollar created massive problems for most bookstores, and many haven’t quite recovered yet

Walmart, Costco and other stores often carry popular books at much lower prices

If you can get a book while at the mall, why go to another place and pay more?

More and more people are buying from the internet, where you can find pretty well anything you might want

Used bookstores on the internet make getting older materials easier

The younger generation isn’t reading as much, or they’re reading on the internet or on book readers.

The ability to download music has decimated CD sales

Some churches bypass bookstores and buy materials in bulk directly from the publisher

Photocopying of materials

Use of projectors instead of hymn or chorus books

Churches having their own on-site bookstores

Statistics have long shown that very few Christians have been going to Christian bookstores

Reliance on doing things as they have always been done, and not looking for new ways to do them

Opportunities for Christian bookstores

Some of them are good at fostering a sense of community

Cater to those who are not comfortable ordering from the internet

Foster loyal customers who are motivated to keep the stores open

Cater to people who prefer to hold the book and look at it before buying

Create reasons for people to come in because it’s “the place to be”

Go back to their reasons for existing and study the validity of those reasons in today’s market, and determine whether or not there might be new reasons

Use new technology to their advantage

Cater to, and create, an atmosphere conducive to those who LOVE books

Can you add any strengths of Christian bookstores? Weaknesses ? Threats? Opportunities? Please do comment.

Thoughts continued in my next blog.

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