It is that time of the year again when all you want to do is
shop. However, for book lovers like me, shopping for books happens all year
round unfortunately. There is no such thing as too many books. Right???
But if you are looking for something new to read or to
search for that book that you could not find at your nearest bookstore or you
just want to buy a book for someone this Christmas, you can do so at the newly
launched Bookurve.
Bookurve is a Malaysian online bookstore that offers free
delivery for the books which are sold at low prices.
I have had the opportunity to conduct an e-mail interview
with one of the guys behind the startup. Here is the interview with Lian Shen:
1. How did the
website's name "Bookurve" come about?
It is a combination of the words "Book" and
"Curve".
2. How is Bookurve
different from other online bookstores, for example local bookstore MPHonline
and international ones like Book Depository?
We want Malaysian readers to find any book they want and
buy it at the lowest price. We also want to introduce more of the latest book
titles to readers who would not be able to find them in MPH.
In comparison with Book Depository, we are able to deliver
the books in a shorter period of time, say, two to three weeks, with a tracking
code for the order.
3. How many books
are there in the store? What genre of books do you offer?
Currently, we have 20,000 book titles that we can ship out
within a day. As long as the book is an English title and the book is still in
print, we will try our best to get the book out to our readers.
4. How did Bookurve come about?
We started this idea when we found that readers could actually
have a wider selection of book titles, a feature not met by MPH and Kinokuniya.
Some readers do not even realise it, including me before we started Bookurve.
The prices of the books are also quite expensive. So these
were the two reasons that inspired us to create Bookurve to give greater
benefits to avid readers.
5. When was
Bookurve launched? Any increase in visitors and sales until now?
We launched it six months ago to get any feedback and response
from readers who eventually found us via Google. We also recently launched a
new layout on the Bookurve website with a message to our customers that goes
like this: "Find any book you want in Bookurve".
6. Free delivery on
all orders? No minimum purchase required?
We initially provided free delivery within Malaysia with
no minimum purchase. Now, due to the increase of shipping costs, we only provide
free delivery with a minimum order of RM25. For East Malaysia, there is a minor
shipping fee.
7. Where do you get the books to sell on Bookurve?
We sourced the books from an overseas distributor as well
as a local market distributor.
8. Any other information
that you would like to highlight?
We found that there are many places in Malaysia that are
lacking in physical bookstores and this makes it difficult for readers to find
and buy books. So, we want to provide an opportunity to Malaysian readers to discover,
find and buy books no matter where they are, as long as they have access to the
Internet and visit Bookurve.
Thanks Lian Shen for the interview.
So that was the interview and I hope you enjoyed getting to know more about Bookurve. As it is now December and Christmas is approaching, Bookurve has a special Christmas deal for its customers.
Click this link for the Christmas deal. The promotion ends on Dec 31. Do take note that delivery is within Malaysia only.
Happy book-buying everybody!
