Ink 84 in Highbury Park has joined other independent bookshops for the UK launch of Bookshop.org, “an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores”.
The Highbury business joins over 130 independent UK bookstores who have signed up to the initiative since launching this side of the Atlantic on the 2 November. The UK site has already raised over £100,000 collectively.
Author Betsy Tobin, who runs Ink 84 with artist Tessa Shaw, called the launch an “amazing feat”, explaining that Bookshop.org is aimed at “readers currently using Amazon who are seeking a more ethical alternative”.
Ink 84 “already has a successful online presence”, Tobin said, as a result of the first lockdown. “We were forced to be nimble and reinvent ourselves” by creating a Virtual Bookshop “to recreate the curated browsing experience we offer in shop”.
In the second lockdown, joining Bookshop.org has given Ink84 a way to bring more traffic to their own website as well as set up an additional page on the US-born independent book site.
“Bookshop[.org] is a way to indulge our sense of fun,” she added, as it allows them to be more creative with their virtual book lists – for instance, showcasing key texts celebrating women in politics.
Tobin explained: “We do receive a significantly lower margin from [Bookshop.org’s] commission, so we ask our current customers to continue to shop with us directly.”
Ink 84 has relaunched their Virtual Bookshop (on their website) with hundreds of new titles, and are keeping normal business hours for Click and Collect to “maintain a presence in the High Street”.
Tobin noted, “the response so far from customers has been fantastic”.
“With luck this lockdown will end in time for trading for Christmas”, she commented, saying they “will make it work whatever”.
