Scottish bookshops keep click and collect option as Sturgeon brands books 'essential'

Bookshops in Scotland will still be able to offer click and collect services despite a toughening of coronavirus restrictions, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon branding books “essential items”.

On Wednesday (13th January), Sturgeon announced new measures, which come into force at midnight on Saturday, to help stop the spread of the virus.

The new rules include the prohibition of “non-essential” click and collect retail services. However, bookshops will be among a number of exemptions alongside clothing, homeware and baby equipment shops, with Sturgeon for the first time saying books counted as “essential".

Sturgeon said: “We intend to limit the availability and operation of click and collect retail services. Only retailers selling essential items will be allowed to offer click and collect. This will include, for example, clothes and footwear, baby equipment, homeware and books. All other click and collect services must stop.

“More importantly, for click and collect services that are allowed, staggered appointments will need to be offered to avoid any potential for queues, and access inside premises for collection will not be permitted.”

Other measures introduced include customers being barred from collecting takeaways from inside restaurants, a ban on public drinking and the public leaving home only for essential purposes.

Meryl Halls, m.d. of the Booksellers Association, said she welcomed Sturgeon's acknowledgment that books were "vital" and stressed shops that wanted to offer click and collect would be able to do so safely.

She said: "The Scottish government’s decision to designate bookshops as able to offer click and collect even during this firmer lockdown is broadly welcome, and gives booksellers in Scotland the option to offer click and collect if they wish to do so. We hear from booksellers across the UK that bookshop customers taking advantage of click and collect tend not to make special trips to collect, but to integrate their book pickups with daily exercise regimes, so most booksellers are offering a welcome service to their communities and are bringing the joy of books to a weary, traumatised and largely-housebound population. There will be booksellers who embrace the option to continue offering click and collect and others who choose to stand back from it, and that is as it should be.

"Bookshops are providers of a vital product, and are also part of a sector under intense and existential threat from the relentless onslaught of this virus and its effects on lives and livelihoods. We welcome the acknowledgement by the Scottish government of books as a vital product and know that our members will continue with their deep commitment to responsible retailing. We also thank the First Minister, who we know has spoken often of the crucial role books play in her life and in her coping strategies during the Covid crisis, for being a standard bearer for the healing and nourishing qualities of books and reading.”

Jim Taylor, manager of Lighthouse Books in Edinburgh, which has continued to see good sales thanks to customer support and its new website, welcomed the news.

He said: “We like to continue offering click and collect services where we can, as a few of our customers who live alone have commented on the mental health benefit of interacting with another human being, even if it's from the other side of a door! We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our staff and customers, and welcome further restrictions in the interest of public health, even if it means we now need to formulate an appointments system for collections.”

Rosamund de la Hey, who runs the Mainstreet Trading Company in St Boswells, said: "We are slightly different to other bookshops in that our deli is still open with restricted hours, so click and collect can be managed easily and safely. The footfall is pretty slow and take up on click and collect for books is not huge. Our online sales continue to tick over, but at a much reduced level of course given the time of year."

Ellen Wilson, who runs Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh, said: “We are going to keep going with our click and collect service, but have swapped to an appointment system to avoid any queueing, or and customers arriving at the same time. We've got big signs all around the click and collect area with instructions for the customers, such as please knock for collections. It's been surprising how many customers haven't seemed to understand that they cannot enter the shop (even with a mask) just now, so I hope that the First Minister's announcements will reinforce that if nothing else.”

The store set up its own online shop in the autumn and also has a bike courier to deliver books on Saturday mornings, while Gardners home delivery has been a “lifesaver”.

She said: “I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal, but we have a robust system in place that luckily doesn't rely fully on click and collect that will keep us going for now. More than anything, we are so tired! We had our busiest Christmas on record, and then had to jump right into strategising how we'd navigate this new lockdown without much of a break.

“My philosophy in terms of keeping the business open and trading is that, really, its all out of our hands and all we can do is manage the changes as best and as positively as we can.”