Random Online Search of Comics Shops Shows Opportunities for Exploitation, Dominance

Ever since Diamond announced their Diamond Digital initiative, allowing comics shops to sell digital comics to customers, I’ve  been wondering about the future of comics retailing, specifically, How well do comics shops market their stores online?

I’ve  been a bookseller since 1994, and I’ve seen how the Internet has affected traditional brick-and-mortar retailing.  Books have a more tactile experience than music, and the demise of bookstores has taken a bit longer than that of music and video stores.  But there are many consumers who appreciate function over form, getting information from whichever source is easiest and/or cheapest.  I still read comics and books, but most of my news is read via Google.

Since 2009 , the comics industry has seen a big growth in digital comics sales.  Comics shops, dependent on the weekly sales of comic books, expressed concern and trepidation as publishers began offering titles online the same day as print copies. Would they see customers shift online, abandoning stores in a similar fashion to the music industry?  Could they compete with online retailers offering both digital comics as well as discounted books and other merchandise?

Publishers were quick to placate the retailers, and both Comixology and Diamond Comics Distributors created initiatives allowing stores to sell digital comics, either in the store, or via a store’s website.  (Comixology began as an information resource for fans, and created retailer tools for store in 2009.)

So, how robust are comic shop websites?  Do shops have a presence online, and to what extent?  Does a store sell store product online, like Amazon?  Do they sell digital comics?

Speculation is that there are about 3,000 comics retailers in the United States.  The exact number will probably never be known, although I’m sure someone could filter Google map results to estimate a number.

Even then, that would take too much time to analyze each site, so I’ve done a random sample.

Methodolgy

The national Zip code system used by the United States Postal Service is geographical, as seen in the map below.

Using a random-number-generator, I generated a selection of five-digit numbers, which I used as zip codes.

I then plugged each number into the Comics Shop Locator Service.  Sometimes, the zip code didn’t officially exist; sometimes it found a site elsewhere on the planet, such as the Canary Islands; or it returned a default result of two mail-order shops, one in Manitoba, one in Indiana.

I generated codes and searched them until I found a valid result for each region, so that examples would be geographically diverse.  It should  be noted that zip codes are created to serve distinct communities, as well as specific locales with a large amount of mail.  There will be a tendency for a random zip code to be located near or in a metropolitan area.  For example, New York City has been assigned all zip codes which fall under the following prefixes: 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 111, 112, 113, 114.  That’s almost 1% of all possible zip codes, and most likely, more than that, as many numbers remain unassigned nationally, and New York City has many buildings and blocks with specialized zip codes.

Surprisingly, only two of the ten random zip codes resulted in metropolitan cities: New York City and Dallas, with a third suburban zip code overlapping with nearby Denver stores.  The rest were either small cities, like Fresno; or regional areas, like southwestern Michigan.

What I found:

• The CSLS has a limit of six results.  Results ranged from 1 to 6.  {1,2,2,2,2,6,6,6,6,6}
• Four zip codes generated listings with duplicate store listings for chains.
• There were thirty-three distinct stores, with six duplicates which were ignored, as chain stores would all share the same website.
• Sites ran the gamut from simple webdesign hosted on commercial domains to robust, professional, online retail sites, some of which had a URL different than that of the store’s name.
• Few stores offer digital comics for sale online.  Those which do use Comixology.  The professional retail websites did not offer digital downloads, although Diamond Digital does offer an API for robust e-commerce websites.
• Nine of the thirty-three stores had no website.  Twenty-two had profiles on the Comics Shop Locator Service.
• Three stores (Lone Star, Midtown, Mile High) had excellent e-commerce websites, although none of those three seemed to sell digital comics.

My Conclusions:

• Blockbuster came to prominence in the 1980s by buying up regional video store chains.  A pop-culture store, similar to Newbury comics, could be viable, especially when supported by robust computer systems and a centralized warehouse.  (Local store sold out of a comic?  Transfer a copy from the warehouse, or from a nearby store!)  The warehouse would also power the website.
• Or, physical stores are minimized, and a highly-visible website is created.
• People are not afraid of digital comics, or critical of the “rental” model currently used.  Many readers either do not live near a comics shop, or do not want to be bothered with the clutter of back issues.
• Comics are now mainstream.  There are many lapsed comics readers out there, and many recreational readers who occasionally read a comic or graphic novel.
• There is no “iTunes” store for comics, at least in the mind of the general consumer.  Both the Kindle and Nook e-readers offer digital comics, as well as sell actual graphic novels and other merchandise.  Digital music sales were not commonplace until Apple opened their iTunes store.  Apple or Amazon could easily create a national comics shop selling paper and digital comics online.  (Amazon already dominates online retailing, and could subsidize the new store.  Comics by mail-order is nothing new, and Amazon is adept at shipping books with strict-on-sale dates so that they arrive on a specific date.)
• The Diamond Digital API allows stores to sell digital comics via their websites.  A store could easily do what Amazon does with their e-books, selling titles either at a loss, or at a minimal profit.

The results:

(Random zip code, actual location of zip code, results)

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06081  Tariffville, CT  6 stores

10199  New York, NY  6 stores (1 duplicate)

25920  Slab Fork, WV  2 stores (1 duplicate)

37642  Church Hill, TN 37642  6 stores (2 duplicates)

49066  Leonidas, MI  2 stores

55060  Owatonna, MN  1 Store

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61337  Malden, IL  2 stores

75355  Dallas, TX  6 stores

 

 

 

 

80041  Aurora, CO 6 stores (2 duplicates)

93772  Fresno, CA  2 stores

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