CHAPTER ONE LOFTUS is one of the 410 independent bookshops to share in the £1m profit generated in just four months by Bookshop, the book buying site that allows shoppers to financially support independent bookshops when shopping online.

The shop, based in the Market Place, joined Bookshop.org in January after closing for a second time due to lockdown restrictions. It had only opened in November, two days before the start of the second lockdown.

As of February 4, 82 per cent of sales on Bookshop were generated by titles selling four or less copies each, and 54 per cent from titles selling a single copy, demonstrating how the platform helps draw attention to books beyond bestseller lists and celebrates diversity within publishing.

Paul Jones-King, of Chapter One Loftus, said: “Bookshop.org has given us another vehicle to show case the books we have in store. We were forced to close our doors two days after opening in November and whilst customer have continued to support us via our own website we chose to sign up to bookshop.org to give customers alternative options to support us during the third lockdown."

Independent bookshops receive 30 per cent of the cover price from each sale they generate on the platform. Ten per cent from any sale not attributed to a specific bookshop goes into the shared profit pool. In addition, a number of publishers – including Canongate, Atlantic, Murdoch, Profile, Serpent's Tail, Faber, Pushkin Press, Scribe, Nosy Crow, Simon & Schuster, Pan Macmillan, PRH, Hachette, Usborne and Europa Editions – have chosen to forego their ten per cent affiliate commission and opted for it to go into the shared profit pool, to be split equally by independent bookshops using the site.

Nicole Vanderbilt, managing director at Bookshop UK, said: “Bookshop.org’s mission is to support the independent bookselling sector in the UK, and it is deeply gratifying to have reached this significant milestone in such a short time, and to hear the individual stories of success from bookshops using the site to sell books. Book buyers have made it clear that they believe in online shopping that gives back to local communities.”