New Delhi: The much hyped retail boom is now ushering a new chapter in the publication business. Major publishing houses are keen on setting up in India.
Paragon, one of the largest international publishing houses will kickstart its India plans via Indian book stores and retail marts.
The Indian book stores may soon have dedicated spaces for books published by Paragon, a $150 million, UK based publishing house that gets 80 per cent of its sales in UK, from non-book stores.
Helping the company get such sales is its direct relationship with major retail chains such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Hoping to grab a significant market share in the Rs 5,000 crore plus English language, trade publishing Indian market, the company plans to build similar retail tie-ups with Big Bazaar and other retail chains.
Managing Director, Parragon Publishing India Vineet Sharma says, “We will focus on modern retail chains, which have multiple chains and large independence. We would basically put up books and books plus stuff in those stores itself.”
Apart from a unique distribution design, the company has a rather distinctive business model too.
It creates the content through an in-house team, complete with authors, photographers and a design panel.
With its largest footprint in the children's books category, which account for 60 per cent of sales the company sells over 60 million books in 14 languages every year.
In India, however, the company will have to compete with other established players like Penguin and Harper Collins.
Currently the Indian team will focus on sales and marketing, but will soon look at content from India.
Trade Publishing Houses in India
1. Penguin
2. Harper Collins
3. Random House
4. Roli Publishers
5. Scholastic
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