There are very few book publishers and sellers in South Africa that can boast the kind of growth and resilience that Van Schaik Bookstore can; this is their 100th year since Johannes van Schaik opened the first bookstore's doors in 1914 in Church Street, Pretoria.
However, it is not by chance that 100 years later this iconic chain of 60 stores is one of the leaders in the South African academic textbook market. Therefore it does not come with any surprise that Van Schaik won the Sefika Academic Bookseller of the Year Award for the third consecutive year.
Van Schaik has shown to be ahead of the curve in many ways at pivotal points in history. In 1942, Van Schaik started publishing titles that were in African languages, something that was unheard of considering that the Nationalist party was in power at the time. In 2011, Van Schaik started campaigning to put pressure on the South African government to drop Value Added Tax (VAT) on school textbooks, which would effectively make books cheaper for students. In 2012, Van Schaik signed on Ingram's VitalSource, an international market leader in eBook resources, when very few 'old school' publishers were willing to invest in eBooks on such a grand scale.
Van Schaik has changed hands a few times over the years, which contributed to their growth and expansion; Via Afrika bought Van Schaik in 1986, Avusa Ltd acquired the company in 2007, Times Media bought the business in 2012, and Meducapital are the new owners since 2013.
In 2008 Van Schaik Bookstores opened their first online store; later, in 2011, they increased their site's functionality and e-commerce capabilities when they signed on e-commerce website specialists, Realm Digital. The collaboration between Realm Digital and Van Schaik Bookstores lead to multiple improvements that aided their expansion and product reach; this included eBook functionality, integration with VitalSource, complex payment gateway integrations, quotation functionality, a whole new design and feel, and much more.
"Realm Digital has delivered a world class e-commerce platform for our www.vanschaik.com web store. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing but the user interface is beautiful to behold and well-designed considering that many of our customers are students. Most use mobile devices for browsing. This shows that the solution from Realm Digital was well thought out and robust. We are delighted to have seen positive growths in the key performance analytics since engaging with Realm as our development partner," commented Melvin Kaabwe, Digital Manager of Van Schaik Bookstores.
Since going live with their new and improved website in 2011, their growth in online traffic is projected at 100% growth at the end of this year, making their online store one of their fastest growing and profitable stores.
Selling eBooks from their online store was a no-brainer for Van Schaik, "E-textbooks are a growing and important part of the future of education, and working with an international market leader like Ingram's Vital Source, we have the resources to enhance learning throughout Africa and meet the digital needs of the academic community today and into the future," says Stephan Erasmus, Managing Director, Van Schaik Bookstores. "We look forward to adding more and more book publishers that are relevant to the South African student, academic or professional reader as part of our continuing commitment to providing bona-fide academic materials."
Now in their 100th year of existence, with 62 book stores, an e-commerce store, a library division, and one of the leading providers of academic resources in South Africa and Namibia, Van Schaik Bookstores remain a force to be reckoned with and an industry leader in SA bookselling.
