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Booktopia

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Booktopia
Type of businessPublic
Type of site
E-commerce
Available inEnglish
Founded4 February 2004
HeadquartersStrathfield South, New South Wales, Australia
Country of originAustralia
Founder(s)Tony Nash
Simon Nash
Steve Traurig
IndustryBookselling, book distributor, book publisher, online shopping
ProductsBooks
DVDs
eBooks
Stationery
Magazines
Audiobooks
Calendars, diaries, journals
Revenue$240 million (FY22)
Employees160
SubsidiariesAngus & Robertson
The Co-op Bookshop (online only)
URLbooktopia.com.au
Launched4 February 2004

Booktopia Group Ltd is an Australian online bookseller founded in 2004 in Sydney. The company also owns Angus & Robertson, a major Australian online bookseller, publisher, and printer. In July 2024, the company was placed in voluntary administration, before being bought in August 2024 by digiDirect.

History

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Booktopia was founded in 2004 by Tony Nash, his brother Simon Nash, and his brother-in-law Steve Traurig.[1] By some accounts, Nash's sister Elana Traurig was also among the company's founders.[2][3] They outsourced website management and order fulfilment until 2007, when they developed a new website and began renting a 500 square-meter warehouse in Artarmon.[1] Two years later, they moved to a larger warehouse in Lane Cove.[4] In 2013, Booktopia was voted as Australia's favourite bookshop in a poll by the Australian Booksellers' Association.[5]

Booktopia moved to a 10,000 square-meter warehouse in Lidcombe in 2014, where they invested $4 million into automation of order picking.[6] By this point, they had a turnover of $54 million, and shipped nearly 3 million books a year.[7] In August 2015, Booktopia bought online retailers Bookworld and Angus & Robertson from Penguin Random House.[8][9] This acquisition reportedly gave Booktopia an 80% share of the online book sales market in Australia.[10]

In 2016, the company announced that it intended to list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with a $150 million initial public offering,[11] but this float was abandoned due to investor concerns about Amazon's 2017 expansion into Australia affecting the business.[12]

Four years later, Booktopia successfully listed on the ASX in December of 2020. Selling 18.8 million shares at an issue price of $2.30, the company raised $43.1 million on a market capitalisation of $357 million.[13][14] According to the prospectus issued before its IPO, Booktopia accounted for approximately 6% of Australian book sales by this point.[15]

In the same year, 2020, they bought university bookstore chain The Co-op Bookshop after the business went into administration, closing its 30 physical stores and moving its textbook sales business online.[16]

Booktopia's publishing business Booktopia Publishing was launched in 2019. It publishes authors from Australia and around the world.[citation needed][17] In 2020, Booktopia launched a joint venture with Rakuten Kobo to provide eBook and downloadable audiobooks through the Booktopia/Rakuten Kobo app.[18]

CEO Tony Nash sold $6 million worth of his shares on 6 December 2021, shortly before the company announced it was anticipating a drop in earnings.[19] Amidst investor ire over the timing of this sale as well as plunging earnings, in May 2022 Nash announced that he would be stepping down from his role as CEO once a replacement had been found.[20] However, in July, the company's board forced Nash to step down earlier than expected, appointing CFO Geoff Stalley as his interim replacement.[21] In August, Nash announced that he intended to spill the board, hoping to remove the chairman and other members.[22] Later that month, the company was forced to pay $6 million by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission on the grounds that it had misrepresented consumers' rights to refunds and returns.[23]

From a high of $3 in August 2021, the company's share price steadily crashed to reach $0.17 by June 2022; Booktopia suggested this was due to a decline in business faced by online retailers after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.[19] In June 2024, Booktopia requested a suspension on trading of its shares, which had by then fallen to $0.05.[24]

In June 2024, Booktopia announced it would make at least 50 employees redundant in addition to other cost-saving measures.[25] Leadership changes including the resignation of chief executive David Nenke were also announced.[26]

In July 2024, Booktopia entered voluntary administration.[27] The administrator disclosed that the company held debts totalling around $60 million.[28] Writing in The Conversation, Australian academics Katya Johanson and Bronwyn Reddan cited competition from Amazon, increased operating costs, and a slump in book sales after the Covid boom as factors in the business's demise.[29] Australian business publication iTnews also reported that costs from setting up the Strathfield warehouse had caused the business to sustain heavy losses in the lead-up to its collapse.[30]

In August 2024, Booktopia was bought by the online electronics store digiDirect, an online camera store, [31] for an undisclosed amount, with plans to resume trading following the deal.

References

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  1. ^ a b Carey, Alexis (27 January 2019). "How three Sydney blokes turned ailing sector on its head". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  2. ^ Morris, Cathy (23 June 2014). "Australia's Amazon: How Booktopia grew from a $10 budget to a $40 million book business". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ Pitt, Helen (16 December 2021). "Booktopia CEO Tony Nash on the superpower that helped him succeed". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  4. ^ Mitchell, Sue (24 March 2017). "Booktopia ready for the Amazon attack". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  5. ^ Steger, Jason (16 August 2013). "A one-off winner?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Warehouse Management Systems: Booktopia Writes a new Chapter - Adept Conveyors". adeptconveyor.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  7. ^ White, Sue (27 November 2014). "Meet the boss: Tony Nash from Booktopia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  8. ^ Keating, Eloise (3 August 2015). "Tome raider: Booktopia buys Bookworld and Angus & Robertson". Smart Company. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  9. ^ Danckert, Sarah (24 June 2022). "(Book)dystopia: How Australia's biggest bookseller went from hero to villain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Booktopia to take on Amazon after buying rival Bookworld". Australian Financial Review. 3 August 2015. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Sue (29 March 2016). "Booktopia pushing ahead with IPO plans despite Amazon threat". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Booktopia prepares for the arrival of Amazon". SBS World News. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Booktopia completes ASX listing; closes at 17% above issue price". Books+Publishing. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Booktopia completes ASX listing; closes at 17% above issue price | Books+Publishing". Books+Publishing. 4 December 2020. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Booktopia Group Limited Prospectus" (PDF). Booktopia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  16. ^ Bonyhady, Nick (30 January 2020). "Co-op bookshop to disappear from university campuses". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Booktopia Expands Publishing Division". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  18. ^ Stark, Leigh :) (2 November 2021). "Kobo, Booktopia team for all-you-can-read eBooks". Pickr. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  19. ^ a b Danckert, Sarah (24 June 2022). "(Book)dystopia: How Australia's biggest bookseller went from hero to villain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Booktopia chief executive Nash resigns after earnings plunge in third quarter". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  21. ^ Danckert, Sarah (14 July 2022). "Booktopia co-founder Tony Nash ousted from CEO role". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  22. ^ LaFrenz, Carrie (18 August 2022). "Booktopia co-founder seeks to spill the board". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  23. ^ Ogg, Matt (29 August 2022). "Booktopia agrees to fork out $6m in penalties over misleading returns claims to customers". Business News Australia.
  24. ^ "Booktopia appoints administrators". Books+Publishing. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  25. ^ Rose, Derek (3 June 2024). "Bookseller Booktopia takes desperate steps to survive". The New Daily. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  26. ^ Ignacio, Celene (3 June 2024). "Tony Nash is back at Booktopia as CEO steps down; mass redundancies loom". Inside Retail Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  27. ^ Yun, Jessica (3 July 2024). "Online bookseller Booktopia enters voluntary administration". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Booktopia in $60 million debt as administrators investigate whether collapsed retailer traded while insolvent". ABC News. 15 July 2024. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  29. ^ Reddan, Bronwyn; Johanson, Katya (4 July 2024). "Booktopia, Australia's biggest online bookseller, is poised for collapse. That doesn't mean bookshops are in trouble". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Booktopia in administration after troubled automated warehouse move". iTnews. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Booktopia to begin trading again after sale to online store digiDirect". ABC News. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
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