Famous budget bookstore chain’s shift to online operations surprises public

September 17, 2020 - 5:55 PM
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Booksale
Interior of a Booksale branch. (Photo from Booksale via Facebook)

A well-known budget bookstore chain announced that its services can now be accessed online after it left patrons highly anticipated when it updated its social media page nearly a month ago.

Booksale said that its customers can now buy affordable reading materials through its Facebook page and then have the item picked up through a courier service or in any branch near them.

It also said that its Booksale Plus service is available online, where customers can chat or drop a text message to its personnel in charge.

Bestsellers on the list include “The Hunger Games,” “Life of Pi,” “Catching Fire,” “Insurgent,” “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and “Fifty Shades of Gray,” among others.

Posted by Booksale on Wednesday, September 16, 2020

 

Customers can pick up books in the following branches: Robinsons Galleria, SM Dasmariñas, SM San Lazaro, SM Manila, Makati Cinema Square, SM Muntinlupa, SM Baguio, SM Bacoor, SM Fairview, Cityland 10 in Makati, SM Bicutan, SM North EDSA, Nepo Mall Angeles and the Booksale warehouse in Parañaque.

For their inquiries, patrons can chat or text the store coordinators of the branches, who also process the transaction from payments to pick ups.

Location: Basement 1, 00211 Robinsons Galleria Cor. Edsa Ortigas.

Posted by Booksale on Thursday, September 17, 2020

 

Posted by Booksale on Wednesday, September 16, 2020

 

Last month, the bookstore chain sent bookworms abuzz when it suddenly updated parts of its Facebook page such as its picture, cover photo and phone number.

The last post prior to those updates was in September 2019.

Keen Filipinos saw the updates on their respective feeds and speculated that the bookstore might move its operations online in light of the coronavirus pandemic where businesses were forced to shift to the digital sphere.

A Twitter user took screengrabs of the bookstore’s social media updates and exclaimed: “S*it’s about to go down.”

(Screenshot by Interaksyon)

Many online users expressed their excitement in the replies thread while others shared of missing the bookstore during quarantine.

“Imagine an online catalog for all books in Booksale?” a Filipino shared in response to the screengrabs of the bookstore’s social media updates.

“BOOKSALE WAS MY GO-TO FOR BUYING CHEAP OUTDATED MANGAS :((( dawg one manga only costs 150 pesos. I miss them aaahhhhh,” responded another online user.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT MY HEART IS HAPPY,” another Twitter user wrote.

“We would go broke for you, Booksale! Open that online store na!” wrote another online user.

Booksale is the country’s source of low-priced assorted books from foreign publications in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

It also distributes “locally-printed slick Pinoy magazines” in both English and Filipino.

The bookstore chain has over 91 stores in the Philippines.