8 Singapore indie bookstores join forces to launch Bookshop.sg, a one-stop site for book lovers

Book lovers, rejoice – there’s a new way to support your favourite independent bookstores in Singapore.

Bookshop.sg, which launches Wednesday (May 14), is a one-stop online shopping platform that brings together eight independent local bookstores, allowing readers to browse and purchase books from all of them in one place, without the need to visit each store in person or to hop between different websites.

The eight participating bookshops are: Epigram Books, Wardah Books, City Book Room, Union Book, Sea Breeze Books, Nurul Anwar Bookstore, Basheer Graphic Books and Thryft.

Bookshop.sg will allow readers to explore a wide selection of titles, from local literary fiction and graphic design to Malay books and titles on religion and spirituality, among many others.

So, how does it work? Let’s say you’re looking for The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei, To The Last Gram by Shreya Davies, or Why Palestine? Reflections From Singapore by Walid Jumblatt Abdullah – all recent popular titles by Singaporean authors. Or perhaps you’re not sure what to look for, but you’re interested in either a book about historical fiction or an international bestseller on mental health. 

You can simply search for a title or browse through the various book categories available on the site and purchase. The platform runs on an artificial intelligence (AI) system similar to what thrift store Thryft uses for its own secondhand store. 

Browsing, checkout and payment are handled seamlessly on Bookshop.sg, while logistics are managed on the backend. Orders above S$150 qualify for free shipping, even if your books are from multiple bookstores. Otherwise, a flat delivery fee of S$5.90 applies.

A SHARED PURPOSE FOR LOCAL BOOKSTORES

For the booksellers involved, this isn’t just about sales or visibility, it’s also about the potential the collaboration can bring.

“This partnership shows the many creative ways bookshops here are bringing great reads to the masses,” said Eddie Lim, Thryft’s co-founder and CEO.

Ho TingXuan, Thryft’s retail manager and project manager of Bookshop.sg, added: “With this platform, we hope to spotlight and grow Singapore’s reading culture.”

With its slogan “Singapore's indie bookshops, in this together,” the platform also aims to encourage participating bookstores to collaborate further.

Tan Waln Ching, director of City Book Room, a bookstore and publisher at Joo Chiat Road that specialises in Chinese books, said: “With this first collaboration, all the publishers, booksellers, readers and writers can soon come together and discuss, brainstorm, share our challenges and think of solutions.”

Ibrahim Tahir, director of Wardah Books, an Islamic bookshop in Kampong Glam, echoed the sentiment.

“The platform is secondary,” he said. “The primary goal is the cooperation among booksellers that this platform enables. It moves us away from the ruthless competitive model of capitalism.

“Once we realise that we can have a unity of purpose, we can do many other things for the reading scene here.”

Bookshop.sg is launching with eight stores, but the team hopes to welcome more independent bookstores and publishers based in Singapore in time.

To mark the launch, the team is also hosting a physical exhibition of curated titles from the participating bookstores, along with a booksellers’ panel at Thryft Hub at 120 Lower Delta Road on May 31. Interested attendees are welcome to register for the event via Bookshop.sg’s Instagram page.