In many ways this is nothing new. Booksellers have always played a role as tastemakers and influencers. Keeping loyal customers up to date with new titles and ideas for further reading via newsletters and mailshots is a long-established practice. But the realities of the pandemic forced an upgrade. Similarly, publishers sped up a move to digital platforms for the promotion of books, and cultivation and curation of reading communities.
The pandemic has also spurred attempts to provide a viable alternative to Amazon. Bookshop.org was conceived in the US before the pandemic with the aim of offering book buyers an online service that could match the scale of stock available on Amazon with the personalised service and sense of community typically associated with smaller retailers. In turn, independent booksellers would get a share of the business. Covid-19 turned an idea that struggled to raise funding from investors and expected to take a while to establish itself into a rapid success story that has since expanded into the UK and is now looking to move into continental Europe.