Bookshops are running out of books: Waterstones staff are forced to find creative ways to mask gaps in the shelves after high street chain is hit by IT problems
- Waterstones has been hit by a book shortage with staff having to fill in the gaps
- The high street chain blamed IT problems for disrupting deliveries to bookshops
- The problems have angered customers who have been hit by weeks of delays
Waterstones has been hit by a book shortage, with staff forced to find creative ways to mask gaps in the shelves.
Displays have been changed so more books are placed with the cover facing customers rather than the spine, while some outlets are thought to have removed tables and shelves altogether.
The high street chain has blamed IT problems for disrupting deliveries to bookshops.
The problems have angered customers who have had book orders delayed by weeks, and authors fear the issues are costing them sales.
Adam Farrer wrote on Twitter: ‘My first book came out at the start of last month and I’ve heard from a few people who tried to order it in at their local Waterstones and couldn’t.’
Writer Joanne Harris added: ‘The timing of this couldn’t be worse. My heart goes out to everyone who is going to be affected – debut authors especially.’
Waterstones (pictured) has been hit by a book shortage, with staff forced to find creative ways to mask gaps in the shelves. The high street chain has blamed IT problems for disrupting deliveries to bookshops
One Waterstones employee at a central London store told the Daily Mail: ‘We’ve been badly affected. There’s been an issue with the new system for a few weeks now. We’ve been told it should be sorted by mid-September – but we think it’ll be sorted by Christmas.
‘Otherwise it would be carnage at Christmas time. We have massive backlogs because we have to order in books manually one by one which has frustrated customers. It’s affected our stores everywhere.’
Another staff member said: ‘It has affected our stock immensely. It’s looking thin in here at the moment because of the stock shortage.’
In one central London branch, many popular titles appeared to be out of stock. Just one volume of JRR Tolkien’s three-part epic, The Lord of the Rings, was on sale. Only three books in George RR Martin’s seven-book Song of Ice and Fire series – which was adapted into the Game of Thrones TV series – were available.
Customers have taken to social media to express their frustration.
One wrote on Twitter: ‘I was in the Cardiff Waterstones last weekend and there were so many gaps.’ Another said: ‘Just got a book that should have been delivered about a month ago… don’t mind stuff going wrong but the lack of communication to customers and staff has been really poor.’
A Waterstones spokesman said: ‘A new warehouse management system at our warehouse was implemented at the end of July. The provider, Blue Yonder, encountered significant initial difficulties which impacted deliveries into our bookshops. Capacity has now increased, with new titles arriving into shops on time.’
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