In today’s world, you can just about find anything and everything online. From grocery shopping to movie rentals, it has become easier to do all of these things without even having to leave the house, or even the computer for that matter. If the allure of shuffling through a small and dusty bookstore in an attempt to find that special gem doesn’t really appeal to you, yet eBooks still aren’t your thing, a number of booksellers have successfully transitioned into the online realm. From big name chains to used and rare booksellers, check out the list of the biggest online bookstores in order of monthly traffic below.
5. Books-A-Million – 615,000/month
Founded in 1917, Books-A-Million (also known as BAM!) has slowly grown into the second-largest retail bookstore chain in the United States. Books-A-Million launched their website, booksamillion.com, in 1998 and listed it as its own brand. The site, like the chain, sells books, ebooks, magazines, audiobooks, toys and gifts, music, and movies.
4. AbeBooks – 1.6 million/month
Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, AbeBooks (formerly known as Advanced Book Exchange) was launched in 1996. An online marketplace specializing in used, rare and out-of-print books, AbeBooks–which recently partnered with Amazon.com–allows visitors to search across listings from thousands of independent booksellers worldwide.
3. Christianbook.com – 2.8 million/month
The world’s largest Christian online retailer, Christianbook.com provides online access to more than 300,000 books, Bibles, CDs, DVDs, toys and gifts, games and other Christian-related retail items. Founded in 1978 by brothers Stephen and Ray Hendrickson, Christianbook.com has become the go-to place for Christian printed media.
2. Barnes & Noble – 10 million/month
The second largest online bookseller in the United States and the largest retail bookstore chain in the country, Barnes & Noble, Inc. stands as the last nationwide bookstore chain. Founded in 1873 as a small printing business, Barnes & Noble now operates online selling books, magazines, ebooks, DVDs, music and Nook eReaders to millions online.
1. Amazon.com – 100 million/month
Amazon.com, Inc. began in 1995 as an online bookstore, but has since grown into the world’s largest online retailer. Even though a large portion of Amazon.com’s visitors may not be in the market for books, the Seattle-based company’s highly successful Kindle ebook readers and Kindle Fire tablets have only added to the site’s physical and digital book sale totals, far surpassing other online bookstores.
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