A new Chrome extension helps British bookworms support local independent bookshops… by browsing on Amazon.
It might sound like a contradiction of intent with Amazon being one of the largest online bookstores in the world, but it’s wonderfully clever.
You install the free Bookindy Chrome extension then, when you next want to buy a book just browse around on Amazon as normal.
The add-on shows the price and stock of the title in a nearby local store on the Amazon product page. You don’t have to open a new tab or perform a search elsewhere.
“Amazon isn’t always cheaper than your local bookshop [and] books are sometimes out of stock on Amazon, but in stock at your local bookshop,” explains the Web Store listing.
Bookindy pulls its information from Hive — an online bookseller that helps local bookshops. Items purchased through the site are shipped ‘direct from the wholesaler’, and buyers can nominate a local bookstore to receive a percentage of the sale price.
“Whether you pick up or get it delivered, your local bookshop benefits. You could use Bookindy to support your local independent bookshop and never actually visit it,” the store description notes.
Install Bookindy for Chrome
The add-on requires permission to use your location (to find a nearby bookstore) and access to ‘read and change all your data on the websites you visit’.
The add-on sends details of every item you look at on Amazon to a third-party server. This is worth bearing in mind if you’re particularly privacy conscious.
If don’t mind those asks, and you’re in the UK, you give the add-on the digital equivalent of a thumb-through by installing it from the Chrome Web Store.