触らず立ち読み　書店がネット活用、コロナ対策も期待

　店頭に並ぶ本に触らず、スマートフォンで立ち読みできる試みが好評だ。ネットを活用して書店で本を探す楽しさを感じてもらい、販売増加につなげようとする取り組みで、３６都道府県の書店約３００店で来年３月末まで利用できる。新型コロナウイルスの感染防止対策にもなりそうだ。
　本の要約をウェブサイトなどで配信するＩＴベンチャーのフライヤー（東京）と書籍取り次ぎ最大手の日本出版販売（同）が提携し、１０月からサービスを開始した。売り場の広告に印刷されたＱＲコードを読み込むと、１０分程度で読める約４０００字の要約文が表示される仕組みで、ビジネス書３０冊が対象。フライヤーは「書店で本が売れるきっかけをつくりたい」と意欲を示す。
　蔦屋書店静岡本店（静岡市）では、特設コーナーを開設したところ売り上げが増加し、３倍近くまで伸びた本もあった。宮川謙一店長は「要約で引き込まれ、（全体を）読んでみようと思う人が多いのではないか」と分析する。
　ネットや電子書籍の普及で「町の本屋さん」の苦境は続く。そんな中、店舗ならではの利用体験を模索する動きが今後広がりそうだ。（2020/11/14-13:36）

A service enabling people to browse books at bookstores using smartphones without touching them is gaining popularity in Japan.
   The service, aimed at boosting sales by helping people find the joy of looking for books online at bookstores, is also seen as an effective measure to reduce the risk of novel coronavirus infection.
   The initiative was launched in October jointly by Tokyo-based startup Flier Inc., which operates a website to distribute summaries of books, and Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc., Japan's largest book brokerage firm. It will be available until the end of March next year at some 300 bookstores in 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures.
   By scanning a quick response, or QR, code on ads for books at stores with their smartphones, users of the service can read a roughly 4,000-character summary of the advertised title on the screen of their handsets. A total of 30 business-related books are covered in the service. "We want to create opportunities for boosting sales of books at bookstores," a Flier official said.
   A flagship outlet of Tsutaya Books Co. in the central Japan city of Shizuoka saw a jump in sales after it set up a special section for the contactless browsing service, with sales of one title almost trebling. "I believe many people became interested in reading (the whole book) after being pulled in by the summaries," Kenichi Miyagawa, the manager of the store, said.