At least one of the department stores in my area does this sort of thing on a regular basis. They advertise a FREE! bag or other item with the purchase of a set, or with a minimum dollar amount purchased in a certain department.
Personally, I hate it. I know damn well that the price of the bag or bottle of perfume is built into the price of the other items, and I find it rather insulting to my intelligence. There are times when I’d enjoy purchasing the bag, or one of a set, but the individual prices (if I can buy just the individual item that I want) are really out of line. Or possibly I DO want the set, but I don’t want the premium, and I resent having to pay extra so that the store can offer the premium.
However, this department store keeps running these promotions. Either the promotions work, or someone in the ad department thinks that they work. I am frequently not a typical customer. But I would buy a set of books if the set is somewhat cheaper than the individual books…I wouldn’t buy the set if I got a FREE! GIFT! of something that I don’t want or need.
The task of creating a database (with descriptions, cover pictures, etc.) of every book I sell is daunting. Keeping it up-to-date would be a full-time job. There are 1.5 million book titles that I could have in my store in a couple of days. So I license that database, fully maintained. Every night, it syncs with my point-of-sale system so that it can show what I have on my shelves.
You can still order books that aren’t on the shelf, though. I can ship them right away. Do you really think Amazon.com or BN.com actually represent what’s physically present in their warehouses? It’s all virtual inventory.
I’ve dealt with them before (mostly on used books), and it’s simply not worth it. The majority of the books sold that way are remainders and overstocks that are going for below cost. Now add in the cost of shipping to Amazon and paying them a percentage and I’m a lot better off marking them down and selling them in my own store.
I would rather go back to the way I used to do it. I have a well-structured and organized niche. I’ll create my own database-driven site and list only a manageable number of titles on it that reflect said niche. It’s just not worth competing online on titles like Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and I’d just as soon not strengthen my competition by using their website to do it.
I moved my online used book inventory from Amazon to ABE (American Book Exchange), and found that I sold more books and kept more of the money. At this point, though, I need to put my focus on the brick-and-mortar store. Keeping an online inventory up-to-date is a lot of work, and I don’t have time for it. Frankly, I’d love to have someone come along and make me an offer on the whole used book online collection.
Oh. Hey, that does sound good. I’d go for that. Though if it happened automatically based on my debit card account, it’d be even better. Still, you got me.
Here’s something that would be very nice to see. Specialize in local interest, including history, local authors, local cooking, books about polymers if there’s an excellent polymer science department in the nearby university, and anything else you can. I keep looking in bookstores near locations in which I have some interest, hoping for exactly that. It’s something bookstores elsewhere can never compete on!
I have a predisposition to try to help out local stores, particularly non-chain. I have held on for a long time but have finally given up and gone over 100% to Amazon. Amazon offers low prices and huge selections. They have many links to all sorts of information. Local book store offers — The book right there. I can pick it up and take it home.
Now, this is a HUGE advantage! I can go into a book store and browse among an environment filled with books. Heaven on Earth.
Now, I understand that these local book stores are under huge pressure…but they way they seem to be fighting it is:
Every year less and less % of the book store is books. There is/are now a Cafe, games, CD’s, paper stuff, party stuff, gift cards etc etc etc.
There is no more square footage - the store is the same size…but less and less % of book space.
Because there are less books, books that I want to buy are not there when they are released. When I ask about it, they will cheerfully say they can order it. But guess what? SO CAN I…and for a cheaper price!
Now, I don’t assume that the owners are stupid. They must realize this…but are desperate to stay in business. In doing so, they no longer appeal to me…a book lover…so I to find myself turning more and more to Amazon.
I’ve said this several times to my local Borders. If I order something from Amazon, I can usually get it used as well as new, and I’ll get it DELIVERED to my door.
Yeah, it’s very convenient to be able to pick up gift wrap or a gift bag and a card when I buy a book as a present. But that book needs to be IN STOCK for me to buy it.
Back to the OP…I’d probably browse the local interest section, and despite my insistence that book stores sell BOOKS, I’d probably buy some bit of touristy crap (I like shot glasses, for instance, but only when I’ve actually been in that area). I don’t know how many times I’ve bought a book of photos and articles about local attractions. It’s easier for me to remember the place that way (and I suck at taking pictures). Plus, if I buy this sort of thing at the start of my visit, it might give me a few ideas of places to visit that I hadn’t had before.
You might also want to set up some sort of bulletin board, and exchange flyers/brochures with other businesses. If you can honestly recommend Dan’s Diner, I’d like to know about it, so that I have the option of trying a local eatery. And maybe I want to explore a local museum or something. Of course, the other businesses should let YOU put up a flyer or brochure in exchange.
When I read your title the first thing I thought of was “Knowledgeable and personable staff that I can talk books with” but I’m betting you got that covered. There are a couple of independent bookstores here but the workers are rude and standoffish so they don’t get my business.
Literary themed merchandise has been mentioned but in case this hasn’t been posted, I’ll share this link: Out of Print clothing
I love stores that have local history/hiking/author sections. That’s where I usually beeline to when I’m on the road. This is where I can find books that I know I won’t find just anywhere else.
Here’s hoping I stumble across your store one day in my travels! Montana’s one of the few states I hope I end up in and we meander over there every so often.
Me too! I looked at the title and said to myself, “Well, aside from a cat, you mean?”
You know what they say: outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. So cats and books are obvious companions.
Although many stores have less linear footage devoted to books, because of changes in ordering practices (computerized inventory, just-in-time ordering) booksellers don’t need to devote as much space that is ultimately wasted. You don’t need to keep 15 copies of the each of the Lord of the Rings volumes, using up valuable shelf space. You can have two copies and everything Tolkien and reorder when you sell one.
Obviously they can’t have one of everything, but I bet there are more titles on the shelf now than most bookstores had 30 years ago, before the bookstore-cafe concept.
I don’t agree. Nowadays, the big chains seem to order a gazillion copies of what are supposed to be the next best sellers, apparently so they can use them like Lego bricks to build imposing displays. Then, when it turns out that these books AREN’T best sellers after all, they destroy the books and turn in the dust jackets or covers. It used to be that book stores either couldn’t get credit for unsold books, or didn’t get as much, or SOMETHING. But nowadays we don’t see nearly as many remaindered books, but there are a lot more destroyed books. I find this to be wasteful, and I regard it as sinful, as well. I’m an atheist, but I do believe that there are some sins, and deliberately overproducing a product and then destroying it is something that I consider to be a sin.
And the bookstores I went to as a teen and young adult used to keep some of the classics in stock on a regular basis. They didn’t keep 15 copies of ANYTHING, even Tolkien, but they usually did have a couple of copies of each volume, plus a nicer boxed set for a gift. And they’d have a wider variety of books in stock, not just the current best sellers. If I wanted to pick up the first book in a series, it was quite possible that the store had it in stock.
In one of my bitch sessions at Borders, I was told that the corporate headquarters was deliberately cutting down on the slower-moving stuff, and concentrating on current best sellers. Which is fine, if all you read are best sellers. I don’t. And I rarely buy best sellers new, anyway. I have a list of authors that I will buy new, in hardback, another list of authors that I buy new in paperback, and then almost all other authors are either impulse new paperbacks or used. There are some authors that I won’t read except in used clearance (I won’t spend more than two bucks for a copy of their books). Yes, I know that authors don’t get a penny of royalties for used book sales, it’s just my way of prioritizing how much I’ll pay for a given book. My point is, the chain B&M book stores are carrying more copies of fewer titles, and this doesn’t work for me. However, I’m not a typical reader. I rarely read the flavor of the month, and I demand higher quality writing than most readers do.
I would second the idea about opening a cafe, if you can manage it. There’s a local bookstore here where the cafe is a big part of the draw. A cafe could be a profit center in its own right, and it draws people in the doors. I know it may be a stretch, and it depends to some extent on what your town offers in the way of cafes, but I think you should seriously consider it.
On the other hand, I’m not sure I like the idea of putting more comfy chairs in. I see a danger in your becoming a library at that point, full of people camped out reading your merchandise, but not buying.
The only other thing I might mention is something I saw the other day in Harvard Square. The independent bookstore there has a printing and binding machine, so you can go on the computer, download one of a million public-domain books (Google books, Gutenberg Project, etc.), and have it printed and bound while you wait. You could also use the machine for small-scale self-publishing. Don’t know what the capital requirements are, and they might be significant. But still, it seemed like a way to way to profit from all the material that is out there on the internet, and that most people would put on a Kindle.
What prompted me to start this thread is that we just moved into a larger location, so I’m actually not cutting the number of titles I carry. I actually do have more room.
Sometimes that’s true. They typically discount hardback bestsellers pretty well, for example. But in most cases, their discount is less than what they charge for shipping, so the cost to you is lower having the bookstore order it than doing it yourself. I never charge my customers extra for special orders.
The most common questions I’m asked in the store:
[ul]
[li]Do you have this book?[/li][li]Do you have a bathroom?[/li][li]What’s the best place to eat in this town?[/li][/ul]
When I first bought my bookstore, the prevailing wisdom in bookseller circles was, “stack 'em high and watch 'em fly.” Buy a big pile of whatever’s hot and put them on a table by the door. This generates more customer interest and gets a better discount on the books.
The philosophy I go by is to stock fewer copies of each book, but bring in more different titles. I can restock in a couple of days on most books, so why order a month’s supply? That way, I have higher inventory turns (equals better cashflow), and a broader selection of titles in the store.
Quite true. I was just reading an analysis of this. They chains operate on a totally different philosophy than the indies.
Nitpick: mass-market paperbacks are indeed destroyed, with the covers sent back for credit. Hardbacks and trade paperbacks are returned intact, to be sold to someone else or potentially remaindered. The hardback selection from the remainder houses is as good as it ever was, but you rarely see remaindered mass-market paperbacks.
Many independent stores are arguing now that the returnable book model is actually hurting consumers and publishers. The publisher assumes that on a hot new title, big chains will massively overbuy (on credit) and return half of the copies. So the publisher raises the price to be able to print more copies to cover the false initial demand. The model made sense when it was introduced during the Depression: it was the only way to get stores to take a risk on a new title. But it’s different now.
I attended a seminar on these POD (print on demand) units last fall. I would love to have one, but the up-front cost is still too high, and I don’t think I’d have the volume to justify it. I was chatting with the manager of a university bookstore that had one. Their costs were covered just from the other departments using it to print course outlines, class notes, and stuff written by their professors.
Get to know the curricula in the local elementary, junior high and high shcools. Order fun books on the subjects they will be teaching, and have a Summer reading list for parents which will help the kids get started. i.e. if 5th grade science includes Electricity, have some fun science books on the subject. If 11th grade History covers the Holocaust, have The Diary of Anne Frank available.
Have a catalog or screen where parents can punch in the child’s school and grade, and pick up a list of books which might help make each subject fun or offer enrichment. If little Junior is failing history, maybe a copy of Huckleberry Finn will help him get more interested. Conversely, if he’s really taking off in World History, War and Peace might make a good Birthday present.
Oviously, you will have better suggestions than these, but hopefully these will give you the general idea.
Huh. I was under the distinct impression that unsold hardbacks were destroyed, too. I’ve seen multiple copies of new hardbacks and trade PBs at the local Half Price Books, and it does seem like they are remainders.
I think that the returnable book model (for any sort of book) really DOES hurt consumers and publishers, and possibly even the massive chains as well. I know that if I see a lot of copies stacked up in a display, my first instinct is to think that there’s plenty of time to buy this book, they’ve got so many copies that if I put off buying the book today, it’ll still be here next week. The “buy huge quantities of a title” model does make sense if most communications are slow, and the fast communication is costly. I remember the days when long distance phone calls were considered to be very expensive. But today, you can email a publisher (or your agent) and say that you need a couple more copies of Good Omens because you just sold your last copy, and you’ll have your new stock in a few days.
One thing that I’ve seen in some bookstores are newspaper clippings, listing the Best Ever Books. You can find the various categories online, so maybe you could print them out if you carry a lot of books on a particular listing. I’ve also seen “Read a Banned Book Week”, with a listing of banned books.
I always thought the point of this was to get the book on the “Best Sellers” lists, which unfortunately has a big influence on what is reviewed, reported, and consequently bought.
Good signage can help me love a bookstore. Can I clearly see where to find the science fiction or the cookbooks or the whatever? How about the bathroom? Sure, lots of people just ask, but I’d rather find it myself.
Nth-ing the shelf-tag-suggestions thing. I’ve found some great books that way. Ditto nice posters listing award-winning books from past and present years – especially kids’ stuff.
Do you have nice self-promotional bookmarks to give away with info on your new location? I love bookstore bookmarks and treasure the ones I’ve picked up from my favorite stores. By “nice” I don’t mean “expensively made”, either – I mean ones with interesting quotes or evocative graphics on them. They can be the cheapest one-color printing on the cheapest cardstock… my favorite ones ever simply say “Bookmark” in big letters on one side, in a rumpled, Shakespearean-looking font, on one side – just the one word – and the store info on the reverse. That store went out of business more than a decade ago, but I still have half a dozen of their bookmarks in a few colors.