Holiday Prep: Don't Forget...

As the country's attention turns from this week's elections to Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday shopping season, Bookselling This Week presents a list of deadlines, supply resources, and marketing suggestions to help make booksellers' lives a bit easier.

• Save your sanity and avoid missed sales by checking your stock now for titles and non-book products that you'll need this holiday season. Order early to avoid last-minute rush charges or worse -- the chance of not getting what you need.

• Make sure that you have enough office supplies, including pens, note pads, tape, scissors, acrylic holders for fliers and shelf-talkers, register tape, terminal paper, light bulbs, etc.

• Stock up on paper and reusable bags, stickers, and other business supplies.
  • W.G. Ellerkamp, Inc. is the supplier of IndieBound natural kraft recycled bags, with or without store customization; popular "Peace. Love. Books." reusable bags; and specialized giftwrap for bookstores.
  • AAA Label is the source for stickers with promotional messages such as "Local Author" and "Autographed Copy." When placing an order, be sure to mention that you are an ABA member.
  • Mary Engelbreit's "A Book Is a Present You Can Open Again and Again" Paper Certificates can be used as a gift certificate or to present a gift card (an ABA Gift Card or your store's own). Cards and envelopes can be ordered via the ABA Merchandise Order Form or by calling (800) 637-0037, ext. 6636.
  • And The Booksellers Resource Directory can help you locate suppliers of non-book products, office supplies, business services, and more.

• Talk to staff about expectations and potential scheduling conflicts.

• Train staff to handle long lines, returns, exchanges, technology failures, emergencies, etc.

• Keep staff members energized and happy by providing food, drinks, or other small perks during the busy day ahead.

• Create signs for windows and/or doors that list your store hours and website address. Promote special holiday hours well in advance.

• Check your after-hours voice mail message. Make sure that it clearly states your store hours and web address and mentions whether the caller can leave a message.

• Update and replace worn shelf-talkers.

• Decorate to create a festive atmosphere that will inspire customers to make holiday purchases. Change as appropriate.

• Pre-wrap bestselling titles, but be sure to place a sticker on the outside with the title, ISBN, and price. Leave an unwrapped book at the top of the pile with a small sign that says, "Wrapped and ready to go!"

• Spur gift card sales by placing display cards throughout the store.

• Place complementary non-book items next to titles to increase impulse buys.

• Make the most of IndieBound's more than 40 different holiday designs for posters, gift labels, bookmarks, ad slicks, postcards, palm cards, newsletters, bag stuffers, and more. The materials in the Bookseller DIY will help draw customers into the store, motivate them to buy once they're there, and remind them of all that your store has to offer and of the importance of shopping locally after they leave. Help is available from IndieBound Outreach Liaison Paige Poe at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6668, or paige@bookweb.org.

• Prominently post your returns and exchange policies.

• Check out your IndieBound.org store profile to make sure that it provides complete, up-to-date information about your business and its services.

• Assign a staff member to be on the lookout for the Red and White Boxes during these busy months, so the arrival of the latest Indie Next Lists, other promotional materials, and last-minute special offers from ABA Publisher Partners don't get lost among stock deliveries. Use the 2008 Indie Next Highlights List, shipping to stores in the November Red Box mailing, to provide customers with a wide range of titles that are perfect for gift giving.

• Assign a staff member to print out the Indie Bestsellers list each Thursday and replace the previous week's lists. Save a space on your walls for the 2008 Indie Bestsellers Highlights List.

• Display Indie category lists in appropriate sections of your store.

• Reorder generic and imprinted cards and presenters from the ABA Gift Card Program via the order site. Orders for generic cards placed by 3:00 p.m. Central Time will ship the same day. If your imprint is already on file and no changes are required, imprinted cards will take two to five working days. Shipping is based on weight and zip and all costs are passed through. The fulfillment house is located in Illinois and can deliver in one to five business days to most addresses via FedEx Ground. Faster delivery can be requested.

• Booksellers can choose from 13 standard ABA Gift Card designs, including Mary Engelbreit's "A Book Is a Present You Can Open Again and Again" and several IndieBound-inspired gift cards and presenters. Walter Wick's Can You See What I See? publisher-sponsored cards are still available.

• Bookstores that want to join the ABA Gift Card Program in time for the holiday season need to complete and fax the Letter of Agreement and Order Form no later than Friday, November 14, to allow time for setup and staff training. Although publisher-sponsored cards are not listed on the order form, they are available to new sign-ups while supplies last. For more information about the program, visit the Gift Card page on BookWeb.org. Questions about the program can be addressed to Jill Perlstein at jill@bookweb.org or (800) 637-0037, ext. 6642 or Linda Ford at lindaf@bookweb.org or ext. 6644.

To prepare for the increased exposure your store website is likely to have over the next several weeks, here are a few simple reminders to help make the shopping experience better for your customers.

• Store Hours
  If store hours change for the holidays, be sure the new hours are posted on your website. (Do this by clicking on the "Edit Store & Contact Info" on the left-hand navigation bar of the main admin page.)

• Holiday Content
  Reinforce the store's brand as well as the website brand by making the content online complement in-store displays.

• Gift Cards Galore
  Gift cards are among the top-selling items across the family of ABA E-Commerce sites every year, and this holiday season is expected to be no different. If you sell/redeem gift cards via the store website, consider promoting them in your "Store Greeting" (Admin site, "Edit Local Content") and/or in your e-newsletter. If you sell ABA Gift Cards in your store and don't already offer them for sale on your ABA E-Commerce site, contact Scott Nafz at scott@bookweb.org or (800) 637-0037, ext. 6654, to learn how to integrate them.

• Shipping Notice
  Post a note on store sites that says something to the effect of: Order any item with an inventory status of "Usually Ships in 1 - 5 Days" or "On Our Shelves Now" by close of business on December 17 and receive it in time for Christmas. Whatever language is used, the idea is to make sure customers know that books ordered after a certain date may not arrive in time for Christmas.

Have a great idea that you want to share? Want to gather input from your peers? Post your suggestions or questions on the BookWeb's Bookseller-to-Bookseller Forum.