Turning Mind Share Into Market Share in Children's Bookselling

In a Day of Education session entitled “Turning Mind Share Into Market Share in the Children's Market,” Kristen McLean, a consultant to the ABC Children’s Group at ABA, moderated the panel discussion between Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Texas, and Diane Capriola, of Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia. The panel was part of ABA's educational programming, sponsored by the Ingram Content Group, at BookExpo America.

McLean began the session with the results of the Bowker PubTrak survey, which asked 1,500 children's book consumers about their buying habits. The results of the survey indicated that more than 75 percent of kid's books are purchased in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore, giving children's booksellers a statistical advantage. However, when consumers were specifically asked where they got their books, only six percent said independent bookstores. The majority of children's book consumers get their books at school and public libraries, followed by chain stores.

In the face of these results, McLean asked the crowd, “What is your Why?” That is, what is the reason people should be buying at your bookstore? McLean pointed out that “businesses often get hung up on the what and the how,” and tend to forget why it is that they're in the business, and why customers should support them.

“Articulating key values is key to capturing market share,” she said.

“We love children's books because we love children, and we believe books can change their life,” said Capriola, who makes these values clear to her customers in the services she provides.

Koehler said that for children's bookstores, gifts are a big deal, and need to be treated as such. “We need to make each gift a valuable experience for both the gift-giver and the receiver,” she said.

“If someone is coming to the store to buy a book for their child, that child is most certainly the smartest child on the planet,” said Koehler, who often suggests sidelines to complete the gift of a book. She makes sure to convey to her customers, “We're going to come up with the perfect thing for you. And you know what? We're going to wrap it for free.”

Capriola stressed the importance of handselling, and McLean confirmed that, according to the survey, reccomendations from booksellers translate to 75 percent of children's book sales. In addition, being present to share knowledge in the community is a great way to make yourself known, said Capriola. She will take any chance she can get to visit schools, libraries, and large community events.

Both panelists acknowledged that working with families can be tough, since there is such a demand on their time, and parents of young children are often looking for convenience when shopping. And the panelists addressed the oft-heard customer statement when a book is out of stock, “Oh, I'll just get it online.”

Capriola said she usually interjects, suggesting, “I can order that for you, it will only take a day or two.”

Audience member Patricia Brown, owner of Hooray for Books!, in Alexandria, Virginia, said that she gets a lot of tourists that visit her store. If she doesn’t have something a customer is looking for, she’ll use BookWeb.org to find an indie store in the customer's town.

This is a good way to set a standard at your store, said Koehler. “You're making it clear to the customer how important it is to shop at an independent store, and that the customer service just can't be beat by a chain store.”

It was unanimous among the panel: A bookstore's most important asset is its staff.

“We hire booklovers,” said Capriola. “If you find people that love books, it's pretty easy to do everything else.”

Koehler assigns staff members to read different books, so there's a good chance someone in the store will be able to give a brief review to a customer.

Both panelists use some sort of online system to catalog the reviews written by staff members, so they have easy access to it when customers are in need of a reccomendation. The ABC catalogs are available to all ABA stores, which Capriola said is a great tool for her store. Shelf-talkers often are singularly responsible for book sales, the panelists said. Capriola has a dedicated area in the store for staff picks, and the selections are changed every two weeks. “It absolutely does drive sales,” she said. “It's helped a lot.”

The panel spoke of the importance of cultivating discovery and customer experience in the store's displays, sitting areas, and games.

“I really like to be overwhelmed when I go into a store,” said Koehler, who said she recently went to a spice shop, and was impressed by their displays. “I bought all these spices, and I don't even cook,” she said. Her advice for booksellers is to “stack 'em high, and let 'em fly.”

Safety is something that has to be considered in a children's store too, said Koehler, whose store used to have a puzzle table close to the door. “Parents were hesitant to leave their kids so close to the door,” she said, and any time it would open, heads would peek out from aisles to check on young browsers. Koehler has since moved the puzzle table closer to the register, which has made a huge difference.

“We want people to know that this is a safe place to be, this is their home away from home,” she said.

“If parents are comfortable, they will browse longer,” said McLean.

A simple thing that booksellers could implement right away, said McLean, is a list of their store's values. Some of the examples of “Reasons to Shop at an Independent Bookstore” included: “We invest in the power of imagination,” and “We make your community unique.”

Similar fliers, including one that tells customers, “Here's What You Just Did,” a list of the benefits of shopping locally, are available for download in the Booksellers DIY.

“So go back to your stores and articulate the why,” said McLean. “Educate them so they will invest in your business.”