Comments on: How are you going to keep the online sales that begin in your store?

By: AmyCat

AmyCat — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:13:40 +0000

Why am I getting e-mails saying someone replied to MY comment when it’s really a pair of SPAMmers (the Bose headphones jerk and the incoherent PDF-to-Word sh!t-for-brains) posting cr@p to the whole blog?

By: bose quietcomfort 3 headphones bose qc3 review

bose quietcomfort 3 headphones bose qc3 review — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:45:08 +0000

bose qc3…

I saw this really good post today……

By: Booksellers Blog » Blogging FAQ, Day 8: If We Put Our Staff Recommends on the Blog, Won’t People Buy those Books Elsewhere?

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:14:11 +0000

[...] we know it happens. People shop in your store, write down the information about a book they want, and then go home and [...]

By: Preston

Preston — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:58:14 +0000

http://www.editis.com/pages_html/video_possible02.htm — Might help if I provided the link!!!

By: Preston

Preston — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:55:46 +0000

The following video is in French and slooooow to load, but it presents a model for future bookstores that I can totally buy into. I recommend opening the page in a tab and letting it load in the background for 10 minutes. Jump to around 1:40 to see a bookstore of the future.

By: Bookstore People · Future of Books and Bookstores Discussion

Bookstore People · Future of Books and Bookstores Discussion — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:14:03 +0000

[...] how should booksellers respond? A recent post on Booksellers Blog asked exactly that and the discussion it generated is interesting to follow. Several variations on [...]

By: Ann Kingman

Ann Kingman — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:09:01 +0000

Sally, thanks for coming over. I really appreciate your article, and you have a wealth of other information on your site that would be of interest to booksellers.

Powell’s mobile website promoted in store — very interesting idea. I’ve never been to Portland, but I wonder if your experience not wanting to carry books all over the city would also indicate an opportunity for Powell’s (and bookstores in other cities) to offer free delivery of your purchases to area hotels, similar to what they do at Disneyworld.

By: Sally McKenzie

Sally McKenzie — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:10:09 +0000

Hi Ann, First I want to say thanks for pointing your readers to my blog post, and it’s great to see this dialogue going about such and important topic to booksellers. To add another element to the discussion regarding computer kiosks in stores, I think we all have to realize that in the very near future (if not already happening how), most customers will have access to the internet in their handbag or pocket by way of a mobile phone. Their ability to search for price comparisons, check availability, read reviews and, yes, buy a physical or digital version of the product they want will be in the palm of their hands. When I think back to my Powell’s experience a few months ago, it didn’t even occur to me to check my phone to see if the books were available on Kindle….but, just last weekend I was at the opera, liked the music and logged on to the iPhone version of Amazon and bought the CD during intermission. Had a Powell’s mobile website been promoted in the store, I might have bought from them to avoid having to carry my new books all over the city that afternoon. As the shopping experience becomes more and more portable, all retailers – independents and chains, across all categories will need to think through how to be available across media and orchestrate the experience. Not easy to execute by any means, but no question that consumer demand is leading us there. Thanks again for starting the conversation!

By: AmyCat (Book Universe)

AmyCat (Book Universe) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:44:45 +0000

I’d like to see more publishers do what BAEN has done with a few titles: included a CD-ROM with selections from their “Electronic Library” as a freebie in various hardcovers. (The “Electronic Library” has files of each book in multiple formats to work with various computers and handhelds.)
The books with these CDs are a guaranteed seller for me. I collect them myself; if you buy, for instance, the newest in David Weber’s “Honor Harrington” series, you’re also getting a CD-ROM with electronic copies of all the previous books, and the current one, in the series! Even though I already have copies of the whole series, I (and those of my customers who seek out the CD-ROM-enhanced editions) also want the “portable” format. Whenever I travel, I have one of these CD-ROMs in my laptop bag: I can carry dozens of books on one CD!
Given how cheap CDs are these days, publishers should be able to offer new hardcovers with the “electronic” version included…

By: John

John — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:13:26 +0000

Ann and Pete,
Great points – I second Ann on trying one of these devices out! If you hate it great if you love it, great. But, at least be informed. I run into too many booksellers that won’t even give it a test drive. It’s not going to knock out the book world, but it is going to change it and better to know the enemy than be totally surprised by it. My full review of the Sony is over at bookmansson.blogspot.com for those interested.