Sell More Books To Airport Stores,
Supermarkets And Drug Stores
Brian Jud
On the surface, there may not seem much
in common when selling books to airport bookstores, supermarkets and drug stores;
but there are similarities. In fact, selling to these buyers is much like to
marketing to bookstores. You sell through a distribution partner, the
distributors’ discounts may reach 70%, returns are common, and payment terms
may exceed 90 days. On the other hand, the rewards of immediate national
distribution can be significant.
Fly High
With Sales to Airport Bookstores
All major airports have at least
one bookstore, surrounded by a captive audience of weary travelers looking
for something to do to help pass time. What better way while away the hours
than by reading a good book? Your book? Apparently many travelers seek that
option because “a major store in a large airport will sell between $1 and $2
million of books each year” says Kathleen Willoughby of Bookazine. Bookstores in most small
airports have space constraints limiting the titles they stock to only the
top fiction and non-fiction titles as well as the popular classics. But a
title does not have to be a bestseller to find its way into the stores in
large airports. These shops will carry titles by local and regional authors,
as well as books pertaining to its specific locale and destination points.
For example, the title Fenway: A Biography in Words and Pictures by
Dan Shaughnessy and Stan Grossfeld, can be found in bookstores in Titles for children tend to do
well in these outlets, as do titles for business travelers who spend a good
amount of time in airports. Also titles on management, investment, economics,
business biography, personal finance and health work well in the airport
setting. Summertime is the peak travel
period, and as you would expect, it is also the peak bookselling period.
There is a bump in sales in the fourth-quarter holiday season, too. Softcover
books seem to sell more units than casebound, and the typical size is 6” x
9”. Your book must have an ISBN, EAN bar code and its price printed on the
rear cover, although some exceptions are made for non-book items. The major airport bookstore chains are
listed below, and you can reach buyers for these stores directly. When you
submit your material to them, send a complete package with everything they
need to make a favorable decision. “The more the better,” says Randy
Yarbrough of Anderson News.” Your package should contain a copy of your book, your
terms, a summary marketing plan, reviews, sales history and newspaper
articles. Include contact information for your distributor or wholesaler
since airport stores place their orders through them, using them as both
suppliers and warehousers. Call to learn their specific submission guidelines
before sending your package. HMS Host, Book Buyer; Paradies Shops operates over 100
airport stores. Contact the National Book Buyer, W.H. Smith operates or owns 255
airport shops and 421 hotel stores under the names of WHSmith, WHSmith
Booksellers, Waterstone's Booksellers, WHSmith Books.com and Benjamin Books.
In late 2003, The Hudson Group bought 180 airport stores, including a number
of Waterstone’s bookstore outlets. Contact the National Book Buyer, 3200
Windy The
buyer will review your material to determine if there is a market for your
title. If they deem that your title might be appropriate, you will be asked
to complete a vendor questionnaire. Since most books are displayed cover out,
the front cover design is critical to the title’s success. Airport stores
rarely discount the books, so your list price is important, too. Sales are
made on a returnable basis and standard wholesale terms are expected. Most distributors and
wholesalers will sell your books to airport stores. When you send your
material to them, describe the number of books per carton and how many units
were published. Also include information about who is providing sales,
marketing and distribution services on your behalf. You can generally expect to be paid 50% of the amount due
you in 90 days and the balance in 180 days. The 50% unpaid balance is held as
a reserve against returns. Once your book “takes off” you can usually
negotiate different terms. Bookazine and Anderson News are two of the larger
wholesalers to airport stores. New Vendor Development
Coordinator, Bookazine Co., Inc., Anderson News Co. ( Selling
to Supermarkets and Drug Stores
There are tens of thousands of supermarkets
and drug stores of all sizes around the country. Many of these sell books,
booklets and videos. Some of the larger supermarket chain stores – such as
Kroger -- actually have a bookstore, rather than a book section. The means of
marketing to these two segments is similar, so they will be discussed
together. In the past, most of the sales
through these outlets were mass-market paperbacks, but today’s super stores
carry a wide variety of books, cards and magazines. That is why the middlemen
distributing to this market usually stock the shelves with both books and
magazines. “This is one area in which
fiction outsells non-fiction,” says John Styron of Anderson News, a sister
company to Anderson Merchandisers and one of the wholesalers reaching this
niche. Other titles that sell well are those by local and regional authors
and those about local and regional topics. There is less opportunity for
hardcover titles, particularly in supermarkets. Randy Yarbrough believes that
sales to this segment “are very likely” for independent publishers. “We sell
their titles all the time,” he notes. Steve Linville of The News Group holds
an opposing view, saying, “There is not a lot of shelf space dedicated to the
category.” He continues with, “It can
be frustrating for a small publisher to break into the market, given the
returns, discounts and dating required.” Steve recounts the tale of one
author who showed many retailers his book and asked how many they might
purchase. Their responses added up to over 30,000 copies, so that is how many
he printed. Unfortunately, when it came time to actually place the orders the
numbers were significantly lower. Randy and Steve agree that
“supermarkets discount the list price up to 25%, so your pricing must allow
for that to occur profitably.” The list price on books sold in drugstores
should be $15.95 or lower, with a price below $10 the norm in supermarkets.
However, the price could go up to $20.00 or more for a hardcover book sold in
a supermarket. They also concur “that cookbooks, travel books and regional
titles do well in supermarkets, but health-related topics move better in
drugstores, particularly in the form of booklets.” Steve adds, “Children’s
titles also seem to do well in supermarkets. Fiction remains he mainstay in
these outlets.” Authors may conduct booksignings
at supermarkets and drugstores in which their books are being sold. “One of
our authors recently sold 500 copies of her book during a recent booksigning
at a Ralph’s supermarket in Author and
consultant Eric Gelb has sold successfully to supermarkets. Eric said, “Some
years back, I sold several hundred copies of my book, the Personal Budget
Planner to a nearby supermarket chain. The company managed the bookracks
in the supermarket. The sale was final and the exposure was valuable. Several
months ago, our local Mail Boxes, Etc. store took copies of our Mastering
Communication Through Technology on consignment. While small, this effort
was profitable, and the store marketed no other books at that time. Once, we
located a consumer buying service who purchased a quantity of our personal
finance books to give away as a new member bonus.” The competition in this segment
is stiff, due to the limited shelf-space granted to books. The hot button for
these stores is “profit per square foot.” If you can demonstrate that your
promotional activities will help bring in new customers and profits, you will
get their attention. You may submit your book and marketing package directly
to the major supermarket chains, but they normally direct you to their
wholesalers. Three major supermarket chains are: Kroger Co, Safeway Inc., Judy Russell –
Book Buyer, 5918 Stoneridge Mall Rd., Pleasanton, California, 94588-3229;
Tel: (925) 520-8000 (877) 723-3929 Fax: FX - USA (925) 467-3321 http://www.safeway.com Stop and Shop Companies Inc., Distributors to
supermarkets include: Anderson
News Co. ( 37919;
Tel: (865) 584-9765 Fax: (865)
584-9400 Magazines, books, videos and music to supermarkets, drugstores,
airport stores and military exchanges. Hudson
News Co., 1 Meadowlands Piz. The News Group West services major retail chains in the West,
with a dominant share of the Washington, Oregon and Alaska markets; 3400 D
Industry Drive East, Fife, Washington, 98424; 253.922.8011 Fax:
253.896.5027 www.thenewsgroup.com When you submit a title to these
distributors, include a color sell sheet with all the pertinent information
on your title. Include the price, author, case quantities, and a photo of any
floor displays you could provide. It is interesting to note that these
buyers do not always wait for publishers to contact them. If they, or their
sales people note your title in a local news story, in Publishers Weekly
or at a trade show, they may seek it out according to its applicability.
Again, it behooves you to seek as much exposure as possible for your titles. Brian Jud is the author of Beyond
the Bookstore (a Publishers Weekly book) and The Marketing
Planning CD. He also wrote the series of booklets, Proven Tips for
Publishing Success. Contact Brian at </td |