Above the Treeline is testing a new addition to its Edelweiss suite of services for independent booksellers. Edelweiss360 is a bookstore-to-consumer marketing tool that will allow booksellers to create and send store-branded, personalized emails to customers based on individual purchase behavior and staff knowledge of customers.
According to Above the Treeline founder John Rubin, Edelweiss360 uses loyalty programs where a store has a customer’s email address and transaction data to develop a range of personalized marketing campaigns. In addition to using sales data, the personalized emails will be based on other information, including reviews and a booksellers’ knowledge of their customers’ preferences. While booksellers can currently create their own campaigns by using such tools as Constant Contact, Edelweiss360 significantly speeds up the process. “Edelweiss360 can be a real time-saver for booksellers,” Rubin said. He added that the types of email campaigns can be as varied as a recommendation to a single customer or developing pre-order campaigns for specific titles.
Rubin is talking to publishers to help support the campaigns through affiliated marketing programs and other tools. As Rubin sees it, Edelweiss360 can help publishers reach a store’s customers directly, to the benefit of both the publisher and the bookseller. The emails will also have buy buttons that can tie into a store’s e-commerce option.
Edelweiss360 is currently being beta tested by about 12 stores, including the Bookword of Edwards in Edwards, Colo., and the Bookshelf in Thomasville, Ga. Rubin hopes to go live with the service in the first half of 2020, and will be demonstrating it at Winter Institute.
