In a bid to compete more aggressively with Amazon's affiliate program and the ABA's year-old BookSense.com , Dick Harte, former owner of Rutherford's Book Shoppe in Delaware, Ohio, is launching two stripped-down versions of BookSite, the turnkey system he founded in 1996, and testing one for college stores. With the introduction of BookSite Partners, BookSite Storefront and BookSite for College Stores, Harte commented, "I'm pretty much done with the development of BookSite. When we started, it was like putting together a thousand-tile mosaic, and now we have 700 pieces in place."
Introduced this week, BookSite Partners operates like an affiliate program and enables users with an existing Web site--new and used booksellers, authors and small presses--to sell books, even if they don't have online credit-card processing or order-fulfillment capabilities. While Partners cannot access BookSite's complete two-million-title database, their customers can order from the half-million trade titles available in the five largest Baker & Taylor and Ingram warehouses. E-books distributed through Lightning Source and Overdrive also qualify for the program, as do trade print-on-demand titles created through Lightning Source. For an annual fee of $49.95, BookSite ships the merchandise, collects the money and pays out 17% to its Partners, or 12% more than Amazon. All books are sold at list to enable the higher pay-out and because of Harte's concern over competing with established retail channels. Orders are shipped via either UPS or USPS from Ingram or Baker & Taylor.
BookSite Storefront is similar to the BookSense.com model in that it includes a template so that booksellers can personalize their storefronts with staff selections and bestsellers lists. BookSite offers seven lists, including the Independent Booksellers list, as well as 10 awards lists. However, Storefront members are given only a single Web page. The Storefront program costs considerably less than BookSite. There is a onetime set-up charge of $150 and a monthly fee of $30, versus a $350 membership fee and a $160 monthly fee. To kick off Storefront, Harte is sweetening the pot with an introductory price of $300 for the first year, which includes the cost of set-up. The pay-out works the same as for the Partners Program, since technically BookSite is the retailer of record and the store is a referring agent, although it is seamless for the customer.
"The marketplace has spoken," said Harte, describing the impetus for the Partners programs, which he established to accommodate bricks-and-mortar stores that do less than $300,000 a year. "I really believe that this is going to broaden the base and not cannibalize BookSense or BookSite's original full-service program. By and large, it's for people who were going to opt out of the Internet. The real intent is to keep the little guy alive in the market." In these difficult retailing times, Harte regards a Web presence as more important than ever. "Independents have to figure out how to get the most services to their customers and to build customer loyalty," he said. "We're trying to make affordable products. It's about the customer and the store, not technology and the Internet."
Over the past year, though, BookSite has had a problem finding and keeping bookseller members. With the launch of BookSense.com, its customer base dropped from a high of 200 stores to 140. One of the main differences between the two is that BookSite gives stores the opportunity to process their own orders. According to Harte, the hemorrhaging has stopped. "We're actually gaining membership again," he said.
To make BookSite more attractive to college stores, he has been collaborating with Labyrinth Books in New York City for the past six months to develop a specific BookSite for College Stores program with modules for general books, textbooks and merchandise. He plans to officially roll it out at the Independent College Booksellers Association meeting in February; the tentative cost will be a $750 subscription fee and a $300 monthly operating fee.
For Chris Doeblin, owner of Labyrinth Books, which specializes in scholarly and academic books and handles course book sales for Columbia and Barnard, the partnership with BookSite is "a good fit. It's a natural to display course books online. College students and faculty members are online. I'm producing the need and ideas, and they're like the contractor. It's our conception and our model. We have huge experience listening to students."
With just a few months to go until the spring rush and with course book listings already available online at www.labyrinth.com, the only glitch that remains, said Doeblin, is the database. "Whenever somebody wants to buy something, you end up in the shopping cart area of BookSite." But he's not worried about overcoming that or other real-world problems connected with online ordering. For example, he's expecting students to browse course book offerings in the privacy of their dorm rooms and then come across the street to make their purchases the old-fashioned way, in person. "At this point," he said of the Web site, "I see this as primarily an information thing. My personal anticipation is that people are not going to want delivery. Most of our customers live close by." However, he is prepared to provide delivery service in the middle of book rush or to hold students' purchases for them at the store if necessary to make an online college store work.
