The next few weeks are of paramount importance to everyone in the business of selling books, but you wouldn't guess it from visiting most bookstores.
Every year, I am fascinated by how Williams-Sonoma works to make Thanksgiving a selling opportunity. Throughout the store are displays of items to help create and serve the perfect meal. Utilitarian roasting pans take on a sensuous gleam. The store exudes the scents of holiday cooking, They even give away booklets featuring Thanksgiving recipes and a two-week countdown of tasks to be completed (the detailed 1995 edition suggests that the evening before Thanksgiving be spent setting the table and organizing pre-dinner drinks as well as the coffee service. This makes hilarious reading at 2 a.m. when you're still trying to find what you did with the turkey baster). Williams-Sonoma has figured out that, in order to sell expensive pans and carving sets, you need to sell the idea that gathering friends and family for a memorable meal is not a chore but a pleasure.
We were intrigued to learn, as reported in PW Daily for Booksellers, that Tatnuck Bookseller in Worcester, Mass., decided to turn the onset of cold weather into a marketing opportunity. They created a window display promoting the idea of reading in bed, promoting not only books, but booklights and silk pajamas. It's refreshing to see reading promoted as a guilty pleasure, rather than something one should do.
This year, we are hearing the refrain from booksellers that, while the fall has been rich in wonderful books, no single title is working to bring people into the stores. We need to get away from this title dependency and work on promoting books as the solution to gift-giving dilemmas.
Strolling down Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District, Christmas is everywhere. The Bath and Body Works window carries a large banner reading "Gifts of Comfort and Joy." The other day, they added a sandwich board on the sidewalk announcing "Great Gifts Under $15." Restoration Hardware is promoting "Unique Stocking Stuffers." J. Crew's mannequins have signs pinned on their sweaters, suggesting "For Brother," "For Dad" and even, bizarrely, "For the Boss." The Wiz on Union Square displays a banner declaring "We Have the WOW Gift for Everyone on Your List—For Every Interest—For Every Budget."
On the other hand, the Barnes & Noble on Fifth makes no mention of gift-giving. Its windows display "Gotham at War" and kid's books for Children's Book Week. While the banners in the Wiz and Restoration Hardware can lure people from across the street, the book displays are not visible from a distance. The B&N on Sixth Avenue does carry a banner, "The Greatest Gift in the World," which hangs in the window on a side street, away from the main traffic. Proclaiming that books are the greatest gifts is fine, but isn't specific enough to convince harried shoppers that they can find what they need inside.
Bookstores can be daunting places, especially at this time of the year, when they are stuffed with inventory. Potential customers, especially those who are not frequent book shoppers, can be overwhelmed by the selection. But if you think of gift-buyers' problems, this huge selection can be turned it into an advantage. Tell people you have something for any interest, no matter how special. You could go one better than the Wiz by not only saying you have gifts for everyone, but by listing who those people are—the trivia buff, the TV fanatic, girls with curly hair; the list of specific interests is literally endless. And, since there are so many books to choose from, busy shoppers can get all their gifts in this one place. As a further convenience, some even come in packages that need no wrapping (Taschen's Marilyn Monroe book, the Sex and the City book).
Taking a page from the Tatnuck bookseller, make suggestions of items that can be given together. This time of year is also ripe for promoting audiobooks. Suggest that gift buyers "Just add a Walkman or a treadmill" to encourage someone beginning a fitness program.
For the health of the business, we need to try to reach beyond those who already know that "Books Are the Greatest Gifts" in order to convince shoppers that that bookstores have exactly what they need.
