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Ingram, WordStock Merging Data Systems
Karen Angel -- 8/17/98
Publishers look forward to help in making reprint decisions, earmarking marketing dollars
This fall, a year after the announcement was first made, WordStock's TitleView sales-data polling system will finally merge with Ingram's RSVP system, offering publishers aggregate data from some 550 independent stores under the INDepthData program. The merging will take place in phases throughout the fall and will conclude sometime early next year. The long development period was required to resolve technological issues, according to Youngsuk Chi, senior v-p of products for Ingram.

Meanwhile, BookScan, the book-industry equivalent of SoundScan, which records music sales, is in the testing phase for a projected late 1998 release, according to the founder of both companies, Mike Fine. While INDepthData will report sales from independents -- general trade, specialty and Christian stores -- BookScan plans to tap a cross-section of the industry, including chains, online booksellers and mass merchants.

And illustrating that tracking sales is becoming an industry priority, Amazon.com has recently started posting a sales ranking for 1.2 million of its 2.5 million titles, as well as updating its top-100 bestseller list every hour

The new sales-data polling systems are intended to help publishers reduce returns and more effectively allocate marketing dollars. "I think this has the potential to be a major, major tool in helping publishers rein in returns," said Mark Evans, director of merchandising for Ingram, which is handling the merging of TitleView and RSVP. Retailers and wholesalers can use the information to devise reordering and stocking strategies, Evans said; retailers who report to INDepthData will receive the aggregate data for free. And the data can help all parties identify sales trends.

Publishers said the existing programs help them make more informed reprint and distribution decisions and that they are looking forward to receiving more comprehensive data. "It's very helpful," said Peter Cerra, inventory and point-of-sales analyst at Zondervan. "It tells me how many copies stores have on hand and how many they've sold, and it breaks it down by region. We can tell in the first few months by looking at the history whether we can anticipate returns."

Bellwether for Certain Books

The aggregate data from independents is a "bellwether for certain kinds of books, like literary fiction," said Therese Burke, president of sales for HarperCollins, which receives both TitleView and RSVP data. "Just having more consumer-data tracking is better. It helps focus both the publishers and retailers on sell-through as opposed to sell-in."

Still, Alison Lazarus, president of the sales division at St. Martin's, which subscribes to RSVP, believes the anonymity built into the sales-reporting mechanism will leave publishers having "to do a fair amount of extrapolation. We need customer-specific information." Thus, the new systems won't eliminate the need for sales reporting from individual stores, she said.

The sales data can also be used to prepare bestseller lists. "This is an industry that is just rife with bestseller lists that have been prepared by some magic formulation concocted in the privacy of some room or another," said Oren Teicher, chief operating officer for the ABA. "These will be real numbers." The ABA is encouraging independents to report the data by allowing them to use the information they receive to market to individual customers. Currently, the data is sent to booksellers monthly via the mail, but Ingram plans to transmit the information electronically on a weekly basis once INDepthData is complete. At the same time, it will introduce a website for publishers to access any time rather than receiving the data through weekly electronic transmissions.

Controlling the Expense

Only 14 publishers, all large houses, currently subscribe to RSVP, which took over for another program called NPD in 1995. One of the reasons for this is the expense. Ingram offers only two package options: $12,000 for a year's subscription, which includes weekly tracking of 100 ISBNs and information about the top-1500 titles across the reporting base; or $5000 for a year's weekly tracking of 15 ISBNs and ad hoc reports on selected titles. But to attract small and medium-sized houses, Ingram plans to offer more pricing options with INDepthData, as WordStock d s now with TitleView.

TitleView, which began eight years ago and has some 20 clients, offers single-ISBN reports per week for $15 (including on-hand, on-order and returns information for the last eight weeks), top-50 reports per week for $150 and top-100 quarterly reports for $45 to $55. The program will continue independently after the merging for customers who prefer this structure. RSVP will also continue until the merging is complete.

Starting in September, to lower the cost of INDepthData, Ingram plans to offer single-ISBN reports dating back eight weeks for $29.95 (the 100 ISBN and 15 ISBN subscriptions also include information for the past eight weeks). And the company is working to develop a top-100 list in 110 categories as well as regionalized bestseller lists.

Compatibility Questions

A pressing issue for Ingram is the task of making the various point-of-sales systems used by booksellers compatible with INDepthData. The POS systems that already work with INDepthData are WordStock, IBID and IRT, according to Eddie Thornhill, marketing information services manager. Ingram has had difficulty motivating other POS vendors to work with the company to make their systems compatible, Thornhill said. "We would love to have every bookseller participate, but they can't unless their POS systems work with INDepthData."

Like Ingram, BookScan is working to make retailers' POS systems compatible with its technology. "We're testing the mechanics of the system, and the types of reports and information clients need," said Fine, who would not divulge the number or identity of the retailers that are reporting, or of the publishers that are receiving the information. Timely access to sales data will translate into "having the product in the right place at the right time, so you should be able to increase sales," Fine said.
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