Tips and tricks from top indie retailers

As the economy slowly recovers, the number of independent bookstores are on the rise. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) membership grew from 1,664-member companies last spring to 1,712 this year, ABA recently reported to The Associated Press. This continues the slow-but-steady increase each year since 2009, as booksellers aim to grow sales by combining innovative store ideas with good, old-fashioned service.

How to run a successful children’s department in your store

Creating a successful children’s department takes more than just placing some books on a shelf and praying customers show up. Success takes thoughtful planning, dedication and a dash of creativity.

How to increase sales of what’s new and novel among fiction fans in today’s competitive retail landscape

With today’s retail landscape increasingly dominated by big box stores and online sellers, Christian retail stores find themselves with a significant challenge. How can Christian retailers compete on price, selection and convenience? Is there a viable path to becoming a supplier of choice for book buyers, particularly for the high-volume fiction buyer?

Consider these creative ideas for how to sell albums in a song-driven marketplace

Christian music has witnessed a lot of changes in recent years—some for the better, some for worse. The music world in general has seen an incredible number of sales online rather than at retail. More than two years ago, Apple announced customers had purchased 25 billion songs on iTunes. No wonder retailers are hurting!

How to use social media to raise awareness and create community for your store

A common question resounds among Christian retailers today: “How can I get customers through my door and on my website to make a purchase?” In effect, the question is really two, one related to drawing customer traffic and the other about creating an environment that invites the purchase. One of the many factors that helps retailers answer those  two questions is a store’s online presence.

With customers searching for the best price and value, it has become commonplace to start by researching online. Customers also ask for recommendations from friends and family, read product-related blogs, look up online reviews to determine if a particular product is right for them and then find the best place to purchase it.

Say thank you to your store’s repeat shoppers with instant gratification rewards and digital couponing

The goal of every retailer is to see increased spending in their store. Customer retention also is critical to winning the day at retail. Could loyalty and reward programs be part of the answer to what increases shopper receipts and retains a store’s customers?

When Amazon made the shift to a more robust—and more expensive—version of its Amazon Prime program in March 2014, the jury was still out on whether Prime would help the company garner greater customer loyalty and a bigger slice of the market. Now the online giant is touting the shift as one of the reasons for an increase in first-quarter profits. In fact, analysis by Chicago-based Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows that Prime members are spending $1,500 a year while their non-Prime counterparts spend less than half of that figure at $625 per year.

How Christian retailers can minimize risk as customers’ mobile payment options grow

There is a lot of talk these days about EMV cards (an acronym for Europay, MasterCard and Visa), liability shifts and Apple Pay. Despite the ubiquitous nature of information, retailers—including Christian retailers—are uncertain of how their businesses should respond to this changing financial landscape. In fact, many wonder why they should even bother with the expense and fuss of becoming EMV compliant.

The rush to EMV (also referred to as chip cards, smart cards or chip and PIN) is predicated upon the belief that the embedded computer chip will be far superior to magnetic strips in protecting cardholder information and accounts from would-be thieves and hackers. Traditional magnetic strip cards contain a significant amount of information about the cardholder and their account. Once a card is swiped at your store, that information is transferred to the stand-alone terminal or software used to process the transaction and from there across the network to the card issuer for approval. Unscrupulous types are tempted to test the security of terminals, networks and computers to gain access to this information. These days even the most secure systems are subject to a security breach.