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CBA facilitating industry exploration of e-books and Christian stores

Following an opening panel dialog on e-books and book stores and a subsequent “digital summit” meeting during the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, CBA is facilitating an industry task force on e-book delivery through brick-and-mortar stores.

The task force includes representatives of leading Christian stores and marketing groups, publishers, and POS people who will explore possible solutions to ensure Christian stores may continue selling book content to established customers whether the content is physical or digital.

The panel dialog session included Darin Sennett, director of strategic projects of Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, OR -- reportedly the largest U.S. independent bookseller -- and Chris Smith of Spring Arbor Distributors. The companies have developed a way for Powell’s to deliver e-books through Powell’s web site and under the Powell’s brand. The system enables the bookseller to continue selling to its customers without having to send them to online retailers such as Amazon.com or Apple iTunes or dominant big-box booksellers as the only source for e-books.

Other panel participants were Amanda Edmonds of Google; David Crace of EMI CMG; and Mark Kuyper, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Assoc. Jason Green, president of Mardel, moderated the panel.

The digital summit included approximately 60 industry leaders who discussed both the need to ensure brick-and-mortar stores can offer digital products and the need for publishers to sell book content across multiple retail channels and digital formats.

The discussion was preceded by delivery of an industry briefing document on the current status of e-book growth, plus a comparative analysis of the digital-music market transition. While digital music sales have increased nearly 1,000% in the past four years, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, music sales have declined 30%-35%. Sales declines are attributed to piracy and the loss of outlets to sell physical music. Physical product still represents more than half of all music sales, but people are buying less music and have fewer stores to purchase CDs.

Watch for more coverage on this issue in CBA’s Retailers+Resources magazine.

Fall, winter exclusive CBA channel campaigns launch during ICRS

CBA in cooperation with industry suppliers is launching two campaigns this year to complement existing retail marketing and drive traffic and sales to Christian stores. The No Mom Alone project and the unprecedented Christian Store Day mutli-vendor campaigns offer exclusive products and significant promotional investments that will help Christian stores support local churches and community outreach.

Retailers should register to receive benefits such has having their store listed on the CBA store locator as participating in the campaigns.

For details see:

No Mom Alone

Christian Store Day

CBA revises ICRS attendance report

Professional attendance at the 2010 International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis was 1,593, or flat, as compared to 1,605 in professional attendance in 2009 according to audited numbers reported by CBA. The comparatives are matched against a corrected 2009 report. Click to see the complete press release.

Social-media marketing needs a new mindset

Retailers increasingly are using social media to connect with customers, build relationships, and increase sales. Gunnar Simonsen says people want to connect personally and authentically, and companies that want to connect with consumers need to think that way. Simonsen is helping retailers, music groups, organizations, and institutions better serve and connect with their customers using Facebook, Twitter, text-message marketing, and other social-media tools. For more click here.

New ratings help customers better understand Christian-media in stores

A CBA industry task force, in cooperation with The Dove Foundation, developed a new ratings system for Christian DVD products and film releases to help retailers better serve their customers with knowledgeable information about product content. The intent of the ratings schema is to ensure that Christian consumers understand the type of content they are purchasing from Christian stores, particularly if titles contain portrayals not usually expected in Christian media. Go to the ratings page for details.

Are you paying for sloppy PCI practices?

If you noticed a non-compliance fee tacked onto your credit-card services bill, you may not have filled out a self-assessment questionnaire to demonstrate you're compliant with credit-card security standards. Check out what you need to do by reading the full post on the CBA blog.

Posted on January 22, 2010

For the new Corporate Responsibility Guidelines and Best Practices document, plus Lead Paint Rule News, click here.