Marketing Simulation #5: Bookstore

The offline book market has been in decline since a decade ago because of the online book market.This doesn't necessarily mean that starting a bookstore business is bad business but that you need a better strategy than the average bookstore so you can be among the last few that will survive in the market, because the less competitors are in the market the better it is for the ones remaining. Being in a declining industry also means not many will dare to adventure in it. So how do you stay in the business then? The answer is by focusing and making sure you dominate one category. Also offering what online bookstores can't, maybe not such small prices but you can offer great customer service!

So don't offer every type of book, just focus on one category like business books and get thousands of them if you can. If some other bookstore still can have more business books than you have than focus even more and offer say marketing books. Make sure you dominate the category you're in and overwhelm any competitor for that market and make sure people know you do! Being the leader is the biggest incentive for people to buy from you.

Here are my 10 tips on how to get those people to come to your bookstore:

1. Location
Put it near other bookstores that are more generalist. This not only it won't hurt you since the people who want marketing books will come to you anyway instead of going to them - they know you have the highest chance to have the book in your bookstore - but it will also help you because it's convenient for people to go to a place where there are several bookstores and there are higher chances they will find their book so overall the people who will come to all those bookstores will increase.

2. Book arrangement
Keep most of your books or at least the bestsellers faced-up. People will not bother( i know i don't) to look on the edges of most books which means they mgiht miss the one they were looking for and will also rarely ask the salesperson for it. Also putting the bestsellers in front will increases sales for those books - there are studies that show that people are more willingly to buy bestsellers and high rated books rather than those that are not.

3. Bundle packages
For certain more expensive books or perhaps for a packages of 3+ books give a small and cheap but very good book for free.Customers will feel like they got more value for their money and will be happy with you bookstore which makes them comeback other times as well.

4. Visible sign
Make your sign very visible and attractive to get people inside, even those that are just walking by and not really looking for a book.

5. Direct mail
Get your customers' addresses and send them some sort of catalog with your newsest bestsellers and offer discounts for those that come with it a detachable coupon from it.

6. Bestseller price cut
You can give a bestseller with a 15% or so discount every month. Make sure everyone who enters the bookstore sees this offer. You can put posters near office buildingss or colleges with this book and announcing the price cut.

7. Business cards
Give them away to people you meet and give one for their friends. Don't forget to mention about your bestseller price cut either.

8. Customer service
Get your personnel to ask anyone what book they are looking for but also to recommend some other good books related to the one they are looking for.

9. Loyalty points
Give points for some of the books you sell. Once they gather up a certain number of points they can use them to buy other books for free.

10. Referrals
People like to talk about the last book they've read with their friends. You can use this and make a referral system in which customers get a number of loyalty points for every new customer they bring.