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Waterstones is “not in the risk business” when it makes its buying decisions, but is able to be reactive to changes in demand, James Daunt, m.d. of the retailer, has said at the IPG Spring Conference.
Speaking on a panel about "What Retailers Want", designed to give independent publishers advice on how to improve relationships with retailers, Daunt responded to comment from Oneworld publisher Juliet Mabey who said in a recent Guardian article that Waterstones would sometimes only order “single copies” of her books upfront [though often then going on to sell many more on repeat orders].
“We’re not in the risk business", Daunt said. "I think we serve and do perform an important avenue for discovery for readers and an important way of promoting books but it is certainly true that we don’t take risks in the way that in the olden days it was possible for Waterstones to do. I think there is actually flexibility at individual shop level, and certainly centrally, to respond to any book that has genuine merit, and when there is a genuine PR and publicity push behind it.”
He added: “We think we are able to be highly reactive. We’ve got shops that are absolutely rammed full of books. So it’s not that we’re lacking the stock on the shelves. But I quite appreciate particularly the smaller you get and the less visibility that you’re able to achieve in front of our buying teams.”
Daunt said that publishers will find it “more difficult” to get specialist subjects stocked by the chain, as he argued these titles are now being bought online. “We are simply selling less and less of titles which don’t appeal to the general browsing reader. If you know precisely what you want and it’s slightly more technical, you are ever more likely to be buying from Amazon rather than from us”, he said.
Discussing relationships with independent publishers, Daunt said that the retailer was "blind" to books' publishers and values them on the "basis of their quality".
"We don’t seek to sell more Penguin Random House or HarperCollins or Hachette books than we do Profile or down to the smallest level of publishing, we take books in equally. We are prejudiced - to a certain degree - around terms, [but] that is an inevitable reflection of our financial position.”
He added that the general structure of trade has begun to reach an “equilibrium” and, even with Amazon as Waterstones’ main competitor, the more “stable market” is becoming easier to weather. “For first time in a while we’d like things to remain as they are; we are finding life a lot easier at the moment. We’ve done an amount of work to put our own house in order,” Daunt said.
Daunt discussed the direction the Waterstones shops were going in, saying that they were become much more “customer focused bookshops”, giving “slightly less” room to books and more room to non-book products such as stationary and education tools. Daunt added that cafes were being added to an increasing number of the retailer’s shops. He said that he thought 'hybrid' bookshops that had cafes added a "community aspect" and willl have a good future on high street.
The retailer’s childrens' section is continuing to be an “absolutely key” part of the shops, with the section doing “ever better” as a percentage of sales. “When I joined 2011 to date, roughly speaking the fiction sales were down by a third and children’s up by a quarter, so you can see very significant shifts in where we are making our money”, Daunt said. He added that traditional subject areas such as history and biography were also performing well, although the academic market is “tough” for the retailer and “continues to decline”.
Daunt spoke of his desire to continue to improve Waterstones' stores, invest in training of booksellers and open more shops. “We are just about opening as much as we close at the moment would be nice to improve that ratio”, he said. “It is a very good time for independent booksellers and general booksellers and there will be more of them. There has been a period of lack of confidence, of fear, and I think that is now going to begin reverse." Daunt is also the founder of independent bookshop chain Daunt Books.
Meanwhile, Justin Adams of Connect Books emphasised the importance of cover design and implementing effective marketing materials when selling books, saying that “It’s amazing how many books sit on a shelf and don’t sell themselves. He argued that more time should be spent "understanding what a cover can look like, should look like, to stimulate a sale.”
Speaking generally about the market, Adams added: “Clearly we’re entering pretty volatile period. We need to focus on what we’re doing and continue to do it really well. From your end, keeping on generating and developing great books is an absolute given."
Adams, who started at Connect Books two and a half years ago, concluded by summing up the current political situation and how books will be pivotal to weathering upcoming disruption: "I’m new to the book industry but think it’s it’s one of the most fascinating and stimulating business I have worked in. Actually, I was in the States recently on business, and [the publishing sector] really struck me as a business that's in real shock right now. One thing that came out really loud and clear was that in [the world of President Trump], the role of bookshop and the role of the book is a really important thing. People see it as good for the soul and we shouldn’t lose sight of that."
Adams also spoke about Connect Books' decision to share data with publishers and retailers going forward.
Blackwell's m.d. David Prescott lauded the role of sales reps, saying that they were a "key" part of the buying process. "There are no barriers to reps going into our shops. If you’ve got things to sell , we’d like to see them", he said.
Prescott added that the best way to sell a book was to "get them into the hands of the booksellers themselves."
Andy Rossiter, co-founder and owner of Rossiter Books, discussed the IPG's joining the Bookseller Association's "Shopfloor Publisher" initiative that encourages publishers to spend a day in a bookshop outside London. The scheme will see publishers involved in the day-to-day running of the bookshops and understanding of the bookselling industry, and has been launched by BA president Rosamund de la Hey of the Mainstreet Trading Company. The IPG hopes it will help independent publishers to strengthen relationships with their counterparts in bookselling.