ABACUS - Year 2: Data Gathering Begins

Building on the success of last year's ABACUS study -- which fashioned a standard that independent booksellers have found extremely useful in gauging their financial performance and in identifying those areas that need to be addressed to move towards greater profitability -- ABA has begun collecting data from member booksellers for the 2004 study.

Last year, 197 bookstores participated in the study, which, in addition to the general report, provided each store with an individualized analysis of their store's performance in relation to the group as a whole. Feedback received by ABA strongly indicates that bookstores found their individualized ABACUS analysis useful in viewing their operations from different perspectives thus providing greater insight.

Now, to encourage more booksellers to participate in the study, ABA has made last year's study results more accessible by removing the password protection on ABACUS 2003 on the Web at www.bookweb.org/education/abacus/. An example of the personalized comparisons that booksellers can expect to receive if they participate in the 2004 study can be viewed by clicking here.

As the new ABACUS study moves into its second year, ABA will use the data to begin studying trends within the universe of all reporting stores and for individual bookstores. Allowing booksellers to see trends in the larger data set and to compare their store's performance to like businesses will provide a clearer picture of the success of their efforts to increase profitability.

Reporting to ABACUS is easy, and all data is kept strictly confidential. Worksheets, instructions, and an online form to submit data are available at www.bookweb.org/docs/abacusform/. The ABACUS form itself is largely unchanged from last year. ABA is asking for only one or two new pieces of information in an effort to make the study more valuable and to reduce the need to ask for supplemental data later.