Treeline Tips and Tricks: Connecting With Publishers

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

By Joe Foster, Edelweiss/Treeline Education and Outreach Coordinator

Treeline Analytics is a collaborative analysis tool, in that inventory and sales data is aggregated to give users a solid view of what’s happening around the market place (the “market” being all other Treeline stores). There are essentially two “tracks” you can take in Treeline: one will show you market data and how your store’s inventory compares. The other allows you to dive into a detailed analysis of your own specific store(s) performance. 

One thing to keep in mind, of course, is that every store is a unique and special snowflake. Every store out there carries stuff you’re not likely to find anywhere else. That said, those things are generally going to be titles or items that are uniquely local. For the most part, with the exception of used books, bookstores buy books from publishers, and those publishers sell to as many bookstores as they can. While every bookstore has a unique personality and a unique clientele, they’re all basically creating their own specific mix of titles from one big pool. Knowing what is selling very well everywhere else can help you see where you may be missing sales. We always like to say that Treeline is a descriptive rather than a prescriptive service. If you see that a title is selling like crazy elsewhere, but you don’t think it will work for your store, you should by no means feel impelled to carry it, of course. But you might be surprised.

Anecdotally, I distinctly remember a visit to a really great (anonymous) store, some years back. Their selection was fantastic, to my mind, almost tailor-made for my sensibilities. But I watched while I was browsing on this busy Saturday, and while there were lots of people browsing, there were really very few books being sold. To top it off, potential customer after potential customer went to the counter and asked if the store stocked the Stieg Larsson Girl With… titles. The store did not stock them. When asked why, the person behind the counter explained that there were better books out there, etc. While that may or may not be, these potential customers left empty-handed. On this particular day anyway, this beautifully curated store simply did not have the books on hand that their customers wanted to buy. So in a sense, it didn’t necessarily matter how great this store was, as they elected to not listen to what their almost-customers were telling them. This store is now out of business, sadly, and I can’t help but think that it needn’t have been so. They were, I think, curating for themselves, rather than for their actual customer base, and I don’t think this is a rare thing.  

One nice thing about Treeline is that, if you elect to let them do so, your publisher sales reps can help you make sure you’re not missing crucial titles. As one would expect, some reps are better at this than others, but those who do use Treeline effectively can quickly and easily let you know if they see some alarming gaps in your inventory. If you do not elect to let them see your Treeline data, your data will be included in the aggregate numbers but will otherwise be anonymous. To let your reps see what’s happening in your store, step one is to be a Treeline store. If you’re not, and would like to be, you can register from your Edelweiss homepage.

If you are a Treeline store, just go to your Administration tab in Edelweiss, and look under Analytics>Collaboration. You’ll see a list of publishers who also use Treeline. Just check the box next to the publishers with whom you’d like to share your information.

I’ve always been of the mind that anything that could help your reps help you more effectively is a good thing.

Questions? Always feel free to e-mail us at [email protected]