ABACUS Deadline Extended to July 11

American Booksellers Association member bookstores now have until midnight on Monday, July 11, to submit their 2015 financial data to the ABACUS-15 survey.

An exclusive benefit to ABA members, ABACUS is a unique data source and analytic tool for indie bookstores. In an e-mail to members, the ABA Board of Directors wrote, “We believe that this project is so critically important to your store’s profitability that, as your Board, we wanted to make a special, direct appeal to you to become part of the ABACUS community by completing the survey.” They noted that “the customized data you will receive provides a roadmap that will prove immensely valuable in strategic planning, gaining access to capital, benchmarking, and managing your store to greater growth. It will also be a very useful tool should you plan to open a new store or a second location in the future.”

The Board’s appeal to members was underscored by comments from several booksellers who noted how important ABACUS has been to their financial and strategic planning.

Submitting data to ABACUS-15 takes only about 30 minutes via a secure and confidential electronic form. In return, participants will receive an executive summary of the survey’s overall findings and a confidential, customized report that puts their own store finances within a fully intelligible industry framework, which provides context, insight, and essential benchmarking guidelines to improve a business’ performance.

To submit data to the confidential survey, booksellers should look for an e-mail dated May 26 from Martha Love of the National Association of College Stores’ (NACS) OnCampus Research, which bears the subject line “Ready, Set, ABACUS — Survey Now Open.” The e-mail includes a link to the secure online ABACUS submission form as well as introductory information, instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Booksellers with questions about submitting data to the survey should contact Love at [email protected] or (800) 622-7498, ext. 2448. General questions about ABACUS should be addressed to Dan Cullen, ABA senior strategy officer, via e-mail or at (800) 637-0037, ext. 7560.