Publishers Offer Rapid Replenishment Programs

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Several major publishers are once again offering expedited shipping to indie bookstores this holiday season and, in some cases, beyond. Here’s a look at current programs from Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster.

Hachette Book Group

Through Hachette’s rapid replenishment program, available all year to independent retailers in good standing within the continental U.S., orders from qualifying accounts received by the end of the day on Mondays will arrive at bookstores no later than Friday of the same week. All other orders received are picked the following day.

HarperCollins

Independent booksellers in the U.S. can take advantage of HarperCollins’ 2017 Holiday Express Shipping Program from Monday, October 30, through Friday, January 12, 2018.

Under the program, all qualifying orders received by 3:00 p.m. EST will ship out the next business day and will be expedited so that in most cases they will be delivered in two business days, provided books are in stock and the account is in good credit standing.

All reorders of HarperCollins and Harlequin titles are eligible for the Holiday Express Shipping Program. New title laydowns will continue to ship by the established on-sale date for each title.

The minimum for a single order is 30 units. If the minimum order is not reached because HarperCollins is out of stock on any titles and the customer allows backorders, then HarperCollins will still ship the order free freight. If the out-of-stock titles become available within the program timeframe, the balance of the order will be expedited at no extra charge.

Booksellers should process their orders in the same way they always have; no special instructions are needed. All orders placed from October 30 to January 12 will receive the special handling.

Questions about the Holiday Express Shipping Program should be addressed to a store’s HarperCollins sales representative.

Macmillan Publishers

Macmillan Publishers has announced that it will be implementing expedited shipping for independent retailers’ reorders placed between November 2017 and January 2018. This program applies to independent retailers that order on Macmillan’s retail returnable schedule and for locations that typically have ship transit times of three days or greater.

Starting November 3 and continuing through January 16, shipments with an invoice value greater than $100 will be shipped via a two-day air expedited service to locations where ship transit times are normally three days or more under standard ground services.

With this program, all independent retailers in the United States will have the benefit of ship times of two days or less.

For accounts that are typically reached in two days or less under standard ground shipping methods, there will be no changes to their current daily ship schedule for reorders.

New release orders will be dispatched as per Macmillan’s normal schedule, ensuring availability in time for publication dates. Shipments with an invoice value of less than $100 will be subject to shipping minimum rules and policy.

Booksellers with questions should contact their Macmillan sales representative.

Penguin Random House

On Monday, October 2, Penguin Random House launched its two-day transit shipping program for the holiday season.

Orders for Penguin Random House physical titles received from independent booksellers by 3:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, will ship no later than the following business day, weather and transport conditions permitting, for arrival at booksellers’ doors within two days. Penguin Random House’s Westminster, Maryland, and Crawfordsville, Indiana, operations centers both have weekend shifts in place to enable orders received on Fridays and Saturdays to be shipped Monday. The program will run for five months, through March 2, 2018.

All frontlist and backlist books from the imprints of the Crown and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Groups, Random House, Penguin Publishing Group, Random House Children’s Books, Penguin Young Readers, Penguin Random House Audio, and DK Publishing — together with Penguin Random House Publisher Services clients — are available for Penguin Random House Two-Day Transit Shipping.

The expedited shipping program, begun by Random House in 2011, has been expanded over the years from a two-month test program to a full five months of rapid replenishment to independent bookstores.

Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster will continue its West Coast Rapid Replenishment Program through the holiday season.