Industry News

On Sunday, the e-commerce conversion rate spiked to 11.06 percent, which indicates that indie bookstore customers are highly motivated to buy from store sites right now.

Supported by a group of authors, Binc is launching a new matching campaign and a stretch goal of an additional $20,000, for a new total campaign goal of $80,000 by December 31.

IndieCommerce and IndieLite sites saw a 941.61 percent increase in revenue over the past seven days when compared to the same seven-day period last year.

BookExpo, BookCon, and UnBound will not return in 2021, ReedPop announced on December 1.

Recent work by the BAC includes judging the Independent Bookstore Day logo contest, mentoring booksellers at Winter Institute and Children’s Institute, and more.

“The announcement today that Penguin Random House, the biggest of the Big 5 publishers, is buying Simon & Schuster is alarming,” says ABA CEO Allison Hill.

To keep up with the coming surge in online traffic and sales, the IndieCommerce team has brought three more servers online in addition to the servers added at the start of the pandemic.

In the first 10 months of 2020, Binc helped more than 600 bookseller/comics retailer families, distributing more than $700,000. Comparatively, in the first 10 months of 2019, 88 grants were given totaling approximately $200,000.

ABA member booksellers have voted to pass five bylaws changes as put forth by the Board of Directors. 

The percentage of online customers completing a purchase at IndieCommerce and IndieLite websites increased from 4.92 percent to 6 percent. 

Jarema is an illustrator, writer, and bookseller at Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia.