Education Resources

Book fairs come in all shapes and sizes. If well planned, they can be a profitable undertaking for a bookstore. In this session, booksellers with profitable book fair models will discuss different store models and how bookstores with established relationships with local school districts can analyze and optimize profitability.

Over the last two years, the IndieCommerce team has observed and analyzed consumer e-commerce buying habits as all consumers were forced to adapt to online shopping throughout the public health crisis. In this feature talk, Phillip Davies, ABA’s Director of E-Commerce, will give attendees an e-commerce market overview and share assessments on consumer buying habits. Afterward, booksellers will meet in Buzz Groups to discuss how they can optimize what they’ve learned to continue to drive online sales.

Understanding financial benchmarks within your children’s bookstore or children’s departments can help you maximize space, optimize non-book gifts and sidelines, improve profitability, and more. This session is for children’s-only bookstores or general bookstores with a children’s department. Attendees will also learn more about ABACUS — how to participate, how to use this important tool for your business, and why it’s so important for children’s bookstores to be counted in this data.

In this session, IndieCommerce team members will discuss upcoming features and updates for websites on the current IndieCommerce 1.0 and IndieLite platforms to prepare for the 2022 Holiday shopping season. The team will also review the transition to the new IndieCommerce 2.0 platform, the timeline, and how stores can best prepare for the transition. An additional session that will discuss just IndieCommerce 2.0 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22.

This conversation is for stores of all sizes and designed with your questions in mind. PK Sindwani, former bookseller and current ABA CFO, and Cynthia Compton, owner of 4 Kids Books & Toys (Zionsville, IN), will spend the majority of the session taking financial questions from the audience. No question is too big or too small! This interactive group discussion will take into account a variety of business models, and practical advice will be given about how to integrate what you’ve learned to assist with making sound business decisions.

During this session, ABA IndieCommerce Director Phil Davies and Marketing Manager Courtney Wallace will share tips, tricks, and best practices for creating better product photography.

A full transcription is available for this session. Please note that it is machine-generated and not reviewed for accuracy.