ABA's BEA 2005 Education Sessions (A Preliminary Presentation)

Based on the results of the 2005 Education Survey distributed to bookseller members last fall, ABA developed a rich and thorough series of educational offerings presented in an all-day education program on Thursday, June 2, at BookExpo America. Currently, ABA is working to bring many of these sessions to the Web in robust audio/video presentations to meet the needs of all ABA member booksellers.

Until those presentations are ready, ABA has made available on BookWeb PowerPoint presentations of five of the Thursday morning education sessions:

• Increasing Margin -- An Advanced Course in Growing Your Bottom Line: Intended for booksellers already familiar with principles of inventory management, this presentation compares and contrasts a profitable and unprofitable bookstore and covers a wide range of material, including: controlling product mix, direct versus wholesale ordering, electronic ordering, understanding the value of early payment discounts, better managing seasonal title orders, and more.
• Increasing Sales: This nuts-and-bolts session focuses on strategies for increasing sales, including the use of co-op, websites, and e-mail. You'll learn how to sell more to customers once you get them through the door and about how to improve traffic flow, best merchandising practices, and loyalty programs.
• Cost of Goods Sold 101: Designed for booksellers less experienced in dealing with inventory management issues and financial analysis, this presentation shows how the "Retail Inventory Method" can be used for calculating COGS. Real-world examples demonstrate how an accurate accounting of inventory and payables can lead any bookseller toward increased profitability.
• Renegotiating a Lease: This presentation uses real-world examples to show how a savvy bookseller can create a plan for entering into a discussion about an existing lease. The material includes using ABACUS benchmarks to frame discussions with your landlord and covers issues such as paying by the square foot vs. paying a percentage of sales, why you need to begin a lease renegotiation well in advance of it becoming a necessity, and more.
• The 2% Solution -- An Introduction to Profitability: This seminar looks at the drivers of bookstore profitability and examines how these can be used to move your business to greater profitability. Specific suggestions and ideas about how you can work on sales, gross margin, total compensation, and occupancy expenses are provided.

To access the PowerPoint presentations, go to www.bookweb.org/education/.

Watch for announcements about enhanced presentations of these educational sessions in upcoming editions of Bookselling This Week.