In our monthly chat on September 14, we spoke to Mel Griffin and Rosamund de la Hey, who gave us some great thoughts and tips on preparing for a very different Christmas 2020.

Preparing for Christmas with Mel Griffin and Rosamund de la Hey

1. Prepare for supply chain disruption

With only one next-day wholesaler operating in the UK and overwhelming numbers of new titles and COVID disruptions, it might be prudent to prepare for supply chain disruptions:

“We’ve definitely upped our proportion of direct buying from publishers with this in mind, also to inc. our online selling.  We have always bought almost 100% of new titles direct, but we’re increasing the upfront ordering this year.” – Mainstreet

“Are you selling online?  We’re buying bulk of titles we’d be confident selling online if another lockdown hits.  If you’re not selling online, speak to @DFridd and look at the newly announced Bookshop.org” – Mainstreet

“I’m tending to do bulk orders from publishers while simultaneously topping up daily from Gardners to make sure we always have at least 1–2 of popular titles on the shelf.” – Griffin

“That’s a good idea, Mel. You bank on the titles that the bookshop is known for and that you and the team will recommend and have those in stock. There’ll always be titles missing, happens even in the biggest bookshops.” – Sheila O’Reilly

“Championing personal favourites is a great way to invest in piles of stock you have confidence in selling.” – Unwin

“Championing books, having confidence in buying, seems to be the way most people are going to handle this, not leave it until the last min and hope to restock.” – Unwin

Other recommendations:

2. Prepare for limits on browsers

“Will definitely have to feature ‘our pick of booky stocking fillers’ – with fewer people in the shop there’s less chance for those till point impulse buys, sadly.” – Griffin

“I’m worried about that too – still working on it. I think it’s going to be a lot about how we can make the most of our online shop with sections for top picks by category, stocking fillers etc.” – Griffin

“Also planning to introduce private browsing times – we haven’t done that so far but am aware others have. Thinking between 5–6pm, in either 2 x 30min or 3 x 20min slots. £10 deposit, redeemable against book purchases. Interested in how others have made it work.” – Griffin

“We currently reserve the first half hour 10–10.30 for 2 x 15 min appts. We are considering extending this from 9.10–10.30 for 4 x 20 min appts, starting in October. we don’t get many bookings (2 to 3 a week) but it helps for our most nervous or vulnerable customers.” – Halfway Up The Stairs

“The whole shop is clearly marked with Covid-safe info, including a one-way system and specified customer numbers per area.  We’re moving to sit-in for our café (with much reduced capacity) from tomorrow, when the whole shop will become a 1m environment.” – Mainstreet

Book subscriptions are already a big thing for us and we aim to really push them as the perfect Christmas gift.  And our themed book bundles as mentioned earlier – instant, nicely packaged gift without the stress of choosing for someone else.” – Griffin

3. Use all media open to you

“We do an advent tweet campaign every year which customers love – it’s spread across the whole shop (books, cafe, deli & home), but we cram as many books in there as possible – great photos make a big difference.” – Mainstreet

“We’ve also seen a slowdown since the shop reopened, but there’s always a good response to our newsletter.” – Mainstreet

“To date our newsletter has been mainly about virtual author events but it will gradually transition to focus more on title recommendations. We like to do things like the Griffin 10, or the 12 books of Christmas, or other gimmicks to catch the attention!” – Griffin

“Mainly through our mailing list, plus in-store messaging/displays.  We’re careful not to send too many e-flyers, but they have been very well received through lockdown and definitely generate good sales & customers really seemed to enjoy them. On a very practical note, we added a recorded message to our phone for before they are put through to a human.  This gives them key info (opening hrs etc) and offers them press 1 for books/cafe, 2 for deli/home. Info all over website too.“ – Mainstreet

“Newsletter (max weekly), pinned social media posts, and good old fashioned window posters. Plus hand out the thousand BA Christmas catalogues I’ve ordered!!!” – Griffin

4. Use your reps and other sources of info

“We rely a lot on our sub meetings with reps (mostly virtual atm). There’s also good data from Edelweiss/Nielsen about what’s selling well in the indie sector. And I’ll be poring over the BA Christmas catalogue, review sections of papers I like.” – Griffin

“Read the news!  But also making sure we are on top of the big new books, while championing our personal favs like Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet and her beautifully repackaged backlist and the wonderful Shuggie Bain.” – Mainstreet

“Reps are so important – one of the many lessons of Covid and they can often secure you signed stock.” – Griffin

“I find the comp titles in @Weiss_squadUK invaluable in frontlist buying from publishers.  If the pubs haven’t input comps I do it myself.  Always remember to check ‘community comps’ too as someone else might have done the work for you! Crowdsourcing info at it’s best!“ – Bridport Bookshop

5. Have specific strategies in place for social distancing

We are limited to 2 customers/1 family which is very restricting. We use our discretion though if it seems they want to browse in different areas of the shop. As previously mentioned we’ll focus on encouraging online purchasing for click&collect, private browsing times etc – Griffin

6. Don’t forget to make your shop look nice – particularly the window

“We always love transforming the shop into a one-stop Christmas emporium with our retail mix of books, deli & home (plus lots of mince pies in the café!). This year, we’ll be matching the in-store feel with our (soon to be re-launched) website.” – Mainstreet

“Make the most of window displays, as more people will be standing outside looking at them (hopefully) while waiting to be able to come in.” – Griffin

“Really looking forward to promoting the great range of titles that are either just in or coming soon and reintroducing our traditional ‘Christmas bundles’ hand-picked selection of 3 books on a theme tied with ribbon & a nice label. Particularly popular with husbands.” – Griffin

7. Manage customer expectations with orders

“We’re making a lot more use of Gards home delivery. But as Christmas approaches, we get more and more cautious about committing to next day delivery, and tend to position it as ‘next couple of days’.” – Griffin

“Educate your customers that they cannot always expect next day delivery. Sound advice.” – Unwin

8. Things will be different this year. Plan accordingly

“We did a big round of returns in August (all suppliers) to clear space for the new stock coming in. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend doing that now. Can always order back in that one title someone suddenly wants even though it’s been on the shelf unloved for ages.” – Griffin

“Also of course gets some much appreciated credit onto the Batch account to offset the big Christmas outlay.” – Griffin

“This for me is the most important piece of advice a bookshop could get. Let your head and bank account rule the decision and not your heart.” – Sheila O’Reilly

(Dan Fridd commented that Gardn HB returns are 100% at moment to which Sheila replied: “Makes sense Dan. The publishers and suppliers have to make it easier for bookshops to stock their titles. It is a team effort and if publishers want their books out on the bookshelves, they have to make ordering more flexible.”)

“I think local delivery will be a stretch for us as a team – may need to hire a local sixth former etc. to do the running around. But will definitely want to continue to encourage click & collect, i.e. order ahead either on our online shop or direct via email/phone.” – Mainstreet

“Collection of orders at the door means other people waiting can get in to browse sooner.” – Griffin

“Also we generally extend opening hours in run up to Christmas (later evenings, Sundays) and this will be even more critical this year to ‘spread the footfall’.” – Griffin

“We normally increase our staffing over Christmas, going from 6 days per week to 7 in December.  This year, it’s too early to know how things will work.  I reckon Christmas will come early this year with fears that another lockdown remains a threat.” – Griffin

Other top tips that I think are covered above, but you made particularly good points:

Educate your customers that they cannot expect next day delivery. Sound advice.

Try to be brave on the titles you love and that really fit with your customers and shop. Definitely consider doing more online.

It’s all the obvious things: go with your own reading tastes, read the reviews every weekend (a broad range media), know your customers, listen to your sales reps (if you see them), read The Bookseller, talk to your customers.  Keep it personal.

All publishers have to respond with a robust and clear strategy about Christmas orders. Let bookshops order in November and return unsold stock in January before paying the invoice. No book has ever sold to a browser off the shelf of a warehouse.

To date our newsletter has been mainly about virtual author events but it will gradually transition to focus more on title recommendations. We like to do things like the Griffin 10, or the 12 books of Christmas, or other gimmicks to catch the attention!