Academic Bookselling

In academic bookselling for higher education, we have some of the most very well-informed Customers with regards to technology and especially the internet as a resource. Some of our best Customers are computer science students who will gatecrash our website just to critique.

But seriously, the fact that people can compare prices and delivery options in the friction-less environment (no salesmen to influence a purchase) such as cyber-space means that selling textbooks is subject to much tougher competitive forces.

Clear, concise and direct offers must be presented or else share of mind (and share of wallet) can be lost in a fraction of a second by comparison websites or Customers who can open multiple tabs on their browsers.

Van Schaik Bookstore has actively pursued digital marketing in its various forms and migrations. I say “migrations” because Customers and potential Customers move from social network to social network as their needs change or some networks die out.

It is critical for a retailer such as ourselves to be close to the communities we serve. The higherEd student community is especially prone to hype-cycles related to aspirational needs.

In fact we were on places like Mixit and BBM to ensure that we are reachable to our constituency by whatever avenue is convenient for them.

In SA, 61% of all web page views occur on mobile phones according to Simon Kemp. This is growing year-on-year whereas laptop/desktop use is in decline. More so, according to GSM statistics, is that mobile phone connections exceed the country’s population by 46%.

The more popular networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are included as part of an inclusive CRM strategy. The CRM Strategy for any retailer should include whatever social network or Customer “touch point” that is relevant to them. For us, mobile is therefore mission critical.

Beyond a robust CRM that works off the exploitation of Customer “big data” to pitch personalised offers via e-mailers, customer newsletter and group matching, I see fantastic potential in omni-channel CRM that includes apps like WeChat where true multi-media connection to a Customer can occur seamlessly.

The result of good campaigns is to keep Customer’s loyalty. There are also some exciting LBS or location based services technologies that are now available.

Growing a Customer base comes before keeping a Customer loyal so different methods are used to first attract Customers to the brand. Fortunately, with a strong physical footprint in Southern Africa, traditional advertising and peerto-peer offline campaigns attract new Customers more effectively.

Online growth is dependent on the size of one’s Google AdWords budget! Unfortunately many booksellers cannot compete with behemoths of the industry such as Amazon when it comes to slick advertising online. The slow demise of alternative search engines like Bing from Microsoft further entrench a Google monopoly in online search and advertising.

Mobile is of-course the key channel for this generation of Customers who have the prescient power of the ancient Oracles in the palm of their hands.

So most customers will search on the search engine to find what they need before proceeding to the web store.

SEO techniques are used but they are not the “silver bullet” that some vendors believe.

In fact, some mobi-sites are not even ranked in the search engine algorithms. More useful in attracting a Customer is a comprehensive web-content strategy combined with good UX design driven by a thorough understanding of website analytics and offline behaviour.

Van Schaik has an e-commerce business unit that facilitates the discovery, selection, purchase and despatch of books online. Physical books are delivered to offline addresses and e-books/e-textbooks are delivered electronically to the Customer’s consumption device.

The Market has changed dramatically in the last five years. After the 2010 hangover, SA Customers have benefitted from cheaper, faster devices and greater internet bandwidth.

Total undersea capacity (e.g. SeaComm cables that bring connectivity to SA) was just 5410 Gigabits per second five years ago and now it is in excess of 36000 Gb/s.

The price of web-enabled basic feature phones with social media apps is under R200 while entry-level fullyfledged smart-phones and tablets are now under R1000.

If we look into Arthur Goldstuck’s e-Commerce “Digital Participation Curve”, it puts a five year evolution on a typical internet user’s progression from basic internet use (mostly nascent use like for WhatsApp/BBM) to buying online with a financial instrument at the end, we can see the benefit of more Customer’s choosing to look for deals and buy online. To be sure, some Customers have not had a choice except to adopt online purchasing
as it is the only option provided by certain institutions for study materials including schools that have hyped tablets as part of their market differentiator. Due to the current market instability however many Customers are more cautious of offers, scams and promises that are presented online. In this context, it is incredibly pertinent for booksellers to behave with the utmost ethical considerations and bona fides. The safe-guarding of any Customer information and the use of encryption / secure networks is, therefore, a newer consideration for risk management.

Sales figures have grown in doubledigits year-on-year.

Much has been said about online players like Amazon moving from digital to physical stores, however, what is often missed in the excitement is that Amazon is exploiting reams and reams of online data that it has captures from its Customer’s choices to create unique user experiences in the off-line world.

This kind of technological feat is really just an extension of the online delivery mechanism. Using analytics and other tools like cookies on their website, Amazon is likely to use the data to create a shop where it will have most benefit (range of items and proximity) to Customers and their own corporate operational efficiency.

– Melvin Kaabwe