Data Demystified Part II: How to Sell Books You Don't Read

How do you stock and sell books you aren’t familiar with (or don’t particularly like)? Even the most brilliant, widely read bookseller has a weak spot or two, and in this session, you’ll learn how to harness the power of SalesData to help you make informed buying and ordering decisions for sections of the store you might not know as intimately as others, but that your customers are interested in. Whether you’re stumped by sci-fi, a little rusty in Romantasy, or intimidated by Manga, by the end of this session you’ll know how to do some simple market research to expand your knowledge and offerings.

Led by SalesData expert (and expat bookseller), Kalpna Patel, this hour-long session will show you how to:

• identify top-selling titles in subjects you might not know anything about (because you can’t possibly read everything)

• discover titles, authors, subjects or series that are selling in other independent bookstores that you have never carried

• build a starter collection or shelf of “must-haves” to respond to customer demand or gauge interest

Join us for the second installment in this new informal and informative series designed for data dabblers and number nerds alike. Each session will be an opportunity to ask questions, and learn how to use SalesData one feature and report at a time. No spreadsheets, we promise.

Presenter: Kalpna Patel has over 20 years of independent bookselling and retail experience. After half a lifetime spent buying, managing, merchandising, and marketing, her focus now is to empower retailers and booksellers to make smart decisions, improve inventory performance, and to identify and take advantage of easy and exciting opportunities for growth.

Event time is listed as ET.