Saving B&N

Okay, I admit, I love Barnes and Noble. I love indie bookstores, too, but B&N has a store less than five minutes from my house. I can go there anytime to relax, read, have a cup of coffee or just wander around the stacks of books and feel better. It’s calming.

But, they are going to fail, just like any other brick and mortar bookseller if they keep trying to compete head to head with Amazon. They have to find a way to set themselves apart, use what they have, build on their knowledge and take some chances.

I have been thinking of ways to save B&N for years. Thinking that if I ran the chain, or they hired me to consult with them, how I’d do things differently. One of the biggest things I would look to do would be to create multiple profit centers within each store. I am not talking about adding more movies, music or other products unrelated to books. As a matter of fact, everything they do should revolve around books and building a community. I would strive to make each store unique to the community it belonged to.

Let’s get started. Here is my list of a few things that could save B&N…

• Expand the café offerings – make the café offerings unique to each store. Buy the best pastries and bagels from a local bakery. Have specials of the day. Encourage people to come back often to buy their favorites or to see what the special of the day is. Monitor what sells on a daily basis and adjust the product line accordingly on an individual store basis.

• Answer the questions, “What’s selling? Which departments are the most profitable?” And, answer the questions at a store level, not a district, state or national level. Aim for making each store unique to its community, not McDonaldilized versions. Once these questions are answered, adjust accordingly. Eliminate certain categories and expand others.

• What do people want? Monitor the online buzz. What are people talking about? What book releases are they anxiously awaiting? What are they reading right now? Have these books in stock and prominently displayed. We are an ‘I want it NOW’ society. Yes, Amazon can sell it cheaper, and offers free shipping, but a lot of people see what’s popular and want it right now. Take advantage of that impulse buying need.

• Get rid of the music and movie section, unless it is in the top three profit centers in the store. They are lots of cheaper stores to buy movies and music, online and off, than B&N.

• Once this section is closed, create a new profit center, one based on bringing people into your store and growing a community. Remodel this space and create meeting rooms and/or classrooms. Rent these rooms inexpensively to local businesses and community groups. (Most of the people attending a meeting or workshop in your store are going to browse, and more than likely make a purchase at the Café.)

• Offer catering from the café for an additional fee.

• Offer book birthday parties for kids.

• B&N membership – mine that data and do something with it.

o Create a gold or platinum membership for people who spend a certain dollar amount.
o Offer special discounts to individuals based on their buying history. If 75% of a member’s purchases are in the business section, offer him a 30% off any business title in addition to his member discount. Or, if someone spends above a certain dollar amount offer that member a 20% off shopping day.
o What are your members buying? How much are they spending? When do they shop? How often to they shop? Where are they shopping? Answer these questions on a member by member basis and market to the individual. Make them feel special and appreciated.

• Join the conversation and use social media – each and every store should have one or two staff members dedicated to building a community online. What is happening in the store right now? Real time information, communicated in an authentic, enthusiastic way, to a targeted community and at an individual store basis. Build a community.

These are just some of my ideas. New ones pop up every day. I think I’ll start writing them down just in case someone asks me one day.

What are your ideas? How would you suggest B&N save themselves and stop trying to compete head to head with Amazon?