Comments on: Nielsen BookScan needs YOUR data!

By: Phil Groom

Phil Groom — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:52:38 +0000

Your publisher should be able to provide that data, Karl; but you've sold at least 3 copies, since that's how many used copies are available from amazon... On a more practical note, remember that every comment you leave about the book on sites such as this gives prospective buyers an impression of what to expect from it: typing all in lower case with poor grammar and punctuation is unlikely to help your PR, unfortunately...

By: karl allen

karl allen — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:49:45 +0000

i am the the author of a book called “the golden virtues of jesus christ” but i am lost. i have no sure way of knowing if the book have made any sales.could you help.

By: Shack Attack 2 - and the web is where it’s at! « UKCBD: The Christian Bookshops Blog

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:20:36 +0000

[...] 49 (up from No. 80 last week, top of the Heatseekers chart) with last week’s sales logged by Nielsen BookScan at just over 5,000 copies, total sales just shy of [...]

By: Andrew Lacey

Andrew Lacey — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:02:31 +0000

An observation on submitting information to Nielsen. We submit figures via the Merlio system, which is straightforward enough. However, it’s a bit like sending the data into a black hole! We don’t receive any acknowledgement of receipt, or processing, or thanks- even an automated one would be nice! We have , of course, passed this feedback onto Neilsen,but with no action. I can’t say it fills me with confidence that our figures eventually arrive in the right place. Something to think about?

By: Phil Groom

Phil Groom — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:41:57 +0000

Thanks Geoff. Maybe it’s because I came into bookselling from the secular marketplace, where we had to keep track of the bestsellers to make sure we kept ahead of WHS just a few doors down, but to me a stock control system that doesn’t work with an essential service like BookScan really does seem half-baked… yes, it’s one small aspect: but a vital one, I’d say.

I’m astonished that it can’t be dealt with by some sort of add-on or plug-in…

By: Geoff Wallace

Geoff Wallace — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:10:44 +0000

Hi Phil
Exporting data to Nielsen is only one small aspect of a stock control programme for an independant shop. Synergi ticks so many other boxes for me that it would not be a reason for me to change systems. Having looked at other systems in some detail I remain unconvinced of the need to change and pound for pound it is in a league of its own for value.

By: Phil Groom

Phil Groom — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:13:06 +0000

Thanks for this, Geoff. Sounds like a major reason to find an alternative system to me: if Synergi is not capable of daily outputs to BookScan perhaps this is one of the reasons so few Christian bookshops are contributing data?

Yet this begs the question, what system are Wesley Owen using, since we know that they are contributing data? Is it a customised version of Synergi? If so, why has this version not been made available to independents?

I’ve invited Wayne Johnston at STL and Sara Mulryan from Nielsen to comment…

By: Geoff Wallace

Geoff Wallace — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:04:11 +0000

I did try to do something last August with Phil Mead of Nielsen but it didn’t come to anything. My Synergi system records daily sales but can only export them out of the programme into excel by month or by year. I had thought he might be interested in the month totals to give background but he wasn’t.
i think it is something on the Synergi wish list