October 31, 2011

PubEasy Service knocked out by Storm in NE USA

Posted by Phil Groom under Distribution Services, News | Tags: , , |
[4] Comments 

Update, 3pm, 02/11/2010: Service has now been resumed (h/t Andy Rigby & John Duncan). Brief report at Publishers Weekly: Bowker Back Online After Nor’easter Causes Outage

Update, 01/11/2010: As noted in the comments by Luke Hughes-Bunger, the issue is with the PubEasy server, not the suppliers themselves. Orders placed by other channels (email, fax, telephone or suppliers’ own websites, for example) should still be processed as normal.

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PUBEASY.COM, the online trade ordering service and a vital link in the supply chain between many booksellers, publishers and distributors, has been knocked out of action by a storm in the North East USA, according to an email sent out to service users over the weekend:

To all PubEasy Retailers:

Due to storm in the Northeast U.S., the PubEasy site is currently unavailable to all users. We estimate that the system may be down for several days. We will send updates to our PubEasy user community as soon as they are available.

We apologize for the inconvenience and will send more details as they become available.

Best regards,
PubEasy Support

Christian distributors and publishers which use the PubEasy service include, amongst others, Alban Books, Lion Hudson and SPCK, via Marston Book Services; Cambridge University Press; Church House Publishing, Darton Longman & Todd and SCM-Canterbury Press along with others serviced by Norwich Books & Music; Continuum, via Orca; HarperCollins; Hodder, via Bookpoint; and John Wiley & Sons — in short, most of the major players in Christian and wider religious publishing.

My thanks to Andy Rigby of Christian Bits for forwarding this email.

From the Archives: PubEasy Reviews (most recent first)
 

October 28, 2011

No change before Christmas as TMD prepares for “significant” reduction in range of suppliers

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Book Trade, Christian Suppliers, Wholesale Services | Tags: , , , , , , , |
[12] Comments 
Update, October 29, 2011: Eddie Olliffe reflects on the viability of specialist Christian wholesaling: Book Trade – Reflections on the UK specialist wholesaling model
TMD: Trust Media Distribution - The new name for STL Distribution

TMD: Trust Media Distribution

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS in rapid succession from TMD this week have highlighted two of the constant challenges faced by Christian booksellers and retailers: stock availability and range.

In the first announcement, issued on Tuesday 25th October, TMD stated that their range of UK publishers would be “reduced significantly” following a review of their current supplier base. That review is now underway with conversations between TMD and suppliers that one, who did not wish to be named, described as “what appeared to be an ultimatum to improve terms or sever our relationship”.

Although TMD’s initial announcement specified that no significant changes would be made “until the New Year”, it nonetheless raised the inevitable spectre of previous disruptions to the supply chain in the run up to Christmas, and a second announcement reiterating that “Christmas supply will remain largely unaffected” was issued on Wednesday, a point that Pete Barnsley, TMD’s Supply Chain & Marketing Team Leader, was keen to emphasise in a conversation with him later that day: retailers can remain confident that it’s business as usual at TMD.

I asked Pete what the reduction in range implied for STL/TMD’s one-time ambition to be the “One Stop Shop” for Christian retailers and he acknowledged that those days were over, admitting that in some cases it makes more sense for retailers to go direct to publishers for better terms and availability.

Given that the publishers listed in the initial announcement fall largely into the evangelical/pop/USA categories, I also asked what the range reduction implied for the more academic, catholic, liberal and mainstream UK Christian publishers: is this a theological narrowing of the range or a focus on the “big guys”? Pete wouldn’t be drawn on who might be in or out until the review is complete but emphasised that TMD’s aim is to serve the entire Christian marketplace across denominational boundaries, and that publishers with a single line were as likely to be included in the new mix as those with hundreds of lines.

The situation, Pete explained, is a case of facing up to reality: better to focus on what TMD can do in terms of publishers whose product availability they can be confident of rather than raise unrealistic expectations amongst retailers and end up letting both them and, ultimately, their customers down.

Retailers whom I contacted were broadly empathetic: the “One Stop Shop” was a fantasy and few, if any, have been wholly reliant upon STL/TMD, sourcing elsewhere as necessary despite the inconvenience of the extra admin involved in dealing with smaller orders and extra invoices.

The question remaining is whether other distributors or wholesalers can step up to the mark? No one was available to comment from Norwich Books & Music, but Phil Burnham, CLC’s UK Director, advised that CLC Wholesale would be willing to assist where appropriate:

CLC Wholesale would be very happy to hear from booksellers if there are items in keeping with our Statement of Faith that they would regularly source from us if we carried them. I’ll pass on any related comments to my wholesale colleagues for their consideration.

 

October 18, 2010

“… the weak link(s) in our industry is (and has always been) in the supply chain.”

Posted by Phil Groom under Book Trade Ramblings, Christian Suppliers | Tags: , , , , |
[4] Comments 

SO WRITES PAUL IN CANADA at Christian Book Shop Talk, discussing the criteria by which retailers select their suppliers — but is he right? Paul is, of course, addressing Canada’s situation — but how similar is that to ours here in the UK?

Personally I am reluctant to place so much weight on supplier incompetence, although we have seen plenty of that, arrogance too, in recent years: I’ve seen far too much incompetence in terms of ill-informed or over-enthusiastic staff (both extremes are best avoided, methinks) in Christian bookshops themselves to be able to sit comfortably alongside Paul on this one.

Arguing that “we should all reconsider our priorities when deciding where to do our wholesale shopping”, Paul suggests that an important question being missed is:

  • Do they have good people?

In other words, are their staff intelligent, insightful people? Are they compassionate and understanding?

Often times the answer is “no,” although it often takes many months to find this out. Many of our suppliers simply did not do well in the hiring process. Many others don’t offer ongoing training.

…I believe in our industry we’re dealing with a number of “bests”

  • We have the greatest products by the finest authors and artists
  • We have great staff at the retail level in many of our stores
  • Our customers — a lot of them good ‘church people’ — represent the nicest people in our communities

No, the weak link(s) in our industry is (and has always been) in the supply chain.

 

May 8, 2009

Christian Bookselling: “the best job I have ever done” – Andrew Lacey, GLO

Posted by Phil Groom under Book Trade Ramblings | Tags: , , , , , , , |
[3] Comments 
What are they saying about CBC/CRE?
For behind the scenes conversations at this year’s combined Christian Booksellers Convention / Christian Resources Exhibition, follow these twitter hashtags:

My thanks to Andrew Lacey of GLO Bookshop for this thoughtful follow up to his previous response to my cry of despair over the chaos at STL:

To clarify several points. 

1. When I say I’ve worked with a number of other companies, I mean five other retail companies over 30 years, from supermarkets to sportwear. I arrived in the Christian book trade some five years ago. So I have seen some pretty poor service and inept systems management. And I can assure you that, overall, I was very impressed by the general standards in the book trade supply chain when I arrived (Orca excepted….!). And STL were certainly were showing the way.

2. Yes, there has been six months of problems, and I don’t make light of them lightly (if you see what I mean). But I do think that, overall, the attitude of the people at STL has been remarkably open & contrite. I have seen similar problems on a number of occasions(and have, regretfully, also been involved in inflicting similarly ill-tested systems on long-suffering end-users). They are not easy to solve, and I’m sure if STL could have resolved them six months ago, they would have done so.

3. The idea of a boycott did make my mind leap to a mental picture of myself standing at STL on a picket line. As my kids would say to me, ‘Too far, Dad, that’s just too far’. I’m sorry if I have trivialised what is to all of us a serious matter, and will think a bit more carefully before hitting that fatal ‘Submit Comment’ button the next time……

4. While I don’t agree with the idea of a boycott, we should all be assessing our supply chain. One of the reasons why I enjoy being an independent bookseller is that we can assess the best distributor to place orders- looking at margin, availability & delivery. And at GLO, we are certainly doing that, and our proportion of business has markedly changed in the last six months. And, if STL are worth their salt, they will come back fighting to regain that market share – hopefully enticing us with good offers, good service, and resolution of the issues they are facing. And, yes, they need to take advantage of offers to get good information about what is happening at the sharp end.

5. And, finally, if I seem to make light of all this at times, perhaps it’s because I am (still) hugely enjoying myself in this trade. After years of bringing in lorry loads of milk crates in the Scottish sleet at 6.00am, and contending with drunk/smashed/agressive yobbos when trying to close the shop at 9.55pm, I think this is the best job I have ever done. It may be pretty busy, it may have its frustration, but it is a privilege to be able to do it. I work with a great team, I get a lot of job satisfaction, and I really look forward to going to work each morning…..In my previous job, I would have been too exhausted to even think about ‘blogging’!

 

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