Have you ever thought about your indie bookstore as a great place for people to find unique gifts, fun new games, and other “I gotta have this” items? If not, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to attract more customers and supplement sales. Having gifts and games available in your indie bookstore is a great business strategy. Customers will love the convenience and you will love the extra profits! Consider the possibilities- your bookstore could become a gathering place where people go to find a great book, and a clever gift for their family or friends.
Take a look at these tips to stock your shelves with sidelines sure to increase impulse buys, total sales and store traffic.
- Take Advantage of Holidays - There is truly no better time to spotlight unique game and gift items than around the holidays. People love to find creative gifts and what better place to turn than their local indie bookstore? Build colorful holiday displays with fun, quirky, and unique impulse buys bookworms will enjoy.
- Improve Retail Sales with Impulse Items in Your Indie Bookstore - Speaking of impulse buys, what does your checkout counter look like? Do you have locally made trinkets, seasonal snacks, unique journals or posters filling unused store and shelf space? These items, while not the main reasons customers may have entered your store, are items they will be happy to pay for and leave with.
- Carry Unique Items that Make Your Indie Bookstore a Destination – Plan an event centered around your books, games, and gifts. Host a game night with contests featuring your new games and give prizes from your new gift collection. Utilize these game nights to promote familiar brands like Melissa and Doug, Thames and Kosmos, American Girl items that will grab your customers’ attention. To further spark their interest, unique gift and games can be a store hit with newcomers like Waste Not Paper, 33 Books, and Obvious State.
- Cater to Your Reading Audience - If you carry specialty or localized book inventory, it’s a good idea to tailor your gift and game items to your inventory. If customers come to your store for sci-fi titles, give them Star Wars mugs and retro-themed sci-fi games. If they are history buffs, make sure your shelves are stocked with Rosetta Stone flash drives and 3D puzzles of historic buildings.
- Get the Word Out –Be sure to take advantage of the internet to advertise your gifts, games and impulse items to the world—this can even help build your store’s online awareness. Include gift & games items on your website, social media channels and in newsletters to get the word out to new and potential customers. In addition, try advertising in a local publication or during an author event to spotlight your inventory and attract customers.
Ingram Can Help!
If you don’t already sell games and gifts in your bookstore, now is the perfect time to start…and we can help with that!
Although books are our passion at Ingram, we also offer a great variety of unique gift & game options to consider in addition to your local unique gift suppliers. Along with millions of books and e-books, Ingram gives you access to specialty games, plush toys, magazines, t-shirts, note cards, journals and many other gift and specialty items, available for immediate shipment and fast delivery. Stock your indie bookstore with plenty of fun games and gift options to see your sales soar!
