At the same time that Copperfield's Books has upgraded its website, the retailer has added computer kiosks featuring the site in its eight stores in Sonoma and Napa counties in California. Called Oliver--in another Dickensian reference--the kiosks allow customers to browse books and make transactions online, buy gift cards and check stock in all the Copperfield's Books stores.
The kiosks were added in part because a recent survey of customers found that 80% of the users of Copperfield's website browse there but buy the books at the company's bricks-and-mortar stores.
Among other changes made because of how customers use the website: customers can reserve a book online for pickup at one of the stores; and customers can see if there are used copies of the books they want available at the two Used & Rare Copperfield's Books.
Copperfield's Books also obviously has some fun on the site. In September, it had a contest tied in with Ken Burns's National Parks: America's Best Idea that included as a prize a trip to Yosemite National Park--this promotion drew more than 500 entries. And last month it introduced a Classics and Monsters Writing Contest based on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The Get Your Head in a Book contest features customers' photos with appropriate book covers partly or fully obscuring their faces.
The bookseller also uses a lot of video on the site: Copperfield's Books posts videos of many of its 150 events a year. It does a top 10 countdown of hardcover bestsellers each week, and offers videos of its staff picks and teacher-recommended lists.
CEO Tom Montan said that Copperfield's Books' "website has increased our store traffic and sales."
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Archie Kutz, owner of Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport, N.Y., told the Democrat & Chronicle that in an age of stiff online competition, his bookstore has "found ways to make the Web work for it."
"We
have to have people come into our store and see what we offer," he
said. "We have used our website as a marketing tool to get people in
the store. People are going to shop the way they want to shop; we
haven't found a way to stop that. We have, though, been able to get our
business out to more people."
Lift Bridge Book Shop's "college
section on the website is key with the State University College at
Brockport just a few blocks away."
"It is still a big push for
us in September and then again in January," Kutz added. "We are
constantly in contact with the school to find out what we need to have
so we are ready when the students call. Once books got up over $100,
there was a big push to buy books online. We try to help with the costs
as much as we can."