CBA Industry Blog

A Changing Value Proposition

Greetings to the blog-world,
My name is Curtis Riskey and I am a fellow blogger on the new CBA Industry Blog. I haven’t written before now because I didn’t think I had much to add to the ongoing conversation. I also haven’t read too many blogs so I certainly don’t know how to write one. Part of my apprehension is to whom am I writing, and who would care?

I am a Christian retailer from Oshkosh, WI. I started a store there called BASIC which stands for “Brothers and Sisters in Christ.” It is a store that our customers seem to like a lot and we have been told that we have provided a necessary service in our community over the years.

I left our store in Wisconsin and moved to Colorado Springs recently to come to work at the Christian Booksellers Association. I did this because my heart had been breaking for Christian retailers who have been struggling for some time. You see, the competition for Christian products has increased over the years and the different ways to get those products has also exploded. The bottom line is that the value proposition has been changing. I guess I just wanted to do what I could to help fellow Christian stores grow.

I have met some of the most “salt of the earth” people in this industry. They have answered a call by Jesus to do something that takes tremendous personal sacrifice. They have started Christian retail stores not to get rich, but to truly serve others in their respective communities. They have tried to further His kingdom by providing books, music, and gifts to people so they may be encouraged and equipped to further His call on their own lives to reach out to the hurting people around them. It is truly a thankless job many times but other times it is rewarding beyond belief when you see lives changed for the better. Those rewards outweigh the costs and that is why many have continued down this path.

I mentioned that the value proposition has been changing and what I mean is this. For years a Christian store could be the place where people could find books, music, and gifts all centered on a specific worldview in one retail location. Now those books can be found many other places and the music also. Many gift items are tougher to find in other stores or online, but the competition still remains.

The million dollar question now is what is the value proposition for a Christian retail store today? Why do consumers continue to shop Christian retail stores? What can Christian retail stores do to attract more consumers? These are the questions that retailers are asking themselves everyday. I too would like to pose these questions to the blogosphere. If you are a consumer of Christian products, what can stores do to keep your business? If you are currently not a consumer of Christian products, what can a Christian retail store offer you that would be a reason for you to start coming?

Please respond, I would love to hear your ideas!

Consumer Study Reveals Shopper ‘Quality Cues’

What signals shoppers that you’re selling quality products?

WSL Strategic’s How America Shops MegaTrends 2008 report reveals some consistent “quality cues” that shoppers use to rank quality. Regardless of category, the hierarchy looks like this:

1. How it’s made (all natural, not tested on animals)
2. Where it’s made (grown locally, made in the United States vs. China)
3. Who makes it (well-known brands vs. unknown name vs. private label)
4. Who sells it (specialty store vs. department store vs. mass merchant)
5. High ratings by independent reviewers, such as J.D. Power or Consumer Reports, and consumer reviews written on websites (especially for electronics)

Shoppers increasingly define themselves by their choices of what and where they buy: is it natural, organic, or environmentally friendly? Who makes it and sells it? The four broad categories in the report didn’t look at books, music, and gifts, rather, beauty, clothing, electronics, and food. However, the response consistency shows deeper consumer concerns about purchasing discretion that could apply to Christian stores.

“Who makes it and sells it” is where Christian retail might fit. This is where branding builds customer relationships as customers trust stores and their vendors for the products they buy. What customers expect to find in a Christian store should at minimum align with basic Christian tenets.

Mike Hockett, CBA’s training and consulting manager, has an idea on how to express that brand trust. He suggests retailers post their mission statements in the store, maybe on a wall. Then also post logos of their suppliers who sign and agree with the store’s mission. It would be a trust statement for customers so they know what the store is about and what quality of performance is expected. You see this in some stores, like Bass Pro Shops; and recent Target ads that focused on the brands the store carries.

For specialty retailers in general, researchers say how they relate to customers in terms of quality and experience increasingly will drive store success. It looks to be the same for Christian stores. It’s the business version of “love your neighbor.”

Borrowing Brilliance

We talk often about stealing genius or borrowing brilliance around here at CBA. It’s a fantastic concept; seek out what’s proven successful and tweak it to fit a similar need. Thinking this way allows you to implement great ideas without having a full-fledged creative think tank.

As a card-carrying REI member, I love pretty much everything REI. I’m store loyal—always have been, always will be. But what gets me most excited about being a part of REI is not the member sales.

It’s the hope and power the company instills in its members that we can and will see and do incredible things across the globe, and that REI products will always support us in our adventures.

Before you read any more, scroll through the REI member slideshow.

Doesn’t it make you want to climb a mountain? Do you long for a view that takes away your breath? Do you want to accomplish great things?

Yet did you notice something else about all the pictures? For all the “great things” depicted, did any of them suggest salvation? Of course not. What about your products? And your careers? And your words? And your hopes?

As makers and sellers of life-altering products, you have an awesome opportunity to equip your customers with products that will carry them through their journeys and reach far beyond your company doors.

What happens when I slightly change that paragraph about why I love REI to say something about your company? It reads something like this: It’s the hope and power your company instills in its customers that we can and will see and do incredible things for Jesus across the globe, and that your products will always support us in our adventures.

Here’s where the borrowing brilliance comes in. I know you all have a lifetime’s supply of miraculous stories of lives changed, hope restored, and God glorified. Share them. Send your words and photos to me; I’ll compile them and we’ll stand in awe.

Not because your customers are standing atop a mountain with a certain backpack, but because they’re standing atop a mountain with Christ.

As We Approach Easter

Today is the first day of spring. Time to put winter behind us and look forward to warmer days, longer evenings, and, hopefully, some well-earned time away from work!

For me, spring is much more a time for personal (and professional) reflection and for making resolutions than the more traditional News Year’s Day. For us Christians, spring is a time of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross saved us, giving us new life. And like the blossoms appearing on the trees, and the small green spikes of grass popping up between snow patches on our lawns, we’re alive and vibrant!

As we approach Good Friday tomorrow and Easter Sunday, please take time to reflect on the amazing gift Christ gave us when he died for our sins. By His death, He gave us life! Retailers: What can you do this year to share that overwhelming joy with those who walk through your doors? Suppliers: What can you do to spread the love of God within the Christian-retail industry, helping it grow and prosper, supporting the amazing ministries behind each storefront? Authors and artists: What can you do to share your God-given talents and influence more and affect even more lives with your message of hope and salvation?

God bless you this Easter season and throughout the year as you work to bring new life to those you encounter in your stores, at the office, at church, and wherever the Holy Spirit leads you.

The Down Lo: Some Fun New Changes

Hello again. Happy Holy Week. Are you excited for Easter? We here at CBA have been praying for your businesses this week and the people you’ll influence across the globe. We’d love to hear any exciting stories you have after this week!

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve added a few extras to the blog. To the right, you should see a beautiful little widget that’s counting down the days until the International Christian Retail Show. It’s not there to stress you out, but rather to serve as a reminder of how long you have to connect with customers before the show – both retailers connecting with actual consumers and suppliers connecting with retailers. We cannot wait to see you in Orlando!

The other fun tidbit we’ve added is the CBA Top 10 Best Sellers based on the CROSS:SCAN data. We’ll update these monthly, just like we publish the Best Sellers lists on CBA’s web site and in CBA Retailers+Resources. We thought you might like them conveniently on the blog too. Hope they’re helpful!

That’s it for now. Happy Easter.

Virtual worlds’ digital waters might be icy

Social networking has become a buzz word. “You’ve got to be where your customers are” is the rationale to spend lots of money to enter the inner sanctums of MySpace, Facebook, and the virtual world of SecondLife, among others. But even Internet mavens are warning not to jump into digital waters too quickly.

Erik Hauser, president of Swivel Media, a virtual-world consultancy firm, says organizations wanting to move into this realm must carefully consider business imperatives first.

In an Eweek story last week, Hauser said virtual-space marketing needs to be strategized like any normal marketing program, and you first must answer the fundamental question, “Why?”

Execution in non-real worlds involves much complexity, the least of which is technology applications. And, while one would think everybody lives in Second Life, that’s not the case. Hauser says there’s no critical mass, so expect challenges in technology capability, costs, and effectiveness. No standards exist here, so it’s like the Wild West, he says.

“Law enforcement is problematic.”

Michael Donnelly, Coca-Cola Co. worldwide interactive marketing director, told a National Retail Federation audience that sales isn’t really what virtual-world presence is all about now. Because virtual-world citizens control who’s there, commercial sales is not the likely outcome of the required significant investment into digital reality. It’s all about branding and supporting the brand.

Donnelly told how a Second Life Coke vending machine sells only the fun experience that associates Coke with whatever Coke drinkers do. Putting a Linden coin into a vending machine doesn’t get you a bottle, but a psychedelic presentation similar to the behind-the-machine TV commercials. It’s all about enjoying life with Coke, not buying a Coke. He said even at “meet ups,” where virtual people go to actually be human, Coke can’t bring the big red trucks. “We’re invited guests,” he says, not purveyors.

The Down Lo: Online Consumer Buying Habits 101

I have a confession to make. I love the movie Enchanted. Label me a dork, a romantic, or a princess-wannabe, but it’s hard to deny there is something extraordinary about that film. It just makes people smile.

Naturally, I’m sure you can imagine how excited I am for March 18 – the day Enchanted releases on DVD. In anticipation of this fantastically fun day, I decided to pre-order the film. Being of the younger, technology-dependent generation, Amazon was my first stop early this morning. I could pre-order the DVD at the price tag of $16.99. Not terribly bad for a brand new release. I certainly don’t mind spending a little extra to have what I want when I want it.

But after sending the product to my electronic shopping cart, taxes and shipping increased the total to $19.97, and because I didn’t spend the requisite $25, I didn’t receive the free shipping. I could have free shipping if I bought the soundtrack too, but I did that many months ago, immediately after I saw the film actually. Plus, my item wouldn’t ship until March 18, effectively not putting it in my hands until several days after it hit the stores.

As a savvy shopper, I spent a few more minutes researching other online options. All their totals hovered around the $20 mark, and they too wouldn’t be shipping until March 18.

Therefore I had resigned myself to not pre-ordering Enchanted, and maybe just using a coupon at Barnes & Noble the day it comes out.

Then something fun happened.

I ran home at lunch and while leafing through the advertisements in last Sunday’s newspaper, I discovered an ad for Toys R Us, of all stores, that said not only can I pre-order Enchanted, but I can pre-order it for $14.99, and I can pick it up as soon as the store opens on March 18.

So who do you think is going to get my business now? The online store that will charge me more, won’t deliver the product until after I want it, and actually will penalize me for not spending enough money with them? Or the brick-and-mortar store that can guarantee the product I want when I want it at the price I want it?

And PS... on the Enchanted soundtrack is a song called So Close by Jon McLaughlin. If you don't know who Jon is or what his music is about, get to know him. He's a great guy with a great heart, and I can guarantee your younger female customers will appreciate you carrying his CDs.

Lead Like Jesus

One of the many things I appreciate about working at a place like CBA is the opportunity to attend events like the Lead Like Jesus conference I recently went to in Phoenix, AZ.The passion of Lead Like Jesus is to see people all over the world transformed by Christians leading like Jesus in the world around them. I’ve definitely been impacted by this conference over the past few weeks, I encourage you to check it out!

The conference was a much-needed reminder of the truths that I know I, and I’m guessing many others, tend to forget sometimes. The truth that God is sovereign, he is active, and he desires to be intimately involved in even my seemingly mundane daily struggles and successes…and that means in my work too.

I’ve been tasked with the not-so-small challenge of managing the International Christian Retail Show, and it’s my passion that this year’s Show will be right on target to help you grow your ministry and live out your passion for Christ through your business. More than anything, I want to see you succeed and this isn’t something I can accomplish on my own. I need the Lord’s guidance, I need the support of my awesome staff, and I need your help too!

I want to challenge you to think of how you are going to prepare to get the most you can out of this year’s International Christian Retail Show. You need to walk away from this year’s Show with some awesome takeaways, and in order to do that you need to be there with an open mind ready to listen and collaborate with your industry partners. Know that we’re here for you and because of you. Please feel free to contact me at the CBA offices or post comments here on the blog.

I look forward to seeing you in July!

The Appeal of Specialty Retail

The fact that you’re a specialty retailer puts you right in sync with current trends regarding the shopping habits of today’s consumers. “Small is the new big” is a phrase I’ve been hearing over and over again in relation to retail. Big boxes are just that…BIG. Too big. Too big and too cavernous and too impersonal.

Personally, the big-box “experience” leaves me cold…ice cold. From the uninspired aisles and aisles of random “stuff” to the rows of self-checkout lanes. I find that whole "experience" depressing. Consumers are trending toward destination shopping, stores that are more familiar, OK, I’ll say it: places “where everybody knows your name.” (Remember that catchy theme song from the popular TV show, “Cheers”?) In other words, the polar opposite of the big-box store.

So, what are you doing as a specialty retail store to entice this consumer, hungry for familiarity?

The Down Lo: You & YouTube

For as much as I love being behind the camera, I do not love being in front of the camera. It’s just not my calling. A few years ago I think half of the world would have agreed with me too. But YouTube changed all that. Now everyone with access to a camera and a computer has a chance to spend a few minutes in the online limelight.

I think YouTube is genius. It’s easy, it’s free, it’s global. Marketing opportunities don’t come any better than that. Plus, it’s just plain fun.

At Indiana University, my alma mater, there’s an a cappella group called Straight No Chaser (SNC). Seeing them perform live is always a riot, but once I graduated and moved westward, SNC concerts weren’t exactly an option.

That is until YouTube showed up. Check out SNC’s rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. Watch all three minutes and 29 seconds of it. You’ll smile.

When a friend forwarded me that link shortly before this past Christmas, I sent it around the office. What I didn’t realize is that 7.5 million other viewers were doing the same thing. And the result?

A 17,566% increase in sales for a small, specialty retailer in Maine who sells DVDs of SNC’s concerts.

Yes, that number is correct. A 17,566% boost in sales. On one product. Don’t believe me? Read the full article.

I don’t think I even need to ask how many of you would like to see that number on your books this year. What I do need to ask though is what do you have on YouTube and who are your viral marketers?