PlusOne – Marketing Musings

With the movement towards ebooks having such a great impact on bookstores, booksellers using unexpected and innovative ways to sell physical books is always interesting to see.

We have the cases of bookstores opening coffee shops to create a mutually beneficial symbiosis (I have also seen this done with a furniture accessory store as well – mums meet for coffee and gravitate to the store afterward.)

So it was with some surprise that I saw Big W also creating a space that allows for an enjoyment – yes an enjoyment of books alone – in a nice way to sell more kids books.

The trick is simply to create a place where kids can prop for a while while mum goes and grabs what she needs.

In this can there are some seats (albeit pretty uncomfortable looking) right next to the kids books.

One can imaging the theory. Mum parks the kids near the books. Kids find one they like and when mum comes back, the kid likes the book so much that it naturally goes to the checkout as well.

Unfortunately I was there just after the store opened so did not see the area in action.

But the concept provides the ideal situation for a nice win-win-win. Mum can get the things she wants without one or more kids, the kids get some exposure to books (never a bad thing) and more books are sold (also a good thing).

I give Big W a 9/10 for a great approach – but maybe more comfortable chairs?

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