Award Winning Service & Value
The Book People is incredibly proud to hold two Bookseller Retail Awards 2007.
The Bookseller Retail Awards are the only awards of their type, explicitly recognising the best in selling books and are judged by experts from the book trade and wider industry. The third annual Bookseller Retail Awards attracted a great many fantastic entries and the Book People are pleased to have won two awards in the face of such fierce competition.
The Direct to Consumer Bookselling Company of the Year
Winner for 2007: The Book People
The judges agreed that the Book People is the worthy winner of this title for 2007 because its entire business proposition is based on selling direct to consumers and “progress is constantly being made to grow the business”.
Highlights of this year include record totals of online orders and new high-profile clients making use of the direct-to-consumer distribution facilities. “The company performs consistently well, ” was a typical view, as was “what they do is very different, but it simply works.”
Selling in workplaces, though mail order catalogues and the internet, the Book People has built a massive customer base, affording a detailed customer profile. Sophisticated data analysis is complemented by an instinctive, open-minded approach to book buying. “This helps to grow our business and shape our book offering”, says CEO Seni Glaister. “Nearly 40 years of combined experience between the two chief buyers has taught us to increase our customers’ appetite and encourage a more adventurous approach to reading.” Alongside bestsellers, the company sells classics, philosophy and poetry.
The tireless work of the highly skilled sales force, who visit 30,000 workplaces each week, accounts to genuine hand-selling, thought the judges, something lacking in many bookselling channels today. “These local agents are incredibly popular and appreciated because they go the extra mile for their customers, putting books under people’s noses from hairdressers to fire stations and they get results,” enthused one judge.
The Book People beat the other finalists: Amazon.co.uk, The Book Depository, Play.com, Puffin Book Club and Waterstone’s to win this award.
The Random House Group Award for outstanding Contribution to Bookselling
Winner for 2007: Ted Smart
This award is for an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to bookselling, advancing not only their own business but also the sector as a whole. The winner of this category is someone who has been a dynamic, positive force in the world of book retailing.
Ted Smart is a true pioneer in British bookselling, whose idea to sell direct to people who would not normally go to bookshops has driven massive growth in book sales over the past two decades. “Ted is unique,” said one judge, “The exponential growth the Book People has achieved is phenomenal. Today it’s a truly giant ship: a stable, enduring business. For me, he’s the absolute clear winner.” The panel debated several powerful industry names, but a unanimous decision secured Ted Smart the Random House Group Award for Outstanding Contribution to Bookselling 2007.
Smart founded the Book People in 1988 and in fewer than 20 years he and business partner Seni Glaister have built business selling more than 18 million books a year. Smart quickly leaned that a new audience – those approached in offices and factories across the country – was eager and willing to buy direct.
The company buys in bulk to offer rock-bottom prices and is known for its friendly service and fast delivery. Few would disagree that the Book People knows how to cultivate loyal book buyers and to give authors and selected titles tremendous exposure. “In fact, publishers have grown to love Ted,” noted one judge. The Book People buys on a firm-sale basis and many titles would struggle to justify an initial print run without the support of the company’s order.
“Boy, has he been innovative,” enthused one judge. “People can become lifelong book buyers after one visit from the Book People, and that is a unique achievement for the industry. Ted is also known to be an inspirational employer, very good at motivating and rewarding his teams.” Judges were impressed by how, under Smart’s stewardship, the company has coped admirably with competition from the internet and other direct selling companies, and has remained profitable without needing to expand its product beyond books.
They agreed that far from ‘dumbing down’ bookselling – a charge sometimes levelled at Smart – the Book People's selection is comprehensive with, for instance, the Man Booker Prize shortlist very aggressively sold through its channels.
Smart has proved to the industry that doing things differently can work and lead to sustainable longterm success.
