The store has a consistent stream of new and used books coming in, but limited space in which to house them. They want to have a broad enough scope to satisfy casual browsers, as well as customers actively seeking titles. They also have to strike a balance between overstocking books and selling out, which could lead to customers going online or to another store. How can they organize books and other resources in a manner that will lead customers to purchase more books, including ones that the store is particularly interested in selling?
What resources are being used? There are several resource types, the most obvious being books. Another resource type is the printed QR codes taped to shelves, which take customers to the Kobo listing page for a book, where they can purchase an e-book version. They also organize the resource type “impulse items”: items such as bookmarks, notebooks, tote bags, and finger puppets placed near the cash register to help boost income.
Another resource type is are hand-written reviews of books by staff members, which are displayed under copies of the reviewed books. In addition to being resources themselves, they act as an additional resource description for the books.
Why are the resources organized? In any organizing system, the resources are organized to support interactions, particularly ones such as finding and accessing resources. Along those lines, the primary interactions that Green Apple Books wants to support are finding, discovering, and purchasing books. This includes classifying new books. The books, impulse purchases, QR codes, and review cards are organized to allow customers to find both books they are looking for and those they were not actively seeking but might find interesting, and get them to purchase them.
How much are the resources organized? The highest level of the hierarchy is based on a single, extrinsic dynamic property: whether or not someone previously owned the book. This property determines which building it is stored in. One alternative here would be to store both new and used copies of books together, with a sticker on the spine to indicate which copies are used. Organizing the books by “usedness” suggests expectations about customer intent: they either are searching for a nebulous list of books at a discount, or for specific titles and/or new releases. At the second level of the taxonomy, books are categorized by genre (e.g., science fiction, travel). Among fiction books, the titles are then arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name.
Staff recommendation cards for two books
Some titles also have staff reviews cards underneath them to direct browsing customers to potentially interest books. These titles are still organized alphabetically among the rest of the titles in their genre, but their covers face out. One alternative to highlight books would be to put them all on a single shelf, which Green Apple also does.
Nonfiction books are categorized topically, and often have more visible granularity of organization than fiction resources. For example, to find an Colombia travel guide, a customer would go to the “Travel” section of a store, find the “South America” section within that, and scan the books arranged alphabetically by country to find the group of books about Colombia.
In both sides of the store, the genres of books are organized by frequency of use. The fiction section in the new store is located on the front left of the store, near the door. The fiction section on the used side is also in the main part of the building, past a shelf of suggested titles, the register, and a magazine rack. Sections such as science fiction are through a side doorway.
When are the resources organized? The original set of books for Green Apple Books were purchased in 1967. From then on, additional books have been acquired and organized on a daily basis. This occurs as the store purchases used books, and as it receives re-stockings and new books ordered from publishers.
Part of the process of maintaining the organizing system is removing books that haven’t sold, and either remaindering them or sending them back to the publisher for a refund. The scale of the resource collection is limited by the physical store, so they need to make room for new titles.
The store also arranges the books in response to current events. For example, a bit after Oprah started her book club, they created a cheeky new section called “Books that would never be Oprah picks.”
Creating store personality with a non-traditional section
The QR codes and review cards are also created on an ongoing basis, as new books come in and as the staff reads books they find interesting.
Who does the organizing? Although the organization is primarily performed by the bookstore manager, publishers also have some influence. They pay booksellers to feature certain books on the “new fiction” tables each season. These tables generally appear in the front of the store, arranged so that the eye-catching covers are showing. Green Apple’s layout funnels customers past these tables. This catches both casual browsers and those have to go further back into the store in search of specific books.
In addition, the Green Apple employees organize the books. Examples include the “Perennial Staff Favorites” and the non-Oprah book club books section mentioned above.
Other considerations. Other considerations include how to create a community in the store. Customers can find the books more cheaply elsewhere, so they need a reason beyond price to return. In addition to making books findable and supporting serendipitous discovery, the bookstore has to organize itself in a way that creates a personality. This includes offering review cards, as well as striking a personable, memorable, and distinctive the tone with the review cards, signage, and employees.
(Images in this post are from Google Images)