Tara Catogge heads the marketing efforts of the leading supplier of books to non-traditional book markets, including department, grocery and drugstores, as well as all the major mass merchants. Children’s books are the fastest growth category for mass retailers, particularly as parents move away from traditional bookstore shopping. Tara is at the forefront of this shift, tackling the challenges of converting general shoppers to book buyers. She has developed some keen, data-driven insights into the kinds of displays, categories, and content shoppers respond to most, and she will help children’s publishers understand how they can continue to grow this increasingly critical channel for print sales.

1. Tara Catogge, SVP Marketing

2. ABOUT READERLINK
ReaderLink is the LARGEST DOMESTIC FULL-SERVICE DISTRIBUTOR of hardcover, trade
and paperback books to non-trade channel booksellers
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Sells 1 out of every 4 trade books sold in the USA.
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Diverse customer base includes Online Retailers,
Mass Merchants, Clubs, Grocery, Drugstore,
Specialty, Department Store, Airports and Military
base locations
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ReaderLink ships to over 23,000 non-traditional
book retail locations weekly
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1600 part-time merchandisers that work RDS
shipments as well as product for other suppliers in
and out of the book departments
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Three distribution centers spanning 20 acres of
distribution space capable of serving 90% of the
U.S. within 2 business days.
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3. ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS
Quick Stats
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Services all leading mass, club,
grocery and drug accounts
Retail customers account for
65% of U.S. retail GDP
Over 275 million shoppers per
week
1% – 2.5% in-store book
purchase conversion rate
Customers make up 20% of
physical trade book market
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4. All Mass Retailers Have Space Planning Requirements

There are 2 major change overs per year
for “in-line” product with promo space
and endcaps changed out
weekly/monthly.
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Assortment “tweaks” are done twice a
year in May and October to catch title
expansions, drop ins and MTIs
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License trends and media event
schedules dictate out of department
placement where books compete with
general merchandise
Presentation to RD
January line review
August line review
Titles Arrive at RDS
September/October
January/February
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5. PLAN-O-GRAM REAL ESTATE—PRE-K PRODUCT
An average 28’ at a mass merchant account includes
4’ Seuss & Flex, 8’ Baby Toddler, 4’ soft license, 4’ girls licensed, 4’ boys licensed, 4’ hard boy (i.e.
LEGO, Skylanders, and Marvel). Picturebooks only have 2 shelves as part of the autograph
program.
Licensed product dominates in limited space
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6. CATEGORY EXAMPLE: YOUNG ADULT
Across its retail partners, ReaderLink sold over
8,100,000 UNITS of Young Adult titles last year
 Total outbound units exceeded 8.8M
 Top 20 average ship quantity 122K
 The average ship quantity per title is 10K
 Purchased 880 YA titles last 12 months
 Total sell through: 86.5%
33%
BOOKSCAN
MARKET SHARE!
Top 20 Young Adult titles alone sold 2.5M UNITS,
with 100% sell-through.
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7. CATEGORY EXAMPLE: CHILDRENS PICTURE/BOARD/NOVELTY
Across its retail partners, ReaderLink sold over
33,000,000 UNITS of kids titles last year
 Total outbound units just under 44,000,000
 Top 1500 average unit ship quantity 18,000
 The average units shipped per title is 7,000
 Purchased 6,600 kids titles last 12 months
that sold 100 or more units POS
 Total sell through: 75%
Est. 20%
BOOKSCAN
MARKET SHARE!
Top 20 Kids titles alone sold 2.4M UNITS
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8. BABY TODDLER SECTION
The Baby Toddler section is the
MOST PRODUCTIVE area, and
equally the MOST COMPETITIVE.
Formats include:
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Board
Padded Board
Soft Books
Interactive/Novelty
Sound Books
Touch & Feel
HMH Little Blue
Truck
RANKED NO. 2
RDS Children’s Business Review
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9. Top 10 Baby Toddler in 2013
50% of the revenue of the top 200 kids titles are from board book formats
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10. Sales of Christmas Themed Product (11/2 – 12/28)
Sales up
21% over
prior year!
2013
2012
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11. License Market Share by AccountSeasonal and Major movie releases give us the biggest opportunity for out placement
5%
4%
Target
5%
32%
Walmart
Toys R Us
9%
Meijer
Kmart
BJ's Wholesale
Kroger
16%
Other
26%
RDS Children’s Business Review
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12. PREVENTING FURTHER SPACE LOSS
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Overhaul sign packages so consumers can easily find what they want
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Create congruence between purchasing physical and/or ebooks online and in the departments
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WARNING! Unless publishers can decrease the value differential between hardcover and
digital editions the mass retailers may continue to reduce shelf space
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13. What Retailers Want From
Publishers (generally speaking)
1.
Commitment on in-stocks when titles are in plan-o-grams
2.
Custom Editions and First to Market Opportunities
3.
No Price Changes without an EAN Change
4.
Support Temporary Price Reductions (TPRs)
5.
Work with Licensors to get corporate support for feature shops
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14. The Future of Books in Big Box
Retail (If the past is any indication)
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Books will remain an important margin category for retailers
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Consolidation with electronics and media
Space loss is a given
Big phenomenal “hits” drive conversions
Kids books will gain space from adult categories as retailers can show a
better value in the assortment without as much showrooming
• Category is growing YOY and returns are decreasing
• Young adult and young reader categories continue to grow
• High impulse purchase with lower shift to online physical purchasing
3.
Market consolidation has historically been good for Big Box retailers
when they can show a value
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15. questions or review samples can be directed to
John Norris, Director of Product Management
(708) 547-4502
jnorris@readerlink.com
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