Christian Co-Op

Christian Co-Ops

As the buy local movement seems to have last some steam in the last year as people look for the cheapest and most convenient as they face the realities of a recession and high unemployment that does not look to ease. Local business will have to go the offensive even more to survive and hope that their message gets out.

Through marketing, word of mouth, and customer service independent local businesses can take on the larger retails even if they have higher prices. A strategy needs to be set and implemented on a regular basis to keep customers coming and new avenue need to be pursued.

Today we will be looking at Christian bookstores which I estimate half of which have disappeared in the last ten years. These stores have been a victim to Amazon, EBay, CBD, and other online stores. They have also faced competition from large brick and mortar stores such as Walmart, Target, Books a Million, Borders, and Barnes and Noble. To have proof of the shrinking market share of the independent Christian bookstore one has to look no farther than their trade organizations (CBA) trade show. The number of attendees and vendors has declined significantly over the last ten years. The largest Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, even choose not to attend the show for the past two years. CBA (Christian Book Association) just let its president of many years go after many years on the job because of the performance of the organization. The organization had upward of 50 employees ten years ago compared to an estimated six today.

The way for these independent stores to survive and prosper is to market to their customers on a regular basis and pursue other avenues of business. I have seen Christian stores add new revenue streams such as gifts, mail stores, thrift stores, office supplies, floral shops, coffee shops, and more. The idea is to create traffic and diversify their potential income. Other stores are having Bible studies and meeting space in their stores to bring in Christian consumers. Others are joining local buy local groups to minister as well as to get the word out about their store.

What most Christian consumers do not realize is that by shopping online or at large secular stores, they are doing a large disservice to a ministry in their local community. Will a sales associate at a large store tell them about Christ? Pray with them? Tell them the differences between Bible translations? No to all of these questions. At some point the Christian community will need to realize independent Christian stores are a vital part of their community.

This leads to the Christian Co-op and what it can do for the stores. Wikepedia defines a Co-p as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. It is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. A cooperative may also be defined as a business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or who work at it.

As I Google Christian Co-Op the only thing that comes up are home school co-ops that help with teaching. A few others show some basic websites lacking substance. There are options out there though. Such as Christian marketing groups that help bring down the cost of printing by printing for many bookstores at a time. These groups are Parable, Munce Group, and Covenant. All have the mission to help independent Christian bookstores in their marketing needs. There is also the website www.MTLBookstore.com which helps stores have an ecommerce site with very little investment. This site gets to the heart of the Co-op idea. For a small fee they become a member of the site and when a customer checks out, and chooses their local Christian bookstore that store gets credit for the sale. Other companies such as Bookstore Manager and Signature Websites provide more customizable websites, but with significant cost involved. MTL Bookstore could provide a significant help to smaller stores by providing a national brand that goes along with its MTL Magazine brand.

In the end independent Christian stores like the church will need to work on relationships in the store, with churches, online through social media and email, and in the community at book tables when the occasion arises. I hope they make it both for their communities, their mission, and to provide an income for store owners and their families.

By Graham Livingston
www.MTLBookstore.com