Libraries buy ‘smarter’ online

News Release library – 1
November 15, 2000

Libraries buy ‘smarter’ online

New Zealand librarians are catching on to a smarter way to do business using online bookstore Flyingpig.co.nz to access local and international titles.

FlyingPig.co.nz CEO Mark Battles says buying online gives libraries the ways and means to make their scarce monetary resources go further while also receiving credit on their purchases.

FlyingPig.co.nz has been selling books to consumers since its launch in November last year and in recent months has gradually extended and tailored the service to commercial customers.

Librarians are embracing the online business-to-business concept with FlyingPig.co.nz’s monthly dollar sales of books to libraries throughout New Zealand already in the “tens of thousands” and still climbing, an indication of the demand for the service Mr Battles says.

“By shopping at FlyingPig.co.nz, libraries gain convenient access to more than 1.2 million titles from one outlet and with guaranteed service,” he says. “FlyingPig.co.nz also has New Zealand’s biggest database of books, many of them New Zealand titles.

“We can land international books at lower prices through competitive freight rates because we source bigger shipments of titles from overseas on a daily basis. Libraries can now also purchase on account and we have developed a number of other services specifically for these clients.

“We’ve introduced a special order tracking service for libraries which enables them to ascertain the status of their orders within time frames they have nominated. It gives them much greater flexibility and certainty with their reservation systems,” Mr Battles says.

Previously some libraries had been buying online but the librarians had been using their own credit cards and sales had been sporadic.

Mr Battles said rural libraries could get the most benefit from shopping online because book representatives called on them less often and the librarians had limited access to the bigger bookstores.

“Typically the biggest town bookstore offers about 10,000 titles,” he says. “By giving them access to a range of more than 1.2 million book titles, FlyingPig.co.nz helps libraries extend their value into the local community.”

Rosalie Blake, head of libraries at the Horowhenua Library Trust in Levin, says she values the FlyingPig.co.nz service especially for older titles where one of a series might be missing.

“It’s exceptionally easy and fast to use and the very useful search function makes it simple to look for a particular title rather than scrolling through lots of data.

“FlyingPig.co.nz certainly has access to the hard-to-find titles. This happens quite frequently especially where you have a series of say three or four sequels, one always seems to go missing,” Ms Blake said.

Mr Battles said the new service had resulted from the company’s drive to expand its distribution channels.

“In June we made the decision to maximise the value of our existing service and product range and the library service was an obvious way to deliver value to a target audience in need of greater choice and service.”

Mr Battles said the business had been fulfilling web orders to private consumers for nearly a year and it was a natural progression to extend the service to commercial purchasers.

“We have further plans to extend the service to corporate book purchasers and the student body,” Mr Battles says.

FlyingPig.co.nz markets DVDs, videos and software as well as books on the Internet.

ends

Issued by 141 New Zealand for FlyingPig.co.nz

Contacts:
Steve Battles Deborah Pead
General Manager Managing Director
FlyingPig.co.nz 141 Palace Plus
Tel: 0-9-358 5050 0-9- 979 7764

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