BookScan and Ingram Book Company to Provide Sell-Through and Inventory Data

Posted on March 12, 1999

BookScan, an Entertainment Marketing Information Services (EMIS) Company, has announced a strategic alliance with Ingram Book Company, the leading wholesaler of books, to provide online point-of-sale data information to the publishing industry.

Under terms of the agreement, BookScan will assume responsibility for collecting point-of-sale data from all independent bookstore clients previously polled by Ingram's RSVP system. The data will be incorporated into BookScan's online data information system and provided to BookScan subscribers and existing publisher clients of Ingram's RSVP service.

Ingram Book Company's inventory data information will also be incorporated into and disseminated by the BookScan Management Information System, enabling the publishing industry to access on-hand inventory and distribution information as well as sales data for their titles. Ingram is encouraging all bookseller participants to convert to BookScan polling.

"We're excited to be working with Ingram to bring timely sales and inventory information to the publishing industry," said Tom Fogarty, Vice President, Sales & Service, BookScan. "The inclusion of Ingram's data into the BookScan system is another step in our mandate of aiding publishers in their quest to increase effective marketing to consumers and to efficiently lower industry return rates."

BookScan tracks retail book sales via point-of-sale data and provides online subscribers with sales information on specific titles along with reports on national and regional consumer purchases; weekly and year-to-date market share of book publishers; genre analysis; historical sales; and other data. Among the other entities that, together with BookScan, form the Entertainment Marketing Information Services, are SoundScan and VideoScan, which provide point-of-sale information to the music and home video industries, and the Entertainment Information Group, which provides marketing tools to the entertainment industry.