Paul on Digital Marketing

The Rupprecht Bookstore has been tixt since May. This means that all 50 locations in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are now using our VLB-TIX novelty system for their purchasing. We say welcome, dear Ruprecht team.

The prerequisite for the launch is a new connection to Libri's “JWWS” merchandise management system. This means that booksellers can easily switch between the two systems when making orders. And best of all: the connection is also available to other bookshops that work with “JWWS”. Further information can be found here.

We asked our colleague Paul, who is in charge of product management at VLB-TIX, about the status of digitization in marketing processes.

• Why does VLB-TIX need a connection to merchandise management at all?
  Our platform is primarily used for purchasing new publications. The everyday tool for assortment managers is merchandise management, which can also be connected to the checkout and online store. It is the external brain of the bookshop. For end-to-end digital processes, it is therefore essential that these systems “talk” to each other.

• What challenges do the different systems pose?
  They are all at a different technical level - and are operated differently. In addition to systems from the book industry, there are also general solutions that are not book-specific. The challenge therefore lies on the one hand in the sheer number of offers and on the other in the diversity of the companies behind them. It becomes particularly difficult when it comes to implementations that are not standardized or are only on their way to being standardized. And every standard has its own dialects and interpretations.

• How do digital information and ordering processes benefit the industry?
  Faster, leaner work. This saves costs and frees up time for other things. When tasks that are perceived as a chore are eliminated, they bring additional quality of life and, in the best case, even more fun at work.

• What are you working on next in terms of product development for VLB-TIX?
  Our product management team is currently working with the developers on extended search functionalities that we are constantly being asked for. To put it mildly, the full scope of this will be amazing and will benefit VLB-TIX and the Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher (VLB). Apart from that, we are constantly looking at how we can further improve usability. We also tackle the implementation of new requirements on a quarterly basis. In addition to what is technically necessary, we prioritize ensuring that as many users as possible benefit from the new features.

PS: The Rombach Bookshop is leading the way and has used VLB-TIX to reduce the time required for the shopping round by a whole two weeks (!). You can find out how it works on our VLB-TIX website.

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