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Hannes Blum worked the summer of 1994 in Toronto and took a short trip to Vancouver where he thought to himself, "This is a nice city to live." Now that he's there, installed as Advanced Book Exchange's (ABE.com) president, he agrees with his initial assessment. But that doesn't mean he neglects his native Germany.
Blum co-founded JustBooks, an online selling service acquired by Abe.com to make headway into the European market. This acquisition has allowed Abe to have a stable office base on the Continent that Blum oversees. In fact, our interview, and the posting of our newsletter, was delayed because of his extensive travel.
Blum said, "Europe is two years behind us." This newest phase allows the company to enjoy a true international platform. "The international part of the business is exciting," he said. This growth has not only added more sellers to the Abe stable but has also increased the number of workers. At present, 90 people are working for Abe across the globe and, according to one Canadian publication, it is one of the top 100 companies to work for.
Abe's been around from the beginning of the online bookselling boom, and its tenacity has earned it a lion's share of the market. But that doesn't mean those at Abe can rest on their laurels. When early venues like Bibliofind were bought out by companies like Amazon.com and obliterated, this offered Abe (a privately held company) the opportunity to build a solid customer base of serious booksellers.
According to Blum, the number of sellers currently affiliated with Abe is 12,000 individuals with more than 55 million books listed for sale. But competition is fierce these days. Heavy hitters like Amazon and Alibris came into the market with huge financing. And that meant Abe had to focus on what it did best: customer service. "Brian and Keith listened to booksellers," Blum said. "And they were paid back in recommendations."
Blum adds, "Abe always focuses on the partnership with the bookseller. The company acknowledges the value in that relationship." The catchword for this relationship is service. "Abe is a great product. We offer the bookseller and great tool," Blum is happy to report.
That product is two-fold on the surface. There is Abe the selling venue where a bookseller can list inventory for sale to a worldwide market and process the sales through an easy-to-use seller page. The secondary portion of the business is the free listing software (Homebase) Abe provides.
Behind the scenes, every segment of the business has a team of experts working on improving the site and the services. A new version of the listing program is in the works that will have "nice new functions," though committing to a firm date is difficult when you're dealing with a software product, according to Blum. "Internally," he reports, "Homebase is a priority."
Current changes on the sales side can be seen during the processing of sales. Refund management and a pricing feature are two of the latest developments. When asked about the bugs and glitches that go along with changes, Blum responded, "There hasn't been too much feedback about the returns so far. And the adjustments are our way of trying to improve the product."
New site architecture and improvements of the search time are underway, and the entire staff is dedicated to understanding data better in order to try and make it easy for buyers to use Abe.
Blum refers back to feedback from users, but the present day Abe is a far cry from what was the infant Abe. Seller feedback can be a cacophonous cry from 12,000 different voices that are passionate about their business. Sellers sometimes want to go in a lot of different directions, and special interest groups can emerge.
What the staff tries to do, he explained, is to channel this feedback and create a dialogue through the company newsletters and even in live online chats with Blum.
And if the public thinks that the shift from direct management by owner to management by a hired president means Abe has hit a plateau, they're wrong. Blum feels the competition nipping at his heels everyday. American venues with deep pockets have bulldozed into the market at a time when the Canadian dollar is weakened. "That means we have to be really smart," Blum contends. With the likes of eBay and Amazon waiting to scoop up a piece of the pie, Abe is faced with the typical Canadian export company type problems and has had to think and rethink how to best invest in the market.
Aside from cracking the European trade, it's necessary to attract book buyers. Another of the steps for a company to be "really smart" is to attract good talent. "The salaries may be lower," Blum explained, but the quality of life living in Vancouver makes up for the difference and that has attracted talented professionals.
Abe's strength has also been to develop partnerships with companies that can draw in customers and revenue. The BNBQ partnership with Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, and the various Australian, Japanese, European programs has spread the word.
For our readers, Abe is worth considering as a sales venue for books in that it allows booksellers to retain a lot more control over their sales. It has been a company that has endured and prospered and we will continue to see it grow. Take advantage of the site, get to know the other sellers and if you have a store, ask for promotional materials. It is a company where the seller still matters.
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