Retail Solutions - Blackwell's adds kiosks to bring authors to shoppers

Blackwell's successfully piloted an innovative kiosk system - based on author interviews produced for a cable TV show - at its stores in Oxford and London's Charing Cross Road in the run-up to Christmas.

The kiosks, strategically sited close to main entrances and with supporting merchandise displays of the books featured, allow shoppers to access video clips of authors talking about their books by scanning barcodes on the book jackets. The interactive system also provides lists of other books by the featured authors, biographies and summary reviews.

The TV clips were initially filmed for Bookshow on Sky TV, but have been repackaged by the production company, Relax with a Book, and in-store kiosk specialist Retec.

'There are around 600 interviews, and we expect to change the dozen featured each month. Anything that brings authors closer to customers is a good thing,' said Blackwell's managing director Philip Blackwell.

In future, authors featured on the system may be those who have visited the store for a signing, while an archive of clips run in previous months could also be maintained.

Sales of featured books rose significantly during the promotion. 'We've definitely been selling more of these books,' said Marion Akehurst, deputy manager at the London store.

Blackwell added: 'It's proving successful and we would expect to extend the scheme to other branches this year.'

Publishers are paying for the content as part of their book promotion activity.

The same system is also on trial at Barnes & Noble in the US.