Indie to Indie Conversations: Rethinking Co-op

May 12, 2023 at 12pm Central: Rethinking Co-op
At its core, co-op is compensation for marketing. The bookstore model depends primarily on sales revenue to compensate their marketing efforts, but sales revenue is systemically disadvantaged (discount model + prices printed on books = obdurately low margins). Co-op is currently an imperfect salve to the unequal impact of booksellers' marketing efforts, which generates sales across channels due to competitors' ability to discount. This conversation aims to identify those imperfections, explore alternatives, and conceive of new ways booksellers and publishers can avoid discussions about discount while ensuring bookstores can invest in the impactful marketing practices sales revenue alone cannot support.