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Barrington Books Modernizes Its Classic Business Using Robust Retail Technology
Barrington Books Uses Retail Technology to Take the Analog Soul of Their Store and Bring it Digital
Barrington Books is an independent bookstore serving the East Bay of Rhode Island community for 40 years now.
We like to say we are books, toys, gifts, and a whole lot of soul.
Disconnected Systems Meant Data Headaches Everywhere
Before Celerant, we relied on three, if not four, different operating systems.
As you can imagine, that would create some challenges. With Celerant, it’s one-stop shop, just like we are here at Barrington Books.
That omnichannel functionality was super important to me as a business owner, as the person who’s most responsible for the customer experience.
Their Entire Bookstore Managed Under a Unified Retail System
We have one system that can handle the marketing, that can handle inventory management.
The point of sale, it’s going to grow with us. So that was a compelling reason to make the switch. For a small community bookstore, we need our technology to just work.
That was one of the things that was happening a lot with our old system is that there was always a snag.
Getting Back to Adding the Personalized Customer Experience
People come in and they chat. They want to discuss the latest books. And we need to be focused on that, not focused on why the computer isn’t working.
The book industry is very different. If we didn’t have a system that pulled in information automatically, then we would spend a lot of time just entering data.
Celerant was willing to work with us to develop these applications to make that happen. So we weren’t hand entering every single book.
Using the Ingram Database to Sell More Without Stocking More
One of the things that independent bookstores offer is customer orders, because we have a finite amount of space, but there are millions of books.
So part of that process is being linked up to the Ingram database, which tells booksellers what is available, where it’s available, how soon we can get it.
So to have Celerant hook us into that database, pull in the information we need automatically, that was the thing that made me squeal with joy.
Discover: The Ingram Partnership with Celerant
Robust Reporting Offers a Holistic View into Their Entire Store
We go into our days with a sense of confidence that we didn’t have before. Celerant’s reporting tools out of the box are amazing.
They have reporting tools by vendor, by brand, by dates, all things that we weren’t doing. It’s helped me get a little bit more granular in terms of our inventory mix.
In-depth Training and Support with a Dedicated, Long-term Partner
As far as implementation, there was a lot of training. Tandy, our trainer, held our hand the entire time.
And I can still contact Tandy and say, “how do I do this again?” “How does this work?”
So we were never alone. They are always there 100%.
Discover: Implementation and Training Support
Getting Back the Passion that Makes Independent Bookstores Uniquely Special
People in the independent bookstore industry are in this industry for a reason. We are inherently analog. We’re introverts by nature. And change is scary.
Signing on with Celerant and adapting this robust digital tool hasn’t changed us in any way. And in some ways, it’s enhanced that personal touch.
It has freed us up to keep doing what we do best, and that’s the relationship building, that’s the customer service, that’s the welcoming our customers into this place that we call home, and it’s been seamless.
