When your venue announces a new exhibition or event, it’s always welcome news commercially. Exhibitions have the potential to boost visitor numbers and attract extra customers to your retail.
Bookspeed’s Chris Barker has helped many cultural institutions to source book ranges complementing exhibition themes. He shares his insights on how to curate a range that will satisfy both commercial and thematic retail objectives.
There are many reasons why books can be a go-to product when developing a retail range to complement an exhibition. They can provide a literal representation of an exhibition’s themes, satisfying your curatorial team’s needs. Your choice of books can reflect your institution’s authority on a subject and inspire further learning.
But with so many books published, how do you find the titles that will resonate with your customers and sell? It’s important to think more broadly about who will be visiting the exhibition. Specialist titles authored by the curatorial team have their place, but their appeal may be limited. If you delve into an exhibition’s wider themes, you’ll find opportunities for retail storytelling that may be less literal and have more general appeal. This will open the types of products that are available.
Signpost contemporary issues
Exhibitions can attract new visitors whose interests may not already be represented in your core range. Increasingly consumer choices can be an expression of personal identity. Your selections can play a role in reinforcing the wider values visitors might be looking to reinforce. An exhibition about a female historical figure might align with feminism, or an event that highlights the products of the British Empire can also raise conversation about the people who were exploited in their making. Many people are looking for ways to take a visible stance on the issues they care about and those desires can be well served in giftshop displays and ranges.
One of our customers, the Horniman Museum, is hosting Voyage to the Deep, an exhibition that takes visitors on an adventure into the mysteries of the ocean. Books on submarines and sea monsters are easy inclusions, and colour-changing bath books keep their youngest visitors happy. But titles about the impacts of global warming and caring for our oceans add an extra dimension that speak to the broader environmental concerns of visitors who may be drawn to this topic.
Cater for family spending
Don’t overlook family visitors. Make sure you have related products for children and options available at different price points to boost your chances of retail success. The Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, is running an exhibition related to the 300th anniversary of geologist James Hutton. The retail has been going really well. As expected, the range includes books on Hutton, but it is the children’s books that are the bestsellers. The finger puppet version of Julia Donaldson’s Superworm has been the star of the show, with the Peep Inside Bug Homes board book also being a hit.
Plan early and focus on what will sell
Once you start digging into the different ways to look at an exhibition’s themes it will open so many possibilities. But too much choice can also be a burden. At Bookspeed, we can advise on how to narrow and focus your range based on what books are most likely to sell.
When retailers approach us with an exhibition theme, we will start the conversation by asking you about your intended direction, what themes you’re considering and any titles you know you want to include.
From there, we’ll help you broaden your selection to make sure you are catering for all your audience groups and price points. We’ll also ask about other products in your range, and advise on what books might help you tie everything together.
The earlier you can start planning, the better. Especially when it comes to getting what you will need in time. We always ask customers to give us as much notice as possible so we can source the right levels of stock. But the work doesn’t end there. We welcome feedback throughout the exhibition, so we can support your stock needs and make sure you fully maximise your range’s sales potential.
Support for your exhibition range
If you have an exhibition or event coming up and you’d like some advice on how to develop and source a compelling complementary book range, get in touch at sales@bookspeed.com or 0131 467 8100.
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