Library wholesalers have for several years been operating in a market that can at best be termed challenging.  The concentration of power in the hands of a few publisher and wholesaler giants; rising transportation costs and the impact of electronic services and journals on monograph budgets; the cost of the technology required to deliver superior service; and the move to consortium purchasing have all combined to turn day-to-day business into a fight for survival.  The group most affected by these powerful forces is the small wholesaler.  Companies like Coutts that have always faithfully served the library community now find themselves faced with the threat of extinction.  The market seems to have embraced Darwin: only the strongest and most adaptable will survive.

Coutts intends to do more than just survive. Coutts and its 250 employees intend to do whatever it takes to adapt, to improve our service, to strengthen our company so we can thrive, so we can last another 32 years.  Achieving that goal requires that we examine every aspect of our business, invest heavily in new technology and staff training, and reduce delivery times and service errors.  I am delighted to report that our reaching a new sales record in 2001 has demonstrated our customers appreciate our efforts.

During the last few months of 2001 we carefully examined an area of our business that has been a hallmark of Coutts: the supply of those books published by the tens of thousands of small publishers and associations that cover North America.  Our research taught us three lessons: first, our customers value highly our commitment to supply small publishers; second, almost all wholesalers have abandoned the market segment; and finally, Coutts has for years been losing a great deal of money on the service.  In 2001, Coutts bought 5 books or less from over 8,000 small publishers, from 2,000 of which we purchased a single book in the year, in order to meet the needs of our customers.  The average cost of freight to Coutts on these books equalled 25% of the value of the book; border brokerage charges can reach as high as over $10.00 per unit; virtually none of the suppliers gives Coutts a discount; and all demand pre-payment with order with all its attendant costs.  All these factors and the costs of labor added up to an enormous loss per order under our traditional terms of sale.

At Coutts we were faced with an important decision. Do we follow the market and abandon the supply of small publishers, or do we continue to provide our customers with a valuable service? It didn’t take us long to decide that we would continue to provide the service. Why? Because at Coutts we believe it is our responsibility to supply books published by the smallest publisher with same efficiency and commitment with which we supply the latest academic bestseller.  In fact, we decided that we were going to invest so that we could do an even better job. We decided to launch the iSearch (please see attached Service Profile) small publisher service.

Coutts has been forced to introduce a new pricing policy in order to make iSearch a viable service; however if you compare the new charges with the costs of acquiring these books direct from the publisher we are confident that you will find that our new pricing is more than competitive.  In addition, we would ask that you consider that our research indicates that only 7% of the average annual purchases of our customers fall under the iSearch classification, so the net effect on your purchasing power will be quite small.  We hope that you will agree with Coutts; that small publishers are an important part of our publishing heritage, an essential part of any collection, and well worth the price to ensure continued superior service.

The introduction of a new service will always generate concerns and questions. The Coutts team stands ready to answer any and all inquiries. Please do not hesitate to contact us at salesca@couttsinfo.com