A bookshop holds thousands of different things. The profit is in knowing which ones are worth holding.

1. 01Titles

   A customer asks for a title and nobody knows if you have it

   What it looks like

   A reader asks for a specific novel. Staff walk the shelves, check the till, ask the owner. The book is in the stock room under a different shelf label, or sold last week, or never ordered. The reader leaves with the same question.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: ten such lost sales a week at an average of ₹450 is ₹4,500 a week, about ₹2.3 lakh a year, and some readers do not come back.

   How Verity fixes it

   Every title is a record with its ISBN, author, publisher, price, shelf and copies on hand. Staff search once and see whether it is in, where, and if not, which supplier can deliver and when.

   See the screen
2. 02Titles

   Dead titles that tie up cash for years

   What it looks like

   A hardback bought in bulk after a review, a series nobody wanted, last year’s exam guides. They sit on the shelf for a year and then go to a corner. Nobody has looked at the list of what has not sold.

   What it costs you

   A bookstore’s profit is in the turn of its stock. Each slow title holds shelf space and cash that a faster title could use.

   How Verity fixes it

   Verity lists titles by days since the last sale and by value held. Slow movers show with a suggested action, such as a face-out, a bundle, a return to the publisher where the terms allow it or a markdown, and an owner for each.

   See the screen
3. 03Publishers

   Returns to publishers that go back too late

   What it looks like

   A publisher takes unsold copies back within a set time. The window closes while you are busy with school season. The unsold pile stays, and the publisher’s statement still lists it against you.

   What it costs you

   One publishing executive, quoted in a trade article, described the usual terms as sale-or-return, with retailers holding payment against expected returns. Missing a window turns a return into a loss.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each publisher account records its terms: discount, credit days and return window. Verity lists titles approaching the end of their return window with copies unsold and prepares the return list with the publisher’s reference, so nothing goes late.

   See the screen
4. 04Publishers

   Publisher statements that do not match what you received

   What it looks like

   The distributor’s statement lists forty copies of a title. Thirty-six arrived. A credit note for last season’s returns is missing. The statement is paid because it is easier than checking it.

   What it costs you

   You pay for books that never arrived, and your accountant rebuilds receipts, returns and credits at year end.

   How Verity fixes it

   Deliveries are received against the order by title and copy count. Verity compares order, receipt, return and statement for each publisher and shows the balance owed, with every difference marked before you pay.

   See the screen
5. 05School season

   School lists in April and no way to plan for them

   What it looks like

   The school sends its book list a few weeks before term. Parents arrive in a rush in the same week. You order from the publisher, who is out of stock on two titles. A parent goes to the shop across the road and buys the whole set there.

   What it costs you

   Educational titles are a large part of the market, about 35 percent in one estimate, and the school season is when a bookshop earns a big part of its year. A set sold elsewhere is a set lost.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each school’s list is a record with titles, classes and expected sets. Verity compares the list to stock and open orders, shows what is short, and tracks the supplier’s delivery date so you can tell the school and parents before they ask.

   See the screen
6. 06School season

   Pre-booked sets and parents who ask the same question ten times

   What it looks like

   Parents pre-book sets on a phone call. The booking sits in a notebook. When the set is ready nobody calls, and the parent turns up on the last day to find it unclear whether it was kept aside.

   What it costs you

   Pre-booked sets are the surest sales you have. A forgotten call is a sale handed to a competitor.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each set booking is a record with parent, class, titles, advance paid and status. Verity shows what is packed, what is waiting on a title and what has not been collected, and gives the counter a task to call.

   See the screen
7. 07Orders

   Special orders that are placed and then forgotten

   What it looks like

   A reader asks for a title you do not stock. You note it on a slip, order it with the next supplier delivery, and the book arrives two weeks later. Nobody calls the reader, and the slip is lost.

   What it costs you

   A special order is the strongest signal a customer can give. Forgetting it costs the sale and the relationship.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each special order is a record with the reader, the title, the supplier, the date ordered and the expected date. When the book arrives, the counter gets a task to call, and if the date slips, the reader is told.

   See the screen
8. 08Orders

   Library, college and corporate orders lost in the inbox

   What it looks like

   A college librarian sends a list of two hundred titles. A company wants forty books as gifts. The replies are slow, the quote is built by hand and the details are in three chats and an email.

   What it costs you

   Institutional orders are the largest single sales a bookshop sees, and they are lost to slow replies far more often than to price.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each enquiry is a record with an owner, the list, the quote, the discount and the next step. Verity lists the ones with no reply and tells the owner of that enquiry. Staff still send the quote, and the outcome is recorded.

   See the screen
9. 09Readers

   Regulars the shop knows by face and not by record

   What it looks like

   A reader who bought every new crime novel for three years has not been in since March. A new book by the same author arrives and no one thinks of her. The staff member who knew her taste has left.

   What it costs you

   Repeat readers are the heart of an independent bookshop. Without a record of what each one reads, a bookseller’s recommendation cannot outlast the person.

   How Verity fixes it

   Purchases link to a reader’s record with the authors and genres they buy. When a new title matches, or a regular goes quiet beyond their usual gap, a task goes to the person who knows them.

   See the screen
10. 10Readers

    A bookseller’s knowledge walks out with the bookseller

    What it looks like

    The staff member who knew the shop’s poetry shelf and the old customers moves to another shop. The recommendations, the sorted shelves and the contact numbers go with them.

    What it costs you

    Training time and a quiet fall in sales for a few months in the section they looked after.

    How Verity fixes it

    Reader preferences, shelf owners and notes sit as records in the shop’s system, not in one person’s phone. A handover list is ready the day someone resigns, and sections can be reassigned in one step.

    See the screen
11. 11Money

    Online discounts and a margin that nobody has calculated

    What it looks like

    A customer shows you a lower price on a website and asks you to match it. Each publisher gives you a different discount, and one gives you almost nothing. You match the price without knowing what you earn on the title.

    What it costs you

    Booksellers have said that the discount they receive does not add up to much given book prices, and online discounts are a concern. Matching a price on a thin-margin title can mean selling at a loss.

    How Verity fixes it

    Every title carries its purchase discount from its publisher. Verity shows margin per title, per publisher and per category, flags a match below your floor, and lets you set an approval limit for price matches.

    See the screen
12. 12Money

    Stationery, gifts and cafe sales mixed into one number

    What it looks like

    Printed books are generally exempt from GST, while stationery, toys and gifts carry GST at their own rates. The bill has all of them, and the accountant has to separate the lines by hand.

    What it costs you

    Hours of correction every month, and a risk of a wrong rate on a bill.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each item carries its tax category, so a mixed bill is split by line as it is made. The accountant sees books and other goods separately at month end, with no re-keying.

    See the screen
13. 13Money

    Day-end takings do not tie to the bills

    What it looks like

    At closing, cash, card and UPI are counted against the billing report and are off by a few hundred rupees. Nobody can say if a bill was missed, a refund was given or the float was wrong.

    What it costs you

    Small daily gaps compound, and the owner stops trusting the numbers on the screen.

    How Verity fixes it

    The day’s sales by payment mode are compared with what was collected. A mismatch is flagged with the shift and amount, and the person closing records the reason.

    See the screen
14. 14Owner

    Book fairs, school stalls and a second shop

    What it looks like

    You take a stall at a school fair or a book festival with a van of stock. Half comes back unlabelled. A second branch keeps its own notebook, and a reader who buys at both is two different people in your records.

    What it costs you

    Stock that goes out and does not return in count, and no fair comparison between shops or events.

    How Verity fixes it

    Stalls and branches are locations in one system. Stock leaves and returns against a recorded transfer, the stall’s sales are counted against what went out, and a reader is one person across all of them.

    See the screen

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your bookstore works.

1. Week 1

   Discovery and mapping

   What we do

   Spend a day in your shop, including a school-list day if one is near. Watch how a book moves from delivery to shelf to sale to return, how special orders are taken and how the day is counted, and note which leaks matter most.

   What we need from you

   Two to three hours of yours and your senior bookseller’s. Access to your billing reports, publisher statements and your school lists.

   What you have at the end

   A written map of your shop: the sections and shelves, the publisher accounts with their terms, the school lists, the special-order routine and the first leaks we will close.

2. Weeks 2 to 3

   Configuration

   What we do

   Set up your titles and shelf labels, publisher terms with return windows, tax categories, school lists, special-order steps, reader record fields and approval limits, and build the six screens around your own terms.

   What we need from you

   Check the setup with your senior bookseller. Tell us where a publisher’s term or a shelf name is wrong.

   What you have at the end

   A working Verity with your real titles, publishers, schools and staff, ready for your data.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Migration and training

   What we do

   Bring in your title list, publisher balances, open special orders, school lists and reader contacts from the sheets and notebooks you use. Train the counter and stockroom teams in the shop during a real shift.

   What we need from you

   Your stock list in whatever form it exists, your reader contacts and the publisher statements. One hour with each role.

   What you have at the end

   Your titles, publishers and orders inside Verity, and a team that has used it through a busy day.

4. After go-live

   Operations partnership

   What we do

   Stay on after launch. Review the first weeks with you, tune the return alerts and reorder points, and handle changes when you add a publisher, a school or a branch.

   What we need from you

   A short monthly review of what the numbers say.

   What you have at the end

   A system that keeps matching how the shop runs, with someone responsible for it.

• Owner

  Which titles earn their shelf, and what do we owe?

  Margin by publisher and category, slow movers, returns due, school-season sets and every shop or stall side by side.

• Buyer or manager

  What should I order and what should go back?

  Titles short, titles to return before the window, special orders waiting and statements to check.

• Bookseller

  What does this reader like?

  The reader’s record, special orders in their name, new titles that match them and the follow-ups assigned to them.

• Stockroom and receiving

  What arrived and what goes back?

  Deliveries to check against the order, copies to shelve and return lists to pack.

• Accountant

  What was bought, sold and owed?

  Sales by payment mode and tax category, publisher statements matched to deliveries and returns, and discounts and credit notes.