About e4books
E4books is a project initiated by Book Industry Communication (BIC) with the aim of increasing the use of e-commerce transactions with trading partners in the book industry supply chain.
For the purposes of the project these are as follows:
For booksellers:
- accessing up-to-date product information
- ordering and processing of order acknowledgements and delivery notes
- processing electronic invoices/credit notes
- returns management using the Industry Returns Initiative
For publishers and distributors:
- supplying product information and updates
- handling incoming electronic orders from various sources and systems
- generating electronic order acknowledgements
- generating electronic invoices and credit notes
- handling electronic returns requests
The project has been built around the original 2004 report by Simon Edwards in which he researched the obstacles which stand in the way of greater e-commerce adoption and proposed ways in which these can be overcome.
BIC works closely with the Booksellers Association, the Publishers Association and the Independent Publishers Guild to provide information to the book trade on the most effective way of introducing e-trading into the supply chain for organisations of all sizes.
Get accredited for e4books!
All book trade organisations, however large or small, can demonstrate to clients and trading partners their e-commerce credentials by applying for e4books accreditation. More than 80 companies have successfully done so and it is estimated that accredited companies now account for over 90% of all book trade business.
Find out who has been accredited and how to go about it by clicking here.
Applying for e4books accreditation is confidential. Publicity is only given to companies which are successful; if you don't succeed at the first attempt e4books will help you to meet the required criteria via a free telephone consultancy service.
