e4books Accreditation Scheme

The scheme is open to distributors (including publishers handling their own distribution), publishers who outsource their distribution to third parties, wholesalers and booksellers and service providers.

For distributors, it requires a high level of e-commerce, typically including:

the sending of daily price and availability information to data aggregators in an agreed electronic form;
the ability to receive and process without manual intervention incoming orders sent electronically from a significant number of trading partners using the major services available in the marketplace;
the ability automatically to generate and send electronic order acknowledgments in response to customer orders;
the ability automatically to generate and send electronic delivery notes to those customers who require them;
the sending of a high volume of electronic invoices and credit notes to a significant number of trading partners;
participation in the Industry Returns Initiative and its related electronic messaging, including Batch Returns.

For booksellers, it requires a high level of e-commerce, typically including:

receiving and making available accurate and timely product information at the point of sale;
a substantial proportion of ordering using electronic means;
the ability to process order acknowledgments and delivery notes (if used);
the ability to receive and process electronic invoices from a significant number of suppliers;
active participation in the Industry Returns Initiative.

For publishers who outsource distribution to a third party, it requires:

the sending of new title product information in electronic format to data aggregators and others, following the recommendations of the BIC Basic standard;
the use of a distributor already accredited under this scheme.

Applications may be made using the forms below. Wholesalers are expected to complete both a distributor and a bookseller form, reflecting the double role they play in the supply chain. The scheme is largely based on self-assessment, supported by the evidence of trading partners and systems suppliers, and will be judged by an independent BIC review group. The group will be assessing applications as far as possible against quantitative criteria laid down by the e4Books steering committee, but qualitative considerations will also be taken into account.

Accreditation will be granted for the calendar year in which applications are reviewed and may be renewed annually provided that criteria applied each year continue to be met. Successful organisations will be given a certificate of e-Day compliance and will be entitled to use the scheme logo on promotional and other relevant material.

Accreditation for systems and service suppliers

List of accredited organisations 2008

Application form for distributors and publishers handling their own distribution

Application form for booksellers

Application form for independent booksellers

Application form for publishers who outsource their distribution to a third party distributor