The Anko Support Blog

The discount group codes are used by wholesalers and retailers for the exchange of information with publishers and distributors about discounts given. At their request BIC has defined and administers a standard method of communicating publishers’ discount group codes as part of an EDI or ONIX message. A discount group code, which is an attribute of a product, is converted to an actual discount rate by means of a look-up table which is specific to an individual trading agreement and which is communicated directly between the trading partners by non-EDI/ONIX means.
All BIC-assigned discount group codes begin with the letter A, followed by a four-letter alphabetic code which identifies the publisher or issuer of the code, and are listed on the BIC web site. To ensure uniqueness, it is essential that codes assigned are notified to BIC immediately and updated on a regular basis. If new codes are not being notified, there is no guarantee that the codes in the published list are in fact unique. Codes are not deleted when they cease to be used (e.g. when a publisher moves distribution from one company to another) and should not be reused or reassigned, as this may cause problems elsewhere in the supply chain.

It is clear that not all distributors and publishers are following this guidance at present; and they are encouraged to inform BIC of all codes currently in use as a matter of urgency.

Full details of the scheme and the current list of codes can be found at http://www.bic.org.uk/13/Discount-Group-Codes/.

ONIX 3.0

Notes for senders of ONIX 3.0 files to Nielsen Book, October 2009

Nielsen are working towards acceptance of ONIX 3 files from suppliers while continuing to accept series 2.* ONIX files for the foreseeable future. Our initial intention approach is to accommodate the variations and key additional elements in ONIX 3 into our existing database and products with minimal disruption. We will move to ONIX 3 outputs at a later stage in consultation with our data customers.

Work on ONIX 3 implementation is underway. We expect to be able to accept test files by the end of the year, and live files in Q1 2010.

Record Type “Block Updates”

In accordance with the statement of UK practice by the UK ONIX Group, Nielsen will accept EITHER Full Update Records as usual OR Block 6 (P&A updates) only, for initial implementation of ONIX 3; these may be mixed in the same file (the notification type is provided at record level) but we prefer separate files for each type.

Message Header

In accordance with the amended schema, Nielsen require ONIX3 files to include the mandatory ‘release’ attribute, with the value ‘3.0′ in the top-level element.

P5 Collection / P6 Product title detail

Nielsen will use Collection and Title data in existing fields on our database, and in products, to create well-formed title strings that avoid duplication of data.

P20 Global publishing status & dates / copyright

Nielsen will continue to recommend the statement of publishing status and publication date at item (global) level using P20, in addition to market-specific details as required. If a global publication date is not provided, we will use instead the market-specific date that matches the Country of Publication.

P21 Territorial rights and other sales restrictions

We are concerned about the introduced facility to state what rights DO NOT apply in a given territory with no requirement to state what rights DO apply. As we hold Rights information as a table, we need a clear indication of the situation (Non-Exclusive Rights, Exclusive Rights, or NFS) for each territory included.

We require senders, if using the “Countries Excluded” structure in a Sales right composite (eg Exclusive Rights for Word excluding US and Canada) to send an additional composite specifying the rights position for the excluding country/ies (eg NFS in US, non-exclusive rights in Canada, etc)

P22 Related works

Nielsen will expand our list of relation types to accommodate include links to Works identified by ISTC.

P24-26 Product Supply

We re-assert the position that met with general acceptance on a Listserv discussion in favour of mutually exclusive markets in Product Supply composites. Having overlapping markets (eg because one supplier serves two markets) is effectively organising the markets to fit the supplier. We can see this might be attractive for publishers, but for all recipients of the data, ie aggregators organising data for retailers in specific markets and retailers operating within specific territories, there is a strong requirement to receive all the supply data that is pertinent to a given market, including all suppliers to that market (rather than being presented with all markets that are served by each supplier).

ONIX is an XML-based standard created by a consortium of publishers, wholesalers, retailers, and data aggregators in response to the publishing industry’s need to be able to communicate better information about titles. ONIX stands for Online Information Exchange.

Unfortunately, because the standard is potentially trying to cover all aspects of the supply chain it has to be fairly complex to cover all eventualities. In addition it is a technical standard that requires a technical IT solution which immediately creates a barrier to entry for most small publishers who do not have a team of dedicated IT support staff and developers standing by.

So do you have to do it? Can you just ignore it and continue on as you always have. Increasingly the answer to that is no. All the big distributors are now pushing for publishers to submit their title data in an ONIX form (for them it is a major cost saving not to have to send copies of AI sheets to India to be re-keyed!) and whilst they currently do not directly impose punitive financial penalties for not conforming there is a price to be paid. That price is exposure of your work to your target audience the customer. If you do not have rich bibliographic data available on the major book selling web sites putting your work forward in its best possible light then some other publisher will and their work will appear before yours in any online searches and they will get the sale.

Some little factoids might put this in perspective:

1. Bowkers customer data suggests that online ads are now better than print ads (9%) for driving sales. Online ads (16%) are the second biggest driver of book awareness in US second only to in-store displays (44%).
2. 67% of customers who bought a book because of a review, read the review online.
3. In 2005 Barnes & Noble found that a book is 60% more likely to sell if it has a cover image yet 63.7% of the titles in their database didn’t have one or indeed complete descriptions.

So implementing ONIX can potentially be a competitive advantage in the short/medium term but in the end it will be a necessity especially as books/content are delivered over digital media. No longer does a customer just buy a paper book. The same content can be presented and delivered in potentially hundreds of different formats either as a complete piece or in small chunks. If you are going to attempt to manage and track this explosion of varying formats your little word document and spreadsheet collection will quickly start to look a little pedestrian if not woefully inadequate.

Consider, ONIX 3.0 has just been released and will start to be widely adopted next year. It is no coincidence that it is the first version of the standard that is not backwardly compatible with previous versions and that one of its primary focuses is dealing with digital media. So the problem of managing complex data and tracking your products in their myriad new forms is just going to get worse!

And the answer… a good solid database. A database will force you categorise and sort your title information and the very act of breaking down the information will lend the database to producing ONIX messages. Indeed most title management systems these days offer ONIX support as standard.

Of course just purchasing a database is not the whole answer. The biggest, generally the most expensive, element of such an endeavour is your time. Every minute spent sorting your title information ready for loading into a database is time lost not producing/selling books and initially your instincts will be to postpone that task. However, if you do see it through not only will you massively improve the chances of selling more of your work you will gain efficiencies in your internal work flows (you’ll only ever have to key things once and there will only ever be one version of the truth) thereby saving money, you will also potentially be able to automate tasks such as catalogue production, AI production, automated reports and updating your web sites. All because you have a central database that can drive the data that drives your business.

It is just unfortunate that in these hard financial times that the old adage “you have to spend money to make money” is as true as ever.

There has been an urgent update to the Onix Code List to include values telling consumers about the risk of choking from any product - including obviously books. This is as a response to the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 2008. This requires that all websites which sell products which may cause choking need to contain warnings. A good example would be where a book and small toy are perhaps bundled.

If you would like to learn more and/or to download the new code lists in Excel format - then you may do so at the Editeur website.

This is to be in place from the 15th December 2008. Amazon sent out the note at the foot of this post on the 21st of November.

The text of the email from Amazon:
‘Dear Amazon Vendor
This message outlines the steps Amazon.com will require vendors to take to confirm their compliance with new product safety regulations affecting childrens products.
We will need your response via e-mail on two issues by November 21, 2008: (1) product safety cautionary statements regarding choking hazards of childrens toys and games, and (2) lead and phthalate limits that will be phased in on all childrens products.
These issues are described in further detail below, along with information about what you need to do to ensure that the compliance of your products offered on Amazon.com.
Background
The U.S. House and Senate have passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the Act), and on August 14, 2008, President Bush signed the Act into law.
We expect that all Amazon.com vendors will ensure that their products are compliant with the Act in accordance with all applicable effective dates. Specific provisions of the Act discussed in this letter are for ease of reference only. Specific provisions of the Act discussed in this letter are for ease of reference only. Further information on the Act is available on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website at http://www.cpsc.gov/.
Vendors are responsible for thoroughly familiarizing themselves with all the requirements of the Act. We would, however, like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to two issues of particular importance to Amazon.com.
1. Cautionary Statements in Internet Advertisements
Section 105 of the Act requires manufacturers, importers and distributors to provide retailers with appropriate cautionary statements relating to the choking hazards of childrens toys and games. These cautionary statements are defined in Section 105 of the Act and Section 24 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. They must be displayed on the product packaging and in certain online and catalog advertisements.
What you need to do
You are responsible for determining if a cautionary statement applies to the product. This can be verified by contacting the product manufacturer or checking the product packaging. Amazon.com has created a data field for such cautionary statements among the product attributes supplied to us by vendors. In order to enter cautionary statements applicable to each of your products, please download the spreadsheet CPSIA Vendor Spreadsheet in the Resource Center of Vendor Central. Follow the instructions located in this file to download your items from Vendor Central, complete, and return as an attachment to an e-mail addressed to cpsia-books@amazon.com. Vendors must supply Amazon.com with an appropriate cautionary statement (or certify that no such statements are applicable) for each applicable product no later than November 21, 2008. Cautionary statements that you select will be displayed on the product detail page.
If none of your products are subject to a cautionary statement, reply to cpsia-books@amazon.com the following statement We, [Vendor Name], certify that no cautionary statement under Section 105 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is applicable to any product sold or furnished by us.
Please include your vendor name in the subject line of your e-mail to us when you respond in any case. Any products for which the applicable cautionary statements are not received (or certified as non-applicable) are subject to removal from the Amazon.com site, and Amazon.com will be entitled to return any inventory of such products to you for a full refund.
2. Product Content Limits
The Act prescribes strict limits on the content of certain materials in products intended for children, including lead and phthalates. In particular:
Effective February 10, 2009, the Act prohibits the sale of childrens toys and child care articles with concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate, (DIDP), or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).
The Act mandates a phased-in ban on lead in substrate for all childrens products, requiring that lead levels be reduced to a maximum of 600 parts per million by February 10, 2009; 300 parts per million by August 14, 2009; and 100 parts per million by August 14, 2011. Electronic devices and inaccessible component parts will be subject to rules to be issued by August 14, 2009.
The Act also reduces permissible lead in paint content from 0.06 percent to 0.009 percent (effective August 14, 2009), which may be lowered further by administrative action.
What you need to do
We expect that vendors will familiarize themselves with the effective dates of each applicable limit. In order to minimize the difficulty of tracking multiple versions of the same product through the supply chain, it is highly advisable for manufacturers to promptly eliminate or phase-out product offerings which do not or will not comply with the most restrictive limits described above, well before such limits take effect.
If all of your products are compliant with the lead and phthalate limits according to the table below, reply to cpsia-books@amazon.com with the following statement We, [Vendor Name], certify that all of our products are compliant with the lead and phthalate limits effective as of August 14, 2011 as defined by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
If some of your products are not compliant by any of the dates below, you must complete the spreadsheet located in the Resource Center of Vendor Central, as stated above. Only one spreadsheet needs to be completed.
As of each date set forth in Column III of the table below, each vendor must confirm and report to Amazon.com that all of your childrens products (i) in Amazon.coms inventory, as reported to you in Vendor Central as of such date, and (ii) in transit or shipped to Amazon.com on or after such date, will comply with applicable limits set forth in Column I.‘

The Anko Publishing Manager couldn’t make it simpler for you to generate your Onix messages. If you would like to view a short video tutorial taking you through step by step the Onix message process click here.