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).

You may add as many publishers as you need to your APM - This is how …

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.‘

Import spreadsheet

The link above is to a spreadsheet which you should complete ahead of installing your APM. This should give you a good core of title information to get you started and in particular if you are intending to be Onix compliant.

Some notes on the spreadsheet:

Core Title Information Spreadsheet

Column A - Title ID: This is your own unique identifier for the title/product in question. This may be, for example, the id for the title/product supplied by your distributor or your own internal id.

Column G - Please select from the list in the Publishing Status column in the APM Code Lists Sheet. For the purposes of the APM (and indeed the Onix standard) means …

Column H - Please select from the list in the Product Availability column in the APM Code List Sheets. For the purposes of the APM (and indeed the Onix standard) means …

Column I - Price One Currency: This is the three character currency code for the principal price at which the product will be offered. This is a mandatory field for Onix.

Column J - Price One Country Code: This is the two character country code signifying the country the price refers to.

Column K - Price One Amount: This is the principal price at which the product will be offered. The price in here needs to be without any currency notation and in the form of - eg, 2.00 or 11.00.

Column R - Edition Number: Just the number and please note that the Onix standard requires only that you include an edition number if the edition is greater than one.

Column S - Please select from the list in the Product Form column in the APM Code Lists Sheet. For the purposes of the APM (and indeed the Onix standard) means …

Column T - If the title is part of a series enter a unique identifier for the series. This will allow APM to link all the related titles in the series.

Column W - Enter a unique identifier for the title imprint. This will allow APM to link all the titles associated with an imprint.

Column Y - Publication Date: This should be in the form dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy if you are in the US.

Columns AI to AK: Web URL links that are associated with the title.

Column AL - Description Text 1 Type Code: Please select from the list in the Marketing Description Code column in the APM Code Lists Sheet. Description Text Type code is simply the means of identifying the type of text in the Description Text field (see Description Text below) - eg, Long Description; Short Description etc.

Column AM - Description Text 1: Marketing description text or blurbs. The previous column defines what text should be entered i.e. Long Description, Short Description.

Columns AR and AW - BIC and BISAC subject categories: Depending on whether you are in the UK (BIC) or the US (BISAC) then you will need to have one or other of these. To learn more please go to bisg.org or bic.org.uk.

Column AX - Audience Code: Please select from the list in the Audience Code column in the APM Code Lists Sheet. For the purposes of the APM (and indeed the Onix standard) means …

Contributors Title Link Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet links authors to titles. The basic idea is that details for an author/contributor are entered once (see the Contributors Details spreadsheet) and a unique Author ID is assigned. APM then links the Title ID and Author IDs.

Column A - Title ID: To link your author/contributor to the correct title it is important that the title is able to be identified to create the relationship between the two of them.

Column B - Author ID: This is for whatever unique identifier that you wish to use for your primary author/contributor.

Columns D to F - Contributor Role: In relation to a title these are the roles of the particular author/contributor - eg, did they write it etc. Please select from the list in the Contributor Role column in the APM Code Lists Sheet.

Contributors Details Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet is fairly self explanatory allowing you to enter author/contributor personal details. The Author ID entry must be unique and will be used when linking authors to titles.

It may well be that prior to installing your APM that all your title and other publishing information may well be quite frankly all over the place. Some words documents; the odd Excel spreadsheet? Sound familiar?



Anyway, in the first instance it is important that you are able to get some core title information into your APM as painlessly as possible. Once you have some basic title information then for one thing it makes the addition of any other information so much easier as obviously the title is the hub around which everything else revolves.



The APM or indeed just about any other database works on the basis of relationships to create links between information. For example, an author/contributor is related to  the titles to which they have contributed. To create these relationships the APM needs to have one piece of information which is unique to the title or the author/contributor or anything else for that matter (eg Customers; Media Organisations etc.).



So, for any type of related information it is very helpful (and will save a lot of heartache!) if you have a unique identifier for any information that you want to link.



Also, bear in mind that it is very likely that within your organisation you will have a number of different spreadsheets; Access databases; Word documents etc. all with titles and authors spelt and slightly different.And, indeed it is very common for us to see all kinds of information in what should be the title name to indicate for instance if it is a paperback or a 2nd edition.



So, I hope you can see the value of having one field that uniquely identifying which title is being talked about wherever it is!And while you’ve got your head in your hands another thing to think about when preparing your data is that it needs to be broken down into it’s constituent elements. This is the way the Onix standard works and the way that the APM works. Having the entirety of a person’s name and all the elements of the title (i.e prefix; title itself; and sub title) all in the one fields restricts your searching and sorting options. Consequently, you may need to be prepared to break all this information down.