WELL this is interesting. We've just got access to EPOS data for the first time - the volume and value of sales that actually go through the till, rather than that which we ship to customers' warehouses and stores. Some of our sell through is very good - like Adept which has shipped 50,000 units and sold 41,000 units, or Boxing Fitness which has shipped around 10,000 units and sold 7000. The remainder, of course, is stock on hand in customers' warehouses and stores. But there is one book which shall remain nameless which has only sold 34 units having shipped 359 (originally we shipped more than 2000 but had high returns on it - can't imagine why with that stellar sales rate.) Boo.

So this heralds a new era for Snowbooks of knowing what our sales rates are. It will help us to know whether we should reprint a title, and will help to forecast returns. Looking at our Christmas sales data, by my reckoning, if we have, say, 50% of the Christmas stock remaining in store returned to us, that will come to £28,000 which will need crediting in the New Year - which is about a 20% return rate. Now you can figure out roughly what our Christmas sales have been - and overall they've been great (although some lines had the potential to do so much better). Who knows what the actual return rate will be, but if they are this high, sales next spring/summer have to be even higher to accommodate them. Better get my selling hat on, then...