Bookshops

A distinctive of Oasis' strategy is its emphasis on self-sustaining indigenous retail and wholesale development. In our experience, Christian book distribution that relies on a subsidy or mission support is often short-lived. Oasis concentrates on developing relationships with commercially viable book outlets. This provides jobs, people development, and financial incentive for growth. A supply of product that is targeted at the needs of their population fuels the growth of these businesses.

There is a shortage of affordable Christian literature in English-speaking Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. From Oasis' own work in Nigeria, we have come to understand the importance of supplying relevant, quality product at excellent prices. There are two major keys to success in these markets. The first is content; the book must have broad appeal in the developing world. The second is price. We have found that the optimum retail price for successful distribution of a book to the general population is 20-30% of the retail price in the United States. To give an example, music CDs cost about $2.00 in many African music stores.

If western prices prevail distribution is severely limited. Our mission is to supply books that meet the needs of the poor. Our experience indicates that substantially lower prices result in greatly increased distribution. Buying books designed to serve the U.S. market, even at a great price, does not work in many cases. The format produced is just not affordable for most of the markets we serve. Oasis uses innovative strategies to find, produce, and distribute books that work for these markets. By helping bookstores find and purchase books that average people can afford, we empower bookstores to serve their markets.

We also equip bookstores in training their managers and staff. A better supply of affordable and relevant literature must be accompanied by a more effective distribution system and this requires training.

Oasis is taking the lead in training distributors and retailers to do their job better. As much as possible, our training will take place in the bookseller's country, in their building, with their staff. This training will concentrate on managing retail stores and distributors, solving problems on the ground with the leaders of the organization. In this way Oasis International is in the business of empowering nationals to build successful businesses.

Craig Ewoldt is uniquely qualified to spearhead Oasis training initiative. Craig taught successful retailing to hundreds of bookstores in the United States. He helped to build the current systems and structures that are used in this country to get books from publishers to bookstores. Now Craig has almost ten years of working on the ground with African bookstores. He can bring knowledge of developed retail and distribution systems and apply it to the African context in a powerful way. Bookstores where Craig has worked in Africa have doubled, tripled, and quadrupled their sales in the long term.