News

Bookstores Can Now Capture Sales on Online Marketplaces

Nebraska Book Company Announces Partnership with Monsoon, Inc.

Lincoln, Nebraska
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Nebraska Book Company, a national leader in the college bookstore industry, announced today it has established a strategic relationship with Monsoon, an industry-leading marketplace selling software and solution provider, to provide college bookstores with an answer to capture sales on the online marketplace. The agreement provides college bookstores an excellent opportunity to win back market share and restore bookstores' leadership position among textbook shoppers.

Together, Nebraska Book Company and Monsoon represent the only fully integrated marketplace selling solution available to college bookstores.

According to Amazon's website, the developers behind Monsoon, one of the first companies to create a business model around Amazon Web Services, have a track record of helping retailers sell online.

From highly customizable pricing strategies to automatic cross-channel inventory management, Monsoon with NBC PRISM, NBC's retail management system, is simply the easiest and most effective way for bookstores to sell online. Combine unmatched technology, the best support in the industry, and more than seven years of marketplace experience (three of which were highly focused on college bookstores) with the power of Nebraska Book Company, and you have a truly revolutionary tool.

"We are pleased to be able to provide the college bookstore industry with a tailored solution designed to help stores capture sales on the online marketplace," said Barry S. Major, President and Chief Operating Officer, Nebraska Book Company. "At Nebraska Book Company, we are continually working to provide new and innovative solutions designed to help college bookstores compete effectively. The Monsoon solution provides college bookstores with an inventive solution designed to help restore the bookstores' position of leadership in the college textbook marketplace."

The Monsoon with NBC PRISM solution automatically:

• Manages in-store and online inventory variances in near real-time
• Completely removes manual entry of inventory and orders
• Calculates and accounts for tax and commission expenses
• Presents a single set of inventory across multiple sales channels
• Reduces labor requirements and the need for in-store training
• Applies quantity and price adjustments based on inventory types and/or groups
• Holds back quantities to protect against "stock outs"
• Ensures margins do not degrade

"We are excited to be working with Nebraska Book Company to provide this unique offering to college bookstores," said Kanth Gopalpur, Chief Executive Officer of Monsoon. "Nebraska Book Company's leadership in the college industry, coupled with Monsoon's software and online marketplace knowledge and experience, makes this a compelling proposition for college bookstores. The integrated solution is a proven product that increases sales without sacrificing margins. We look forward to extending this solution to more users and working closer with bookstores to help them achieve success in the online marketplace."

The Monsoon solution is available for immediate implementation at college bookstores.

About Nebraska Book Company
Nebraska Book Company began in 1915 with a single bookstore near the University of Nebraska campus but now serves more than 2.1 million students through its network of over 270 stores located across the country. Our Textbook Division serves more than 2,500 bookstores through the sale of almost seven million textbooks, and our Complementary Services Division has installed more than 1,200 technology platforms and e-commerce sites. Additional information about Nebraska Book Company can be found at the company's website: www.nebook.com.

About Monsoon
Monsoon provides a powerful, scalable online marketplace selling solution that addresses the needs of every type of seller, from the sole proprietor, to the pure online merchant, to "bricks-and-mortar" retailers of all sizes. Serving customers worldwide, the Company offers end-to-end solutions for the management, processing, pricing, and reporting for successful online selling. Monsoon improves a seller's bottom line and profit margins by streamlining the online selling experience through process improvement and best practices. The Company currently works with customers in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.monsoonworks.com..

Media Contact:
Sue Riedman
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Nebraska Book Company
402-421-0450
sriedman@nebook.com

Robin Carter
Marketing Manager
Monsoon, Inc.
503-239-1055 x 844
robin.carter@monsoonworks.com

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