01 December 2008
Posted in General News

BIC are actively seeking applications for e4books accreditation for 2009.

The scheme is open to distributors (including publishers handling their own distribution), publishers who outsource their distribution to third parties, wholesalers and booksellers and service providers.

For distributors, it requires a high level of e-commerce, typically including:

• the sending of daily price and availability information to data aggregators in an agreed electronic form
• the ability to receive and process without manual intervention incoming orders sent electronically from a significant number of trading partners using the major services available in the marketplace
• the ability automatically to generate and send electronic order acknowledgments in response to customer orders
• the ability automatically to generate and send electronic delivery notes to those customers who require them
• the sending of a high volume of electronic invoices and credit notes to a significant number of trading partners
• participation in the Industry Returns Initiative and its related electronic messaging, including Batch Returns

For booksellers, it requires a high level of e-commerce, typically including:

• receiving and making available accurate and timely product information at the point of sale
• a substantial proportion of ordering using electronic means
• the ability to process order acknowledgments and delivery notes (if used)
• the ability to receive and process electronic invoices from a significant number of suppliers
• active participation in the Industry Returns Initiative

For publishers who outsource distribution to a third party, it requires:

• the sending of new title product information in electronic format to data aggregators and others, following the recommendations of the BIC Basic standard
• the use of a distributor already accredited under this scheme

Full details of the scheme and application forms can be found on the BIC website.

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