Fiction buyers are the most frequent purchasers in Christian bookstores, said Steve Oates, vice president of marketing for Bethany House Publishers, during the Product Intelligence Tour on fiction held Monday and repeated Wednesday.

Oates gave the dozen retailers in attendance a detailed assessment of fiction buyers and how to serve them in local bookstores.

"In a world where only 20-25% of Christian books are sold through a Christian bookstore, how can I become the store of choice for the Christian fiction customer?" he asked.

To answer that question, Oates presented advice, including thinking like a consumer, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and developing a relationship with the customer. For customers asking about future releases in series, a common query among Christian fiction readers, Oates suggested stores respond by offering a dollar off for those willing to place a pre-release order.

Addressing the weaknesses of big-box stores compared to Christian retail, Oates highlighted the difficulty in shipping books to arrive at the same time and told retailers: "Barnes and Noble still can't get it as quickly as you can on your shelves."

Jeanette Webster, owner of Source of Light Bible Bookstore in Jamaica, said the seminar would help her market fiction in her store. She said price point, however, was still a major concern.

"As a Third World country, I'd rather have the price points lower," she said. "My younger customers are looking for books in their price range."

She added that younger shoppers are also looking for fiction in more contemporary settings.

Best-selling novelist Karen Kingsbury served as host during the International Christian Retail Show Heart of the Author Luncheon, held in the Korbel Ballroom on Tuesday with an attendance of around 200.

Retailers received a crash course on making an impact by merchandising gifts, but they were also treated to "a great hands-on clinic" on inspirational products during a Product Intelligence Tour.

"If you want to stay in business to sell books and Bibles, gifts can really help you," said Michelle Amster, president of store design firm Integra GP, who presented the tour Monday and Tuesday.

Amster advised retailers to use seasonal displays, fabric, floral, acrylic risers and furniture pieces to spotlight their gift sections. She then asked the gift sellers to break up into groups to help create an attractive display of themed gifts-wedding, baby, Easter, Christmas and Father's/Mother's Day products-using five separate tables.

Kymburly Odell, gift buyer of The Master's Parable Christian Store in Clovis, N.M., told Christian Retailing that the product tour was informative. "It's a great hands-on clinic," she said. "It's a great way to incorporate the vendors who are here with their products in a hands-on experience for retailers."

The gift-merchandising tour was sponsored by Christian Tools of Affirmation, Dicksons, His Gem, Lighthouse Christian Products, Rhode Island Novelty and Scripture Candy.

Penny Adickes, assistant manager of Living Word Christian Store in Onalask, Wis., said the product tour "really helpful," adding: "It reinforced some of the things I already knew, but it also gave me some new ideas. The hands-on training was good. I used to be a school teacher, and I'm used to doing things hands-on."

DVD sales were spotlighted as a major growth area in a Products Intelligence Tour session where attendees heard that the category's Christian retail store sales increased 90% in the first six months of the year.

During a special reception Tuesday afternoon, Moody Publishers celebrated the success of Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages (Northfield Publishing), which has passed sales of more than 5 million copies, and revealed plans to step up its promotion.

Greg Thornton, vice president of publications, said when the book was first released 17 years ago, neither the publisher nor the author could have guessed the impact it would have.

"When we first got started, we knew we had a solid message, but none of us could dream how it would do worldwide," he said.

Steve Lyon, publisher, also spoke on the book's sales and the need for its continued success, pointing to a recent Time magazine cover story on the state of traditional marriage in America.

John Hinkley, marketing director, followed with the news that Moody will re-launch the book in January with its "most aggressive marketing in a decade," including new covers and an interactive Web site where readers can take the love languages assessment test.

"We hope to reach the younger generation," he said. "Our goal, our vision, is reducing the number of divorces."

Chapman's radio co-host Chris Fabry and fellow author Jerry B. Jenkins were also on hand to congratulate Chapman and Moody for the milestone. Guests, including CBA President Bill Anderson and ECPA President Mark Kuyper, were treated to cake and given autographed copies of the book.

Evangelism and church resource organization Outreach debuted its forthcoming To Save a Life this week, a teen-oriented movie due to release in 1,000 theaters in January.

Starring Randy Wayne (The Dukes of Hazzard, The Last Hurrah) and Deja Kreutzberg (CSI Miami, Law and Order), the film about an all-star athlete forced to make major changes in his life to help others is to be preceded by several October releases at retail.

The message was that there was "Strength in Numbers," but only a handful of retailers turned out to hear about how they could strengthen their business by linking up with other owner-operators.

Less than 20 people attended the Indie Time presentation by Don Sather, founder and board member of the Summit Independent Business Alliance, a last-minute replacement for scheduled speaker Jeff Milchen, co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance.

A Colorado small business man since the 1980s, Sather said "we are talking about survival; we are in an economic time as bad as any I remember." He urged retailers to consider starting a local business alliance in their communities, encouraging shoppers to support local businesses.

"The idea of buying local is a concept that has left us, from the '50s and '60s. We have become overwhelmed by chains and big-boxes. We have given up quality-of-life issues for quantity-of-life issues."

Studies had shown that a dollar spent in a local business recirculated through the community, generating further business, while the same money spent in a chain did not, he said. Sather gave examples of how local businesses had worked together to promote their support in the community.