Most Christian retail stores carry less inventory today than they did two years ago, and some of them are looking at what is on their shelves with more scrutiny than ever before, in light of the changing market.

Online purchasing is one of the main factors affecting what has long been championed as one of Christian retailers' greatest strengths—backlist—according to the results of Christian Retailing's latest Vital Signs industry survey.

On average, for-profit stores ordered about 54% of inventory direct from manufacturers and publishers, while church/school stores got 57% of their product from distributors. The trend is moving toward distributors, with 19% of all stores saying they were ordering “significantly more” product from distributors.

Nearly three in five retailers reported reducing the total value of their inventory since January 2009. A handful of stores said they had completely eliminated some once-standard categories, such as music, apparel and jewelry. A few told of pumping their gift selection, and 3% had developed what one retailer referred to as a “Social Issues” section with books on business ethics and poverty, and cause-related gifts. 

The most common frequency for stores culling products that had not sold and returning them for credit was once per quarter, with 34% doing this four times a year. However, 14% said that they never process returns.

Read more in the April issue of Christian Retailing.

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