A panel discussion Sunday pondered the “myriad of challenges” facing international publishers, retailers, suppliers and distributors.

During CBA and Christian Trade Association International's (CTAI) inaugural International General Session: International Business Vision, Chris Johnsen, founder of Christian Art Distributors based in South Africa, moderated a panel that discussed findings from an international business survey conducted by CBA and CTAI.

Panelists included Paul Bootes, managing director of Koorong, Australia’s largest Christian retailer; Modupe Ehirim, president of the Christian Booksellers Association Nigeria; Thomas Tang, general secretary of Christian Communications in China; and Melvin Rivera Velázquez, interim head of the new global bible publishing unit of the United Bible Societies.

Johnsen noted a “myriad of challenges” facing suppliers and retailers outside North America, including the weakness of foreign currencies versus the U.S. dollar, a plethora of online and mobile options for shoppers, print-on-demand publishing and the continued growth of digital books.

“Christian retail has come to a fork on the road,” Johnsen said. “The day and age of the traditional retailer is over. We cannot determine the channel anymore. We must be consumer-centric.”

Claire Effird, owner of The Salt Shaker Bookstore and Cafe, in Wilmington, N.C., told Christian Retailing afterwards that “the international challenges are similar to our domestic problems.” “We have the same issues with ebooks, print-on-demand and competition from the Internet,”she said. “It was helpful information. This tells me that we're all in the same boat.”

Comfort Tonkumoh Isokrari, managing director of Wisdom Books in Ikeja, Nigeria, agreed. “This made me understand what happens in other countries. We have very similar challenges. We're all in this together.”

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