Christian Retail Solutions Committee

ECPA, CBA Endorse BISAC Subject Codes as Adopted by CRSC


Book Industry Study and Communication Standard Simplifies Business for Retailers, Publishers

The Christian Retail Solutions Committee (CRSC) adopted the new Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) subject codes that include the former Christian Product Category (CPC) codes for books. BISAC approved the codes Sept. 21, 2006. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and CBA both have endorsed the codes.

The codes -- which only affect the CPC book codes -- will go into effect with the new BISAC Subject Headings, 2006 edition in January, Publishers should begin assigning the new codes in January.

Widely accepted subject codes for categorizing, organizing and merchandising books were launched by the former Christian Product Standards Group in 1999.  The Christian Retail Solutions Committee subject code adoption was part of an effort to simplify the previous coding classifications and integrate them into a single publishing standard.

Michael Covington, ECPA’s director of Information and education says use of the more widely accepted codes is good for the entire industry:  “Using uniform subject codes to merchandise a Christian bookstore is one of the most effective means of serving customers, managing inventory, and growing the Christian publishing channel.  We will be able to track the movement of Christian books as compared with all other types of books, thus giving us a greater grasp of how effective we have been in our mission, and helping us to plan for the future.”

Eric Grimm, CBA Manager of Retail Technology & Strategy and CRSC chairman, said the simplified code structure creates reporting and application efficiencies that will benefit retailers and publishers.

ECPA is working to make the transition from CPC codes to BISAC codes easier.  A sub list of the entire BISAC list will be available for application to Christian publisher products, helping to maintain current data analysis abilities available with the CPC codes.   In addition, ECPA will provide a map from the old CPC codes to the new BISAC codes sub list for retailers and publishers wanting to help automate the transition. 

E-Seminars and other training are being planned on the transition and use of the new product coding.

Benefits for using the new BISAC codes are wide-ranging, for publishers, retailers and consumers and include:

  • Consumers can find products easier through the uniform codes.  The codes will be printed on the back of product and included in electronic search capabilities.
  • The Christian publishing industry will be able to use the new coding system for measuring and reporting performance, analyzing market share and making comparative analysis.
  • Retailers will find the sub list more succinct and user-friendly and will be able to more effectively use codes to establish inventory and allocate shelving space.
  • Publishers can use the new list for product development, marketing, and acquisition strategies.