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Pubnet Introduces Instant Response Ordering
Booksellers Can Now Receive Immediate Purchase Order Acknowledgments from Leading U.S. Trade Publishers
New Providence, N.J. - November 28, 2006 - Pubnet®, the publishing industry’s leading EDI provider, today announced the introduction of Instant Response TM, a new ordering program that provides retailers with instant purchase order acknowledgments for orders placed with the following publishers:
  • Hachette Book Group
  • HarperCollins Publishers
  • Holtzbrinck Publishers
  • Penguin Group (USA)
  • Random House
  • Simon & Schuster

Pubnet’s Instant Response functionality is also designed to provide retailers with an alternative to the direct electronic order (“DEO”) dial-up ordering systems currently offered by many POS vendors. Many of these systems will be discontinued with the introduction of ISBN-13 in January 2007 and may no longer be supported by publishers.

Instant Response is ISBN-13 compliant and operational with Pubnet’s dial-up and FTP technologies. Instant Response works by integrating Pubnet technology already built into retail POS systems with PubEasy’s interface directly into publisher’s back office systems.

“Instant Response takes Pubnet responsiveness to the next level,” said Charles Halpin, General Manager of Pubnet. “Booksellers will know immediately if a publisher can fulfill their order or whether they should order from another source. Publishers who join Instant Response can offer a dramatically enhanced level of service to their booksellers, who no longer have to wait on hold with customer service to verify an order; or wait for a publisher to pick up their online orders once a day for processing.”

Additionally, through PubEasy.com, PubEasy provides retailers with real-time price and availability checking, order status and backorder status and electronic ordering with immediate confirmation from many of the leading book publishers. PubEasy also features electronic invoice requests and backorder cancellation requests.

The Instant Response ordering program launches on December 12, 2006. To participate, retailers will need to have a SAN as well as memberships in both Pubnet and PubEasy, and accounts need to be validated with each publisher. Through January 31st, 2007, retailers can sign up for Instant Response’s one-time membership fee at a discounted rate: For more information or to request registration forms, visit www.pubnet.org or contact Bruce Miller, US Sales Executive Pubnet/PubEasy, at 908-219-0053 or bruce.miller@bowker.com.

About Pubnet
Pubnet is a leading publishing industry e-commerce exchange, allowing more than 3,000 distributors, bookstores and other retailers to place electronic orders (POs), and receive back order acknowledgments (POAs), invoices, and advance shipping notices (ASNs) through standardized electronic methods. Pubnet integrates seamlessly with a bookseller's POS system and offers advanced EDI Web-based solutions to industry participants. Visit the Pubnet Web site at www.pubnet.org. Pubnet is a supply chain company of Bowker, the world’s leading provider of bibliographic information.

About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading source for bibliographic information. The company provides searching, analytical, promotional, and ordering services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, and patrons through national and international brands, including: Books In Print®, Global Books In Print®, Syndetic Solutions™, Pubnet®, PubEasy®, PubTrack™, AquaBrowser®, and more. In the U.S., Australia and Puerto Rico, Bowker is also the exclusive ISBN and SAN Agency and a DOI registration agency for the publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with operations in East Grinstead, England, and Port Melbourne, Australia. For more company details, please visit www.Bowker.com.