An Exhibition of Optimism
Traffic and sales are up at the Yale University Press shopping portal as well, despite the fact that it charges full retail price, and Amazon.com often carries the same titles for less. (Note that those discounts come out of the retailer’s pocket—Yale earns the same profit margin either way.)
Ann Karlstrom, director of publications and graphic design at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, says she has noticed a spike in online sales near the end of an exhibition, despite the museum’s limited online presence. She lacks the staff to keep the Web site dynamic, and the list of available publications is not up to date. She chalks up the sales to the fact folks figure they’re running out of time to commit to the book they flipped through during their visit to the museum shop.