Saqi Books

Discover how Saqi Books transformed their metadata management with BooksoniX, moving from the stress of non-compliance to automated workflows and award-worthy support.

The Challenge: Rapid implementation of ONIX feeds and metadata management

Saqi required a solution to achieve data compliance and integrity but lacked the in-house technical resources, leading to operational panic and significant wasted time.

Area of Difficulty Description of the Problem
Data Integrity Title entries were missing key elements, which resulted in errors on Nielsen and risked title information failing to feed out to retailers and partners, causing “panic on the publisher side.”
Operational Efficiency Processes that could be automated were being done manually across a multitude of channels, costing “countless hours” of staff time that should have been spent on core publishing work.
Regulatory Response Needed a partner who could quickly and proactively manage complex, unforeseen regulatory issues, such as the introduction of GPSR, without lengthy delays or technical frustration.

The Solution

The BooksoniX solution provided Saqi with a centralised, single source of truth for their title and metadata management, beginning with a dedicated process to clean and compliance-check their existing data for ONIX 3.0 and 2.1. This foundational work and the quality of the subsequent unparalleled customer support were the core drivers of success.

Key Solution Highlights:

  • Data Quality: When critical missing data was identified, BooksoniX swiftly imported the necessary external information and populated the correct title entries within a single day, eliminating the risk of Nielsen feed rejection.
  • Customer Support: The team is cited as “pro-active and helpful” and “exceptionally good at demystifying things which seem opaque.” The support is “swift to acknowledge a request, then equally quick (and patient) in dealing with the issue.”
  • Core Feature Use: The platform provided rapid compliance fixes, such as swiftly announcing and implementing the necessary display requirements for the GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation) across all titles, ensuring continuous adherence without publisher effort.
  • Automation: By automating numerous previously manual processes, BooksoniX enabled Saqi’s staff to reclaim time to focus on their primary roles.

Key Metrics

Data Quality

Before BooksoniX

Critical data quality issues, required manual fixing, high stress.

After BooksoniX

Data continually validated by BooksoniX with continuous improvement in standards

Improvement

Better quality metadata leading to greater market visibility and higher sales

Regulatory Compliance

Before BooksoniX

Struggling to adapt to new regulation (GPSR) with the risk of non-compliance and delay.

After BooksoniX

Swiftly fixed and implemented using BooksoniX.

Improvement

Minimised compliance workload

Team Productivity

Before BooksoniX

Countless hours spent on data fixing per week

After BooksoniX

Dramatically reduced, staff have “time to do our day jobs.”

Improvement

Countless hours saved

Business Value

Before BooksoniX

High operational stress levels, including “panic on publisher side.”

After BooksoniX

Low stress, leading to a feeling of being supported.

Improvement

“BooksoniX deserve an award for therapy”

Saqi Books

Location: London, England

Profile: Leading independent publisher of trade and academic books on the Middle East and North Africa.