St. Anne Catholic School doubled their sales by cleverly blending their digital and in-person book fair experience.
In St. Anne’s first campus book fair since the pandemic, the excitement was palpable. Even during the big week, it was clear the fair would be a success—but no one anticipated just how massive that win would end up being for their community.
Projected to make $9,136 in sales, St. Anne instead closed at $20,212—doubling the projected sales of their Literati Book Fair.
Though the results might sound shocking, this was not lightning in a bottle; after digging into their process, we discovered how St. Anne seamlessly integrated digital tools into their in-person fair experience in a way that fostered active participation from everyone.
In this article, we’ll break down the three biggest takeaways that contributed to their success. Read to the end to see how their online wishlists gave them the biggest sales boost of all!
1. Early Access Means Early Opportunity
Literati opens each school’s online fair four weeks before the in-person event begins, giving communities an entire month to prepare for their fair. During this time, teachers can fill out digital wishlists that are easily searchable in the school’s Literati Store, and shoppers can purchase digital gift cards for their students.
St. Anne made the most of their online fair window, ensuring all of their teachers had completed their wishlists before their community began shopping. They fully embraced the digital experience by promoting their online fair constantly, making it easy for families to prepare for the fair and give back to their teachers ahead of the main event.
Consistent promotion also built anticipation for the in-person fair. By the time it arrived, St. Anne’s students, parents, and teachers were both excited and fully ready for their Literati Book Fair.
2. Events Amplify Events
We’ve long known that planning family events during book fair week increases foot traffic, but St. Anne proved just how big of an impact multiple community gatherings can have on a single fair.
First, they scheduled their book fair for one of the busiest weeks of the semester. It coincided with several major community gatherings, including the Diocese Parish Centennial Celebration, Homecoming festivities, and Grandparents Day—with over 600 grandparents expected to attend.
Because of this, St. Anne chose to set up their Literati Book Fair in the largest space they could: their parking garage. This unconventional location also increased visibility for families as they arrived, resulting in consistent foot traffic all throughout the day. And to manage large crowds efficiently, St. Anne decided to run a cashless fair, leaning heavily on the digital gift cards they promoted during their early online fair window.
But besides the heavy foot traffic, the biggest sales contribution of all came from a very unexpected place: online wishlists.
3. Wishlists in the Palm of Your Hand
Of the $20,000 St. Anne made in book fair sales, $8,305 came directly from teacher wishlist donations. That’s 47% of the total amount, all spent on books for classroom libraries!
The emphasis on teacher wishlists began during the online fair period, four weeks before the in-person event. Teachers were reminded to create and share their lists, which were then promoted weekly across multiple digital platforms.
For book fair week, a volunteer team of PTO members created a teacher wishlist display board with a QR code that directed families to the online fair. From that webpage, parents and grandparents could easily find their teacher’s wishlist and donate instantly.
What’s more, those online wishlist purchases had the added benefit of streamlining checkout lines and leaving more books on the shelves for student shoppers.
“We can’t believe how many books they got to teachers. It was amazing.”
Overall, St. Anne saw a 5.8x increase in book impact compared to traditional fundraising models, dramatically expanding the number of books placed directly into classrooms.
And that result made all the difference.
Looking Ahead: Paying It Forward
The success has inspired even bigger plans.
For their next fair, St. Anne plans to “adopt” another school in their community, using their wishlist strategy to contribute books to under-resourced students and faculty.
Their great success was made possible by widespread family participation and eagerness to give back to teachers. And now, their desire to give back has only grown bigger.
At St. Anne, it’s easy to imagine the impact a book fair can have on every reader in the community—especially now that thousands of books line classroom shelves and book nooks, where they’ll be discovered again and again for years to come.
