It can be frustrating to go to a bookstore hoping to pick up your next read, only to discover they’re out of stock.
Which is why I got curious about Barnes and Nobles restocking day. When does Barnes and Noble restock? I looked into it and this is what I found…
When Does Barnes & Noble Restock?
Barnes & Noble is a huge retail online and chain store bookseller. They have over 600 stores across America. Each store has a unique reading community in terms of size, number of customers, and reading needs. Therefore, the process of restocking varies from store to store.
This article takes a look at the restocking process at Barnes & Noble: what it is, how it works, and what Barnes & Noble have to say about it.
How Long Does It Take For Barnes & Noble To Restock Online?
Barnes & Noble sell over 155 million physical books each year both online and through their retail chain. They are adding to and updating their online inventory on a daily basis.
Barnes & Noble also have a distribution facility in Monroe, NJ, from which stock is shipped on a store need basis.
If you work at this warehouse (and B&N are often advertising for Package Handlers), one of your tasks will be to “take responsibility for replenishing and providing supplies to maintain inventory levels”.
These supplies are shipped out to fulfil individual store orders, and no store orders will ever be identical because Barnes & Noble stores are now managed at a local level. In other words there is no central authority stocking stores. This also means that each store will be restocking different books at different times.
This is why you are advised (when you order a book online and want to pick it up instore) to always check that your local store actually has a copy of the book you want. And if it doesn’t, you can usually use a search bar to locate a store that does have a copy.
Do Barnes & Noble List Out Of Stock Items?
Barnes & Noble advise that if a book shows up in their online inventory, then it will be available somewhere: either in their Barnes & Noble distribution center or in one of their wholesaler warehouses in the Barnes & Noble’s supply chain.
If a book (or any other item) is literally “out of stock”, then it will not show up on their website at all.
This means though, that even though an item you want is listed on BN.com, it may not be available at a street store level in every store. This is because supplies run out, orders can be made late, and shipments are often delayed.
Barnes & Noble often advertise books that have been “announced” but not yet published (as do most online booksellers). In this case, B&N advise that “titles with a future publish date (based on the publish date in B&N’s database) will generally be available for “pre order” on BN.com.”
Pre order means that you can order the book immediately but will not receive it until it has been released and stock made available.
Note too, that some Barnes & Noble items are only available online and so will never be “stocked” or “restocked” in store.
When Does Barnes & Noble Restock Manga?
Every Barnes & Noble store features a Manga section, which is restocked at the need arises. Again, this means that each B&N store will be checking inventory and re-stocking at different rates.
Remember too, that many orders for Manga are made online. This means that each store is catering for both online and instore shoppers – a demand that is not always predictable.
In the past, Barnes & Noble hosted a regular event called Manga Monday, which featured the top five manga to buy and special discounts from different vendors and publishers. This event, however, seems to have been discontinued.
Manga books are still offered for order online – and, as B&N have said, if they are featured, then they are available.
If there are issues (such as shipping or delivery problems) so that items are on backorder, the website will alert you to this when you order. Recent years have seen widespread problems with staffing, shipping, and delivery, which have all impacted on availability of Manga stock.
When Does Barnes & Noble Restock Pokémon?
Pokémon books and supplies are some of the most popular items sold at Barnes & Noble. Each week, B&N stores rely on a third party distributor to bring in more Pokémon supplies and the times and days for this vary from location to location.
Fans of both Pokémon and Barnes & Noble say that supplies are mostly “a bit random” and “depend on demand”; some cards are more popular than others and so become harder to find.
Pokémon stock is also affected by the usual shipping and delivery issues.
Does Barnes & Noble Re-stock Exclusive Editions?
The B&N Exclusive Collection features books, vinyl, hobbies & collectibles, gifts, and more special items, which are available only at Barnes & Noble. These books often include added content, covers, and/or material not seen elsewhere.
Restocking exclusive editions depends on demand. Sometimes the demand for a book (or author) soars abruptly, often because of something featured on social media.
When this occurs, demand will outstrip supply, and the edition will continue to be restocked only until all stock is depleted. After this, decisions around further print runs must be made at a publisher (rather than a warehouse) level.
How Long Will Barnes & Noble Hold An Item?
The question of holding items is included in the Barnes & Noble online Help Centre. Here you’ll find the online purchase and pickup process detailed clearly.
Here, B&N advise that they will hold your order at your selected store for 5 days. However, if you do not pick up your books in this time, your order will be cancelled and the payment method you provided will not be billed.
Want to learn more about Barnes and Noble? Check out our related posts:
- Does Barnes and Noble Take Apple Pay?
- Does Barnes and Noble Price Match?
- Why Is Barnes & Noble So Expensive?
Summary
Barnes & Noble store managers restock books and reading material according to local and online demand.
The availability of books and other items in any store will depend on the efficiency (and availability) of shipping.
This means that restocking instore and updating stock online is, for Barnes & Noble, a dynamic and constant process.