Cokesbury Upgrade

Cokesbury has been sending out e-mails to let customers know about recent upgrades to its website. I checked out the upgraded site today, and I've got to say I'm impressed.

It's admittedly always going to be difficult to compete with an online retailing behemoth like Amazon, but Cokesbury wasn't doing itself a lot of favors with its old site. It was clunky and difficult to navigate. There were times I went to Cokesbury.com to look for a book that I knew had been published by one of the imprints of the United Methodist Publishing House and I still couldn't locate it.

I was in Nashville late last summer to take part in a focus group at the offices of the Publishing House. One of the things that editors and executives told us that day was that upgrading the Cokesbury website was high on their list of things they wanted to do. As you can see from navigating the improved website, they've really followed through on that.

"Cokesbury is more than just 
a Christian book retailer;
it's a ministry of the Church.
And that's important!"

My wife and I try to patronize locally-owned businesses here in Durham that are well-run and grounded in the local community, even when there is a "big box" store that might have slightly lower prices. I'm going to follow that logic when I buy books online from here on out, as a way to recognize the strides Cokesbury is making. Cokesbury is more than a Christian book retailer; it's a ministry of the United Methodist Church. And that's important!