The books Canadians buy for the holidays

Which subjects and categories perform the best during the holiday shopping season? @BookNet_Canada looked at the data to find out.
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The holiday shopping season is here! And so are our most heartfelt holiday traditions — chestnuts roasted on an open fire, eggnog sipped at (socially distanced) holiday gatherings, and fondly remembered anecdata about which books sell the best during the holidays.

Do some subjects really have more demand during the holiday season than others?

We’ve analyzed unreleased data from our Canadian Book Consumer Study 2020 and data from the last five holiday seasons tracked by SalesData, BookNet’s national sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language trade book market, to find out.

Gifting books

Maybe we’re biased, but books make a great gift. In collecting data for our Canadian Book Consumer Study 2020, we found that 16% of all books purchased by Canadians were gifts.

For this study, we surveyed Canadian book buyers about their book purchases made in March, June, September, and December 2020. Shown in the graph below, the number of books purchased as gifts increased over the year and especially during the holiday shopping season. In December, the number of books purchased as gifts increased 74% over September. In fact, 40% of all gift purchases we tracked in our survey were made in December.

Number of books purchased as gifts by Canadian book buyers in March, June, September, and December 2020

What are these book buyers buying? Of all the books purchased as gifts during these four months in 2020:

• 45% were Adult titles;

• 36% were Juvenile titles; and

• 19% were Young Adult titles.

If we break down the Adult category further into Fiction and Non-Fiction, 52% of Adult gift books were Non-Fiction titles and 48% were Fiction titles.

Looking at this differently and considering the total purchases in each category, we found that:

• 57% of all Juvenile purchases were gifts;

• 18% of all Young Adult purchases were gifts; and

• 10% of all Adult purchases were gifts.

Within the Adult category, gifts accounted for 12% of all Non-Fiction and 9% of all Fiction purchases.

The holiday market

There’s no doubt that the holiday shopping season gives a big boost to the book industry — a 50% average increase in sales. The graph below shows an average category-by-category breakdown of book sales from 2016 to 2020.

Average sales by category from 2016 to 2020

Looking at the holiday season, or the fourth quarter, we can see that some categories tend to be purchased more than others by holiday shoppers. Sales of Non-Fiction titles increased an average of 68% and Juvenile titles increased an average of 63% each holiday season from 2016 to 2020. Fiction and Young Adult had smaller average increases in sales, at 15% and 26% respectively.

But sales don’t tell us the entire holiday shopping story. Many book subjects are popular year-round and most see increases in sales over the holidays. Another way to determine a subject’s performance is its marketshare — the percentage of market that the category occupies. By looking at the percentage increase or decrease in marketshare over the holiday season, we can tell which categories really are in increased demand by holiday shoppers, instead of ones that are always popular.

The graph below show the average marketshare quarter-by-quarter for Fiction, Non-Fiction, Young Adult, and Juvenile categories from 2016 to 2020.

Average marketshare by category from 2016 to 2020

Focusing in on the fourth quarter, the marketshare of Non-Fiction and Juvenile subjects saw average increases of 12% and 8% from 2016 to 2020. By contrast, the Fiction marketshare decreased an average of 23% and the Young Adult marketshare was down 16% on average over the same holiday shopping periods.

The perfect holiday gift

Which specific book subjects are Canadians buying during the holiday season?

For Non-Fiction readers

Without a doubt, Non-Fiction titles are one of the most popular choices for Canadian holiday shoppers, with a 12% average increase in marketshare during the holiday shopping season.

And with nearly 50 major Non-Fiction BISAC subject categories, there are plenty to choose from. Over the last five years, these are the best performing Non-Fiction subjects during the holiday season:

1. Non-Fiction / Sports & Recreation – 153% average increase in marketshare

2. Non-Fiction / Performing Arts – 145% average increase in marketshare

3. Non-Fiction / Humor – 133% average increase in marketshare

4. Non-Fiction / Photography – 103% average increase in marketshare

5. Non-Fiction / Cooking – 87% average increase in marketshare

For Fiction readers

A less popular choice for Canadian holiday shoppers are Fiction titles, with an average decrease in marketshare of 23% over the holiday season.

Out of over 70 major headings in BISAC, these are the best performing Fiction subjects over the 2016 to 2020 holiday seasons:

1. Fiction / Holidays – 1,370% average increase in marketshare

2. Fiction / Multiple Timelines – 481% average increase in marketshare

3. Fiction / Visionary & Metaphysical – 358% average increase in marketshare

4. Fiction / Anthologies – 119% average increase in marketshare

5. Fiction / Epistolary – 90% average increase in marketshare

For Young Adult readers

Young Adult titles are another less popular gift choice among Canadian holiday shoppers, with an average 16% decrease in marketshare over the holidays.

Breaking that down further, the average marketshare for Young Adult Fiction decreased 17% during the 2016 to 2020 holiday seasons. But not every Young Adult Fiction subject category decreased over the fourth quarter. From over 70 Young Adult Fiction BISAC subjects, these are the best performing over this time period:

1. Young Adult Fiction / Holidays & Celebrations – 1,178% average increase in marketshare

2. Young Adult Fiction / Werewolves & Shifters – 1,092% average increase in marketshare

3. Young Adult Fiction / Zombies – 652% average increase in marketshare

4. Young Adult Fiction / Science & Nature – 106% average increase in marketshare

5. Young Adult Fiction / Art – 75% average increase in marketshare

The more popular gift for young adult readers is Young Adult Non-Fiction. Young Adult Non-Fiction had an 8% average increase in marketshare over the last five holiday seasons. Out of 60 Young Adult Non-Fiction subject categories in BISAC, these are the best performing:

1. Young Adult Nonfiction / Boys & Men – 630% average increase in marketshare

2. Young Adult Nonfiction / Humor – 545% average increase in marketshare

3. Young Adult Nonfiction / Music – 542% average increase in marketshare

4. Young Adult Nonfiction / Cooking & Food – 467% average increase in marketshare

5. Young Adult Nonfiction / Computers – 302% average increase in marketshare

For Juvenile readers

Another popular gift choice for Canadian holiday shoppers are Juvenile titles, with an 8% average increase in marketshare over the 2016 to 2020 holiday seasons.

Looking more closely, Juvenile Fiction titles boasted an average marketshare increase of 11%. Canadian holiday shoppers have plenty of options with over 70 major Juvenile Fiction categories in BISAC. From 2016 to 2020, these are the best performing Juvenile Fiction subjects over the holidays:

1. Juvenile Fiction / Holidays & Celebrations – 341% average increase in marketshare

2. Juvenile Fiction / Sports & Recreation – 73% average increase in marketshare

3. Juvenile Fiction / Recycling & Green Living – 66% average increase in marketshare

4. Juvenile Fiction / Religious – 58% average increase in marketshare

5. Juvenile Fiction / Boys & Men – 54% average increase in marketshare

Like Young Adult titles, not every Juvenile subject is popular during the holidays — the marketshare of Juvenile Non-Fiction titles only increased 1% on average over the last five holiday seasons. Of Juvenile Non-Fiction’s nearly 70 subject categories in BISAC, these are the best performing subjects among holiday shoppers:

1. Juvenile Nonfiction / Holidays & Celebrations – 570% average increase in marketshare

2. Juvenile Nonfiction / Inspirational & Personal Growth – 234% average increase in marketshare

3. Juvenile Nonfiction / Sports & Recreation – 183% average increase in marketshare

4. Juvenile Nonfiction / Cooking & Food – 163% average increase in marketshare

5. Juvenile Nonfiction / Media Tie-In – 145% average increase in marketshare

Giving the gift of reading

Looking at each of the most popular subject categories, it’s fair to say that Canadian holiday shoppers can’t go wrong with books about Holidays, Cooking, or Sports & Recreation.

Despite looming supply chain delays and the woes of another pandemic holiday season, may your holiday season be merry and bright — and let the holiday shopping begin!