Who's shopping at independent bookstores

.@BookNet_Canada shares insights into the buying behaviour of Canadian indie book buyers.
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What’s summer without a summer romance? Or at the very least, a fling with a summer Romance title? This past weekend, independent bookstores celebrated Bookstore Romance Day — a day dedicated to Romance books and their readers.

Today we’re here to offer you some new data about book buyers who have shopped at Canadian independent bookstores so far in 2022 — what books they’re buying, how they’re spending, why they bought at indies, and more.

All the data presented today comes from our annual Canadian Book Consumer survey. This survey is conducted quarterly by BookNet Canada and asks Canadians about their book acquisition behaviour. The data below is a sneak peek at results from our April and July 2022 surveys that reached over 1,000 Canadian book buyers.

And with that, let’s get down to business!

What’s in the bag

Overall, 13% of Canadian book buyers bought books from independent bookstores during the first half of 2022. And of all the books tracked by the Canadian Book Consumer survey, 10% were purchased at indies.

The vast majority of these book purchases were print books — 53% paperback and 37% hardcover, for a grand total of 90%. This isn’t new for indie book buyers, according to past surveys. The graph below shows purchases tracked by the Canadian Book Consumer survey from 2018 to year-to-date 2022. Consistently over the last five years, print books make up anywhere between 85% to 90% of all purchases at indies.

As in past years, indie book buyers are mostly buying Adult trade titles (65%), although a significant portion have purchased Young Adult titles (24%) and Juvenile titles (11%) in 2022 so far. Most of these book buyers are buying for themselves (83%), rather than as a gift for someone else (17%). But if they’re buying a gift for someone, that person is likely either an adult aged 18 or over (44%) or a child aged 8 to 12 (25%).

Subject by subject, these books are slightly more likely to be Fiction titles (55%) and Non-Fiction titles (45%). Which subjects are the most popular for these book buyers?

The three most popular Fiction subjects for indie book buyers in the first half of 2022 were:

• Mystery & Detective — 20% of all Fiction purchases;

• General — 15% of all Fiction purchases; and

• Comics and Graphic Novels — 13% of all Fiction purchases.

Romance makes an appearance in fourth, at 10%.

For Non-Fiction, the three most popular subjects for indie book buyers so far in 2022 were:

• History — 19% of all Non-Fiction purchases;

• Biography or Memoir — 17% of all Non-Fiction purchases; and

• Self-Help — 14% of all Non-Fiction purchases.

What’s on the receipt

How did book buyers spend their money at independent bookstores during the first half of 2022?

While the majority of buyers bought their books at full price (57%), many bought books discounted or on sale (29%), with a coupon (6%), as part of a multi-buy deal (5%), or as part of a subscription (3%).

Regardless of how they paid, indie book buyers overwhelmingly felt that they received excellent or good value for their money. So far in 2022, 49% of these book buyers felt that they received excellent value and 37% good value. The graph below compares the perceived value for book buyers at independent bookstores from 2018 to halfway through 2022. The percentage of book buyers who felt that they received excellent value remains relatively consistent, between 47% to 49%, in this time period.

Altogether, 15% of indie book buyers belong to their indie bookstore’s loyalty program so far in 2022. This being said, indie book buyers are consistently less likely to belong to any book related reward and loyalty programs than the average Canadian book buyer. In 2021, 57% of indie book buyers belonged to a rewards program, compared to all book buyers at 69%.

What’s in store

Altogether, 87% of books purchased at indie bookstores were bought in person during the first half of 2022 and 88% of all indie book buyers visited an independent bookstore in person at least once during that time period.

For indie book buyers, the most popular reasons for visiting independent bookstores in 2022 were to:

• browse books to pass time (18%);

• browse displays and shelves for books to buy (17%);

• browse new releases (15%); and

• browse for book deals or sales (15%).

Browsing is an essential way that book buyers became aware of the books they purchased in indie bookstores and was the third most popular way indie book buyers became aware of their books (18%) so far in 2022. These book buyers also became aware of the books they bought through having read other books by the author or illustrator (21%), or from recommendations or reviews (19%).

Inside the bookstore, most indie book buyers found the book they purchased displayed on a main shelf (47%), in the front window (15%), or on a display or promotional table (11%).

Altogether 34% of indie book buyers had planned ahead to buy a particular book at the specific time of their purchase during the first half of 2022. For the rest of these book buyers:

• 25% had planned to buy a book at that specific time, but had not planned to buy a particular book;

• 22% had planned to buy a particular book, but not necessarily at that specific time; and

• 17% had neither planned to buy a particular book nor had they planned to buy at that specific time.

The graph below compares the purchase impulses of indie book buyers from 2018 to 2022 year-to-date. Looking at the graph below, independent bookstore patrons, so far in 2022, are slightly more spontaneous than in 2021 and 2020.

Year over year, indie book buyers choose to shop at independent bookstores for the same reasons. So far in 2022, the top five reasons are:

• a good selection of books (29%);

• books that are in stock or available immediately (26%);

• happened to see the book there (26%);

• convenient place to shop (24%); and

• to support their local bookstore (23%).

Love data about Canadian book consumers? Stay tuned for more from the Canadian Book Consumer survey on our blog and if you haven’t already, download the 2021 edition of the Canadian Book Consumer Study now as either an accessible PDF or EPUB.

Or if you’re curious about independent bookstores, check out our study The State of Independent Bookselling in Canada 2020 for everything you’ve ever wanted to know about indies, from operating expenses to navigating COVID-19.