Canadian Book Sales Increase 5% While US and UK Report Flat or Negative Growth
TORONTO – December 2, 2008 In the four weeks ending November 23, 2008, book sales in Canada are 4.9% higher in units and 2% higher in dollars in 2008 than they were in 2007.
With Nielsen BookScan UK reporting that UK book sales remain down year-over-year for a fifth consecutive week as of late November and Nielsen and comScore’s prediction of flat or negative growth in U.S. for the holiday season, Canada might be the only English book market still in positive territory.
“There are any number of factors behind this,” says Michael Tamblyn, CEO of BookNet Canada. “The incredible performance of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, a perception of lower prices compared to last year, or just the entertainment and escape that books can bring during times of uncertainty. Books definitely represent a strong value-for-money entertainment purchase and cost-conscious Canadian consumers seem to be embracing that.”
All figures for this report have been drawn from BookNet Canada’s national book sales tracking system, BNC SalesData, using the year-over-year sales from a fixed panel of 665 retail locations. BNC SalesData tracks approximately 75% of the Canadian book market with data from over 1,000 retail sources, including chains, independents, online, college/university stores, and non-traditional bookstores, such as specialty and discount stores.
For more market analysis and information on BookNet Canada and BNC SalesData, please visit BookNet Canada’s website at www.booknetcanada.ca
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About BookNet Canada
BookNet Canada is the not-for-profit agency created by the Canadian book industry and the Department of Canadian Heritage to facilitate improvements in the book industry supply chain. It provides services and develops standards and certification in areas including electronic commerce via EDI (Electronic Document Interchange), bibliographic data, and analysis of point-of-sales and other supply chain data. BookNet acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for its initiatives.
