2009 Units Sales 10% Higher in First Month, 9% Higher in First Six Weeks Than 2008
TORONTO – February 26, 2009 Canadian book sales are substantially higher in the first weeks of 2009. Unit sales were up 10% and dollars sold up 6% in January 2009 when compared to sales in the same time period of the 2008.
“Considering the declines in consumer spending in other sectors, and the contraction of book sales in other countries, these numbers are a pleasant surprise,” says Michael Tamblyn, CEO of BookNet Canada. “In tough times, Canadian consumers continue to see books as a source of education, entertainment and escape.”
The market continues to move in the same direction. In the six weeks ending February 15, 2009, volume increased almost 9% while the value increase remained steady at 6%.
Growth was slower in December of 2008, when Canadian unit sales were 5% higher than 2007 while value was relatively flat (+0.5%), but even those numbers were considerably stronger than the United States and United Kingdom during the same period.
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.
