German-language market reports enduring digital sales growth post-lockdown

Ebook sales have seen continuous growth before, during and after the Covid-19 lockdown period, according to a Bookwire Insights Report on ebook and audiobook sales in the German-language book market.

The report found that general fiction and thriller ebooks performed the strongest since lockdown began in mid-March, while juvenile, YA and nonfiction also showed ‘outstanding’ performance, which was attributed to dedicated marketing and price campaigns.

In audiobooks, consumption in flat subscription models grew since the beginning of lockdown, up 28% from pre-lockdown to the lockdown period and continuing at 23% throughout. Meanwhile, individual download sales fell over the course of the lockdown after an initial spike. Audiobooks in fiction, thriller, juvenile and YA categories again stood out as the best performing genres.

‘Unsurprisingly, when bookstores had to close in mid March, digital sales and ongoing consumption (e.g. consumption in flat subscription models) of ebooks and audiobooks saw a significant upswing, which at least partly cooled off once physical retail resumed largely normal operations six weeks later, in late April,’ the report reads.

‘By looking systematically into the data, it quickly became clear that digital consumer books have huge and often untapped potential between the popular digital genres like romance, thrillers or general fiction. But each format, and genre, have each highly specific sweet spots and preferred consumption models—which can be pushed successfully by respective targeted marketing campaigns.’

Category: International news