Canada’s Indigo Books sales up 17.4% in 2022

Canada’s largest bookshop chain Indigo Books & Music increased its sales by 17.4.% for the year ending 2 April, reports Publishers Weekly.

The chain reported total sales of C$1.06 billion (A$1.2b), while also posting an operating profit of C$29 million (A$32.1m), following a loss of C$31.9 million (A$35.3m) in the previous fiscal year.

The results were driven by strong sales at Indigo’s bricks-and-mortar shops: sales at Indigo’s ‘superstores’ were up 35%, while its small store sales gained 29%. Online sales fell 13% to C$321.5 million (A$356m); however, this is still 98% higher than fiscal 2020, which ended just as the Covid pandemic was taking off.

Indigo attributed its strong results to its omnichannel approach. Over the course of the pandemic, consumers increasingly began the discovery process on its digital platforms before buying the book or other item at one of its stores.

Book sales were up by 8%, which the bookselling chain attributed to TikTok, while sales of Indigo’s lifestyle and baby product categories grew 30%.

Category: International news