UK bookshop sales down 3.5% YTD

In the UK, analysis from the Bookseller has found bookshop sales are down 3.5% by volume for the first 21 weeks of the year compared to the same period last year, while sales by value were up 1.8%, reflecting a rise in RRPs.

By volume, fiction is down 1.3%, trade nonfiction is down 4.5% and children’s is down 3.8%. The Bookseller spoke to several independent bookshops who were worried about the quiet start to the year, including Aude Bolechala, manager at Nomad Books in London, who noted there seemed to have been a shift in consumer spending habits post-pandemic that goes beyond cost-of-living concerns.

‘The huge support, and relief, customers felt that we had survived Covid-19 has somewhat been relegated to history and generally people are worried for the future again,’ Bolechala said. ‘It could be that people’s habits have changed with the pandemic, not just a money thing [and] the increased prices don’t necessarily help make up for what we lost.’

Waterstones chief operating officer Kate Skipper told the Bookseller sales for the first half of the year ‘remained robust’, led by bestselling titles including Spare (Prince Harry, Bantam), Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday) and Bored of Lunch (Nathan Anthony, Ebury Press).

‘Last year had higher paperback sales, driven notably by the phenomenal success of Alice Oseman’s books, which reached new heights in April 2022 with the launch of Heartstopper on Netflix,’ said Skipper. ‘This year is more balanced across genres and formats … While the news headlines may highlight consumer caution, we continue to see customers engaged with reading and supporting their local bookshops.’

Category: International news