Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Key Note Publications Ltd
Published: April 2008
Product Code: R310-1564Description The UK book market is one of the largest in Europe, with strong book sales. Although it is unclear whether these sales are growing faster in the UK than elsewhere in Europe, UK sales figures for 2007 suggest that this might be the case. Key Note estimates that, in 2007, the total UK retail book market (including online sales) was worth £4.4bn, a rise of 4.5% on 2006. In 2007, consumer books accounted for more than two-thirds of the total market
by value.
Despite the good performance of the market, every high-street bookseller comments that the market has been difficult. By this, they mean that competition to sell the highest number of bestsellers is tough, as
high-street bookshops are being undercut on price by supermarkets and online booksellers. Publishers appear to be offering supermarkets and online booksellers the highest discounts on their highest-profile books, allowing lower prices to be offered in these outlets.
In 2007, the successful retailer Borders (UK) Ltd was sold by its US parent because it had made a loss for 2 years running. Both Waterstone's and WH Smith have also struggled in the market, although both companies reported very healthy Christmas sales. Meanwhile, independent booksellers are remaining in the market and the number of these outlets actually appears to be increasing. The independents are adopting a strategy of limited price cuts, plus an enhanced service, and they are also making greater efforts to reach out into their local communities. Even so, some independents did
close in 2007.
The industry's major booksellers include WH Smith, Waterstone's, Amazon.co.uk, Borders, Book Club Associates and Blackwell. Although Amazon.co.uk is forging ahead and increasing its impact on the bookselling market, there are thousands of other online booksellers, some of which began life as high-street booksellers before transferring wholly to Internet sales. Another large bookseller, The Works, went into administration at the beginning of 2008.
Two other developments, which are of fundamental and long-term importance to the industry, are the inexorable growth in online bookselling and the importance of the digitisation of books. Digital books, digital downloads and the printing on demand of out-of-print titles by booksellers is becoming a possibility. The digitisation of books is presenting a major challenge to the bookshops: The Booksellers Association (BA) believes that booksellers and publishers need to work together to devise a strategy to exploit this new technology. The BA argues that both parts of the book trade will suffer unless they collaborate more closely, and many experts and observers of the book trade agree with this conclusion.
Key Note forecasts that the value of retail book sales in the UK will rise by 13.6% between 2008 and 2012. Although more books will be sold, profitability is expected to remain slim.
Table of Contents - Executive Summary
- 1. Market Definition
- INTRODUCTION
- MARKET SECTORS
- Consumer Books
- Academic and Professional Books
- School Books
- MARKET TRENDS
- ECONOMIC TRENDS
- Population
- Table 1: UK Resident Population Estimates by Sex (000), Mid-Years 2003-2007
- Gross Domestic Product
- Table 2: UK Gross Domestic Product at Current and Annual Chain-Linked Prices (£m), 2003-2007
- Inflation
- Table 3: UK Rate of Inflation (%), 2003-2007
- Unemployment
- Table 4: Actual Number of Unemployed Persons in the UK (million), 2003-2007
- MARKET POSITION
- The UK
- Table 5: The UK Publishing Market by Sector by Value (£m and %), 2007
- Figure 1: The UK Publishing Market by Sector by Value (%), 2007
- 2. Market Size
- THE TOTAL MARKET
- Table 6: The Retail Value of UK Book Sales by Sector (£m), 2003-2007
- Figure 2: The Retail Value of UK Book Sales by Sector (£m), 2003-2007
- Figure 3: The Retail Value of UK Book Sales by Sector (%), 2007
- Book Output
- Table 7: The Number of New and Revised Book Titles Published in the UK, 2000-2007
- Figure 4: The Number of New and Revised Book Titles Published in the UK, 2000-2007
- BY MARKET SECTOR
- Consumer Books
- Table 8: The Retail Value of UK Consumer Book Sales (£m), 2003-2007
- Academic and Professional Books
- Table 9: The Retail Value of UK Academic and Professional Book Sales (£m), 2003-2007
- School Books
- Table 10: The Retail Value of UK School Book Sales (£m), 2003-2007
- 3. Industry Background
- RECENT HISTORY
- Historical Background
- The Net Book Agreement
- Book Clubs
- NUMBER OF COMPANIES
- Table 11: Number of UK VAT-Based Enterprises Engaged in the Retail Sale of Books, Newspapers and Stationery by Turnover Sizeband (number and %), 2005-2007
- EMPLOYMENT
- Table 12: Number of UK VAT-Based Enterprises Engaged in the Retail Sale of Books, Newspapers and Stationery by Employment Sizeband (number and %), 2005-2007
- DISTRIBUTION
- REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN THE MARKETPLACE
- HOW ROBUST IS THE MARKET?
- KEY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
- Book Marketing Ltd
- The Booksellers Association
- Nielsen BookData
- The Publishers Association
- 4. Competitor Analysis
- THE MARKETPLACE
- Consumer Books
- Academic and Professional Books
- School Books and Library Books
- MARKET LEADERS
- Table 13: Financial Results of Leading Booksellers (£m and 000), Latest Financial Year
- WH Smith PLC
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- Borders (UK) Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- Amazon.co.uk
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- Book Club Associates Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- The Works Retail Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- Blackwell UK Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- The Book People Ltd
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- British Bookshops and Stationers PLC
- Company Structure
- Current and Future Developments
- Financial Results
- MARKETING aCTIVITY
- Table 14: Main Media Advertising Expenditure by Bookshops (£000), Years Ending December 2006 and 2007
- 5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
- STRENGTHS
- WEAKNESSES
- OPPORTUNITIES
- THREATS
- 6. Buying Behaviour
- PURCHASING OF BOOKS
- Overview
- Books Purchased
- Table 15: Purchasing of Books in the Last 12 Months by Type and Number Bought (% of adults), 2003-2007
- By Sex, Age, Social Grade and Region
- Table 16: Purchasing of Hardback and Paperback Books in the Last 12 Months by Sex, Age, Social Grade and Region (% of adults), 2005-2007
- Table 17: Profile of Purchasers of Hardback and Paperback Books in the Last 12 Months by Sex, Age, Social Grade and Region (% of adults), 2005-2007
- AUDIO BOOKS
- Table 18: Purchasing of Audio Books in the Last 12 Months by Sex, Age, Social Grade and Region (% of adults), 2005-2007
- VISITING BOOKSHOPS
- Table 19: Those Who Have Visited a Bookshop in the Last 3 Months by Sex, Age, Social Grade and Region (% of adults), 2005-2007
- 7. Current Issues
- MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE MARKET
- IS THE INDEPENDENT SECTOR STABILISING?
- DEALING WITH RETURNS
- DIRECT SELLING
- CORPORATE NEWS
- 8. The Global Market
- OVERVIEW
- 9. Forecasts
- ECONOMIC FORECAST
- Table 20: Economic Forecasts (000, % and million), 2008-2012
- FORECASTS 2008 TO 2012
- Table 21: The Forecast Retail Value of UK Book Sales (£m), 2008-2012
- MARKET GROWTH
Figure 5: Growth in the Retail Value of UK Book Sales (£m), 2003-2012
- FUTURE TRENDS
- The March of Digital
- On-Demand Printing
- 10. Company Profiles
- Blackwell Uk Ltd
- The Book People Ltd
- Borders (uk) Ltd
- British Bookshops And Stationers PLC
- Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd
- WH Smith PLC
- 11. Further Sources
- Associations
- Publications
- General Sources
- Government Publications
- Other Sources
- Bisnode Sources
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