Industry Statistics

Bookstore sales in March turned sharply downward continuing the decline that began in February. March sales of $929 million were 17 percent lower than the $1,126 million realized in March of last year.

Overall retail sales of $306 billion for March 2003 were 3.4 percent ahead of the $296 billion for the previous year.

March is the 14th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

While the story of last year's adult trade sales does not have a particularly happy ending for the nation's bookstores, the news was not uniformly bad for independents, according to Ipsos BookTrends. In the April/May issue of the Ipsos Ideas' newsletter, Ipsos' Barrie Rappaport wrote that "the U.S. Book market is flat. Annual growth for general trade print books has been barely keeping pace with population growth rates." While growth was somewhat better between 1992 - 1996, she noted that "[it] has trailed off over the past five years."

Bookstore sales turned downward in February after a brief upturn in January. February retail sales for bookstores of $1,069 million were 4.3 percent lower than the $1,117 million generated in February 2002.

Overall retail sales of $271 billion for January 2003 were 3.0 percent ahead of the $263 billion for the previous year. February is the 13th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

Independent bookstores participating in the Book Sense marketing program reported that total 2002 book sales were slightly ahead of the results for 2001, reflecting the mixed experiences of the entire book industry during 2002.

January 2003 retail sales for bookstores showed signs of life after three months of decline. January bookstore sales of $2,253 million improved 3.0 percent over the $2,188 million of January 2002.

Overall retail sales of $280 billion for January 2003 was 5.7 percent better than the $265 billion of the previous year.

January is the 12th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail sales.

Bookstore retail sales for November 2002 continued the downward slide begun in October. November sales of $1,173 million lagged 4.8 percent behind the $1,233 million for November of the previous year.

While not robust, overall retail sales managed to eke out a slight gain. Overall retail sales for November were $303 billion, or 1.7 percent better than the $298 billion of the previous year.

November is the 10th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep up with overall retail.

Bookstore sales softened in October, coming in at $1,107 million, or 2.9 percent lower than for October of the previous year.

While bookstore sales suffered this modest decline, overall retail sales also dipped. Overall retail of $300 billion for October 2002 was 0.7 percent lower than the $302 billion realized in October of 2001.

October is the ninth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep up with overall retail.

Bookstore sales in September rebounded from the modest decline in August. September sales were 3.2 percent better than September of 2001.

While the improvement in bookstore sales in September was encouraging, the results once again failed to keep pace with overall retail. Overall retail sales of $285 billion for September 2002 were 5.2 percent better than the $271 billion realized in September of 2001.

September is the eighth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep up with overall retail.

Books and Gift Certificates Are Noted as Favorite Gift Items

Perhaps the most closely watched yearly retail prognostications are the annual fall estimates for holiday retail sales. This year, analysts are factoring in not only a soft economy but also consumer concern over personal debt levels and anxiety regarding job security.

In September, ABA began work to reintroduce the ABACUS industry study, a proven financial research tool for independent booksellers that offers a wide range of bookselling-specific financial breakdowns and analyses. By integrating the ABACUS data into their business planning, independent booksellers can compare their store's financial performance against detailed industry composites.

August bookstore sales failed to equal last year's unusually strong performance. August 2002 sales were down 4.4 percent from August 2001.

Bookstore sales for the period failed to keep up with overall retail sales. Overall retail sales of $321 billion for August 2002 were 5.2 percent higher than the $305 billion realized in August of 2001.

August is the seventh month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

July bookstore sales managed to scratch out a slight increase over July 2001, coming back into positive territory after June’s slight decrease. July 2002 sales were 1.4 percent ahead of the previous July.

Overall retail sales of $308 billion for July 2002 came in 6.6 percent over the $289 billion realized in July of 2001.

July is the sixth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

ABA has begun work to reintroduce the ABACUS industry study with the launch of a new, streamlined Web interface for reporting financial data. A popular ABA product in past years, ABACUS has proven to be a vital research tool for booksellers of every size, offering extensive industry-specific financial breakdowns and analyses that enable independent booksellers to compare their own store's performance and financial health to detailed industry composites.

A majority of independent bookstores have shown sales increases during the first six months of 2002, as compared to the same period in 2001. The finding, the result of a recent ABA survey, continues a three-year trend, which has seen a majority of independent bookstores realizing increases over a comparable prior sales period.

Bookstore sales for June showed no improvement over last year, and actually slipped a fraction of a percentage point by comparison with June 2001. Preliminary June bookstore sales figures of $1,200 million were down 0.1 percent from the $1,201 million of the previous June.

June is the fifth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

Overall retail sales of $302 billion for June 2002 came in 1.3 percent over the $298 billion realized in June of 2001.