Industry Statistics

'Tis the season to be jolly -- especially if you are a retailer. That, at least, seems to be the conclusion of a new National Retail Federation (NRF) survey. The NRF 2003 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, found that the average consumer plans to spend $671.89 this holiday season, up 3.6 percent from 2002 when consumers spent an average of $648.85.

Recently released Census Bureau estimates for August 2003 show a 15.5 percent increase in retail sales at bookstores over August 2002. August was the third month in a row that bookstore sales showed improvement over the previous year.

August 2003 retail sales for bookstores are estimated at $2,108 million, compared to the $1,825 million figure of a year ago.

Overall retail sales of $332 billion for August 2003 were 4.1 percent ahead of the $319 billion in August of the previous year.

The results of ABA's semi-annual revenue survey of stores with Book Sense indicate that 59 percent of reporting stores experienced an increase in sales for the first half of 2003, compared to the same period in 2002. Thirty-six percent reported a decline in sales, and 6 percent reported no change in sales from the previous year.

A third of responding stores reported sales increases of 6 percent or more, and 21 percent reported increases of more than 10 percent.

This is the final in a series of four articles looking at the results of the recently released 2002 Consumer Research Study on Book Purchasing, conducted by Ipsos BookTrends and published by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). This week's focus is the used book market.

In April 2002, Ipsos began to track more consumer data on the purchases of used books. Though the study notes that this is data is insufficient to establish any specific trends, it does provide some insight into what may be future consumer patterns.

This is the third in a series of four articles looking at the results of the recently released 2002 Consumer Research Study on Book Purchasing, conducted by Ipsos BookTrends and published by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). This week's focus is the teen (14 to 17 years old) book market.

Last week's BTW article on July retail sales for bookstores was based on outdated information. The Bureau of the Census periodically updates retail sales data, and its most recent revision of 2002 retail sales figures occurred on September 12, 2003. As a result, BTW is issuing this updated report on July bookstore sales.

July sales of $1,130 million were 6.7 percent ahead of last July's $1,059 million.

Overall retail sales of $325 billion for July 2003 were 6.2 percent ahead of the $306 billion in July of the previous year.

The deadline for responses to ABA's semi-annual sales revenue survey has been extended to Monday, September 29. Bookstores participating in the Book Sense marketing program were sent the survey in an e-mail on Wednesday, September 10.

Responses to the survey provide the association with a picture of how its members are performing and enables ABA to answer questions from the press and other interested parties about the performance of independent bookstores as a group. All individual store responses are kept confidential.

This is the second of four articles looking at the results of the recently released 2002 Consumer Research Study on Book Purchasing, conducted by Ipsos BookTrends and published by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). This week's focus is the children's book market (13 years old and under).

On Wednesday, September 10, bookstores participating in the Book Sense marketing program were sent an e-mail requesting a response to ABA's semi-annual sales revenue survey. ABA is encouraging all stores to respond to the survey, whose results provide the association with a picture of how its members are performing and enables ABA to answer questions from the press and other interested parties about the performance of independent bookstores.

All responses are kept confidential.

A response to the survey is requested by September 24.

This is the first of four articles looking at the results of the recently released 2002 Consumer Research Study on Book Purchasing, conducted by Ipsos BookTrends and published by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). This week's focus is the adult book market.

More and more gift buyers are avoiding the decision-making process of book purchasing for the more convenient purchase of a bookstore gift card/certificate, according to recent research conducted by Ipsos BookTrends. If the gift certificate/card growth rate continues through 2005, and total consumer dollars continue to be relatively flat, "it is a good assumption that gift certificates/cards could account for 5 percent of consumer dollars or around $700 million," noted Michael Hoynes, ABA marketing officer.

In a month featuring the release of two new blockbusters, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History, and the first pick of Oprah's revived book club -- East of Eden, bookstore sales came in slightly ahead of last year's figure. June is the first month this year to show a gain over 2002.

Retail sales in bookstores in June of $1,178 million were 1.9 percent better than last June’s $1,156 million.

Online retail book sales will nearly double over the next five years, according to "U.S. eCommerce Overview: 2003 to 2008," a report recently released by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research. Overall, the study predicted, e-commerce will experience a 19 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years, from $95.7 billion to just under $230 billion and will account for 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales by 2008.

This month, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW) released a new study, "America's Most Literate Cities," which provides a literacy ranking of America's 64 largest cities. Topping the list was Minneapolis, with Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, and San Francisco rounding out the top five.

Bookstore sales in April were soft, though the decline was not as sharp as it had been in the previous two months. April sales of $984 million were 5.7 percent lower than the $1,043 million realized in April of last year.

Overall retail sales of $308 billion for April 2003 were 3.7 percent ahead of the $297 billion for the previous year.

April is the 15th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.