One month has passed since the end of the coronavirus-related lockdown in Germany. Almost all bookshops (except those in Bavaria and Thuringia, which returned one week later) have been open for business for a good four weeks and are doing their best to reduce the accumulated losses in turnover. Although the race to catch up is underway, the recovery is advancing at a snail’s pace, as shown by the figures for week 20 collected by Media Control exclusively for Börsenblatt.
A glance at turnover across all distribution channels in weeks 1 to 20 provides evidence of modest progress. Although the gap in revenue compared to the same period in 2019 is still at 12.9 percent, the shortfall is shrinking: in weeks 1 to 19, that year-on-year gap stood at 13.6 percent, which means that booksellers were able to catch up by 0.7 percentage points in week 20.
A look at individual product categories: in a comparison of weeks 1 to 19 and weeks 1 to 20, fiction managed to work its way up from minus 12.1 to minus 11.3 percent (an increase of 0.8 percentage points), while children's books and young adult fiction improved from minus 2.6 to minus 1.7 percent (an increase of 0.9 percentage points).
Travel books have not yet managed to get back on their feet, turnover remaining largely unchanged at minus 37 percent after week 20; this is even a fraction below the figure for weeks 1 to 19, which was minus 36.9 percent. Analyses in the coming weeks will show whether the prospect of a summer vacation in Germany and Europe, combined with relaxed travel restrictions, will be able to boost the travel category out of its deep hole.
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Prices continue to rise
It is worth mentioning that the average price paid for a book rose to €13.76, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 percent. Fiction titles climbed from €12.53 to €12.69 (an increase of 1.3 percent), while children's books and young adult fiction cost an average of €10.12 as opposed to €9.79, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 percent.
The number of copies sold also rose: while the difference in sales compared to the previous year was at minus 14.5 percent in weeks 1 to 19, it stood at minus 13.8 percent at the end of week 20. Unit sales in the fiction category, which commanded a 35.7 share of sales, were at minus 12.4 percent in the first 20 weeks as compared to minus 13.2 percent after the first 19 weeks of the year. Children's books and young adult fiction (27.1 percent of unit sales) in weeks 1 to 20 were at minus 4.9 percent compared to 2019, as opposed to minus 5.8 percent in weeks 1 to 19.
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Bricks-and-mortar shops enjoy slightly stronger rally
While bricks-and-mortar bookshops indeed have a larger shortfall, they were able to reduce it from 19.6 percent to 18.8 percent (0.8 percentage points) in weeks 1 to 20 as compared to weeks 1 to 19. This means that turnover in bricks-and-mortar bookshops after 20 weeks is lagging behind sales via all channels combined by 5.9 percentage points.
Turnover in the sale of fiction books at bricks-and-mortar shops worked its way up from a year-on-year deficit of 16.6 percent to a minus of 15.7 percent, with children's books and young adult fiction up one percentage point to 16.3 percent below the previous year's number. Figures in the category of travel literature were similar to those across all sales channels; in other words, rather than seeing a recovery, travel books experienced a further, minimal decline to minus 38.3 percent compared to last year.
In terms of book prices, there was no movement between weeks 1 to 19 and weeks 1 to 20 – with indicators continuing to show a year-on-year difference of plus 2.8 percent. More activity was seen in unit sales, which moved up from minus 21.8 to minus 21.1 percent.
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Week 20 shows clear positive balance
Book buyers appear to be returning, as evidenced by the growth in turnover in week 20, which came in at 3.6 percent above the same week in the previous year. Children's books and young adult fiction made a strong showing, up by almost a fifth. Fiction enjoyed a plus of 5.6 percent, while self-help & DIY books were up seven percent. The overall performance was achieved with the help of a 1.7 percent boost in unit sales and a price increase of 1.9 percent.
With a minus of 1.8 percent, bricks-and-mortar bookshops performed slightly below the benchmark set by week 20 in the previous year. However, fiction saw a rise of 3.3 percent, while children’s books and young adult fiction are up by 6.2 percent. The combination of price increase and number of copies sold is as follows: prices are up (by 3.9 percent), the number of copies is down (by 5.4 percent).
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