Post-Christmas survey
WBN is currently completing its annual post-Christmas survey, ringing booksellers around the nation to see how the industry fared in the Christmas sale season. We will publish the results in...
WBN pre-Christmas survey shows booksellers expecting an ‘okay’ Christmas
‘Given the economic climate ...' For better or worse, this was the phrase of the survey this year. Whether it was delivered as a precursor to surprisingly good results or...
WBN pre-Christmas survey shows booksellers expect an ‘okay’ Christmas
‘Given the economic climate ...' For better or worse, this was the phrase of the survey this year. Whether it was delivered as a precursor to surprisingly good results or...
Is the book recession-proof?
While not all booksellers were doing as well as Serdiuk or Tilsley, many are confident that books will remain a sound gift choice this Christmas. ‘Some of our customers are...
The stats: equal value and volume growth
For all the doom and gloom, Nielsen BookScan's chart (below) shows that in the eight weeks to 29 November the value of books sold grew 0.9%, as compared to the...
The books
The bookseller response to publishers' lists this year has been slightly less positive than in previous years, with 61% saying they thought the books on offer were ‘strong'--down from 67%...
Non-book items
For most booksellers, non-book items such as DVDs were selling well, with standards such as cards, wrapping, bookmarks, diaries and calendars also tracking as usual. DVDs, games and other merchandise...
Catalogues, stock and staff
While the catalogue is clearly a staple for Christmas, with 81% of those surveyed reporting they were involved in one, either their own or a group/chain catalogue, only 53% reported...
Supply and availability: ‘not as bad as last year’
On the supply and availability of titles, while many booksellers said supply was a little slower than they'd hope, most reported that on the whole things were running very smoothly....
Meanwhile, in New Zealand
Across the pond in New Zealand availability and supply emerged as a key issue for booksellers WBN surveyed. WBN spoke to a representative sample of chain stores and independents in...
Online selling comes home?
In Australia, online bookselling emerged as a true success story for several booksellers. Richard Parslow of Seekbooks.com.au and Tony Nash of Booktopia.com.au both reported online sales had more than doubled...
Publishers’ perspectives
Booksellers aren't the only ones worried about the talk of gloom and doom. Murdoch Books CEO Juliet Rogers told WBN that her company was doing better than expected. ‘Given the...
Parallel importation
Finally, while we had the ear of so many booksellers and publishers from around the nation, we thought we'd take the opportunity to ask everyone (anonymously of course!), which of...
Post-Christmas
This year 49% of booksellers reported they would be holding a public sale after Christmas and 49% said they would be sticking to regular trading post-Christmas and not holding a...