Table of Contents
Introduction and Abbreviations
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- Definitions
- ACORN
- Abbreviations
Premier Insight
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- Targeting non-readers and encouraging greater frequency of purchase
- Market threat or opportunity?
- Increase in-store interaction
- Stiff competition from Game Boys, DVDs and television
Executive Summary
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- Target consumer base is showing organic growth
- Campaign to win new readers
- Audiobooks
- Market segmentation
- Acquisitions by Hachette Livre
- Advertising and promotion
- Specialist chains show growth despite threat from supermarkets
- The consumer
- The future
- Confident future growth
Market Drivers
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- Limited growth expected for the early years readers
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- Figure 1: Trends and projections in the structure of the UK population, 2000-04 and 2004-09
- ABs crucial to book sales
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- Figure 2: UK adult population, by socio-economic group, 2000-09
- The changing face of tertiary education
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- Figure 3: Students in further and higher education, 1980/81-2002/03
- Public libraries forced to diversify
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- Figure 4: Public libraries: Stocks, issues and additions, 1992/93-2002/03
- Reading groups: an growing social phenomenon
- One in five consumers have recently purchased books online
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- Figure 5: Top nine products actually purchased online in the last three months, 2002-05
- The impact of technology on audiobooks
- Literary awards increase awareness
- Consumer confidence helps discretionary spend on books
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- Figure 6: PDI and consumer expenditure, at constant 2000 prices, 2000-09
Market Size and Trends
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- Printed books
- Data sources
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- Figure 7: UK consumer expenditure on books, 2000-04
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- Figure 8: UK total sales of books, by value, 2000-05
- Inflation holds back real sales growth
- Discounting boosts volumes but harms margin
- High-profile Big Read has positive impact on sales
- BBC keen to build on mainstream chat show’s success
- Longer-term initiatives
- Self-help books
- Focus on children
- Improving literacy among adults
- Interactive reading events
- Electronic publishing and eBooks
- EBooks
- Print on demand
- Increase online access for academia
- Opportunities for consumer eBooks
- Audiobooks
- Audiobooks enjoy value increase thanks to CDs
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- Figure 9: UK sales of audiobooks, by value, 2000-05
- Market value has been enhanced by the more expensive CDs
- Improved availability and retail displays should speed growth
- Searchable content receives a mixed response (from trade)
- MP3 format steps into a new era
Market Segmentation
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- Figure 10: UK retail value sales of books, by type of title, 2005
- Consumer titles grow market share
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- Figure 11: UK sales of books, by type of title, 2000-05
- Figure 12: UK sales of books, by type of title, 2000-05
- The academic sector under threat
- Constant curriculum changes benefit book sales
- Bestsellers reign in the consumer market
- Movie madness triggers book sales
- Great expectations for Harry Potter in 2005
- Consumer spend outpaces institutional by three to one
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- Figure 13: UK value sales of books, by type of purchaser, 2000-04
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The Supply Structure
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- Figure 14: Estimated UK market shares of major publishing groups, 2000-04
- Pearson and Reed lead the market
- Companies and brands
- Pearson Group
- Penguin online
- Newer developments
- Reed Elsevier
- Random House Group (Bertelsmann)
- Newer developments
- Hachette Livre
- HarperCollins (News Corporation)
- Macmillan (Holtzbrinck)
- Oxford University Press
- Others
- Time Warner
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Others
- Audio publishers
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Advertising and Promotion
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- Promotional spend limited to selected titles
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- Figure 15: Main monitored media advertising expenditure on books and bookselling*, 2000-05
- Traditional channels increase spend with the help of retailers
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- Figure 16: Main monitored media advertising expenditure, by category, 2000-04
- Direct sales rely on promotion to sustain market presence
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- Figure 17: Top advertisers in the total books category, 2002 and 2004
- Waterstone’s uses TV to become top spender
- Below-the-line promotion
- Book clubs’ extensive use of direct mail
- Retailers rely heavily on price promotions
- Window displays also functional
- Retailers use competitions to raise profile
- Limited promotional opportunities for publishers
- Sponsorship
Distribution
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- Figure 18: UK sales of books, by type of outlet, by value, 2000-04
- WH Smith
- Specialist chains
- Waterstone’s
- Ottakar’s
- Borders
- Blackwell’s
- John Smith
- Specialist independents
- The general approach
- The specialist approach
- Other outlets
- BCA
- Other clubs and mail order
- Online retailers
- Supermarkets
- Other retailers
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The Consumer
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- Interest in books starts to wane from an early age…
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- Figure 19: Ever read or buy books – 7-14s, 2000-04
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- Figure 20: Ever read or buy books – 7-14s, by gender and age, 2004
- …as children start to buy their own books
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- Figure 21: Where 7-14s get their books, 2004
- Boys and girls share a sense of adventure
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- Figure 22: Most popular book categories among 11-14s, by gender, 2004
- Homework has an impact on reading in spare time
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- Figure 23: Number of books read in the last 12 months – 7-14s, by socio-economic group, 2004
- Boys most interested in reading for a purpose
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- Figure 24: Reasons why 11-14s read books, by gender, 2004
- Women more enthusiastic readers and bookshop visitors
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- Figure 25: Book reading and buying behaviour*, by gender, 2004
- Level of affluence plays a major role
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- Figure 26: Book reading and buying behaviour*, by socio-economic group, 2004
- Educated consumers benefit book sales
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- Figure 27: Book reading and buying behaviour*, by terminal education age, 2004
- Women show more active involvement
- Hardback enjoys growth, but paperback still reigns
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- Figure 28: Book buying in the last 12 months, 1998-2004
- Majority of non-fiction titles preferred in paperback
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- Figure 29: Types of hardback and paperback books bought by adults in the last 12 months, 2004
- Paperback fiction and hardback non-fiction most popular
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- Figure 30: Types of hardback and paperback books bought by adults in the last 12 months, 2004
- Only one in ten adults do not enjoy reading
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- Figure 31: Attitudes towards reading, January 2005
- Old habits die hard/Reading as a hobby starts young for ABC1s
- Do gender differences still apply?
Detailed Demographics
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- Reading and buying habits among 7-14s
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- Figure 32: Ever read or buy books – 7-10s, by gender, 2004
- Figure 33: Ever read or buy books – 11-14s, by gender, 2004
- Repertoire of books bought and read among 7-14s
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- Figure 34: Number of books read since Christmas – 7-10s, by demographic sub-group, 2004
- Figure 35: Number of books read in the last 12 months – 11-14s, by demographic sub-group, 2004
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- Figure 36: Number of books bought in the last 12 months – 11-14s, by demographic sub-group, 2004
- Reasons for reading books among 11-14s
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- Figure 37: Reasons why 11-14s read books, 2004
- Figure 38: Where 7-14s get books from, 2004
- Reading and book buying behaviour
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- Figure 39: Book reading and buying behaviour*, 2004
- Weight of purchase among adults
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- Figure 40: Hardback book buying in the last 12 months, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, presence of children, marital status, working status, region, household size and terminal education age, 2004
- Figure 41: Paperback book buying in the last 12 months, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, presence of children, marital status, working status, household size, region and terminal education age, 2004
- Adult attitudes towards reading
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- Figure 42: Attitudes towards reading, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 43: Attitudes towards reading, by ACORN categories, Internet usage, commercial TV viewing and supermarket usage, January 2005
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- Figure 44: Attitudes towards reading, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 45: Attitudes towards reading, by ACORN categories, commercial TV viewing, Internet usage and supermarket usage, January 2005
The Consumer – Attitudes and Enthusiasm
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- Figure 46: Consumer habits regarding reading, buying and choosing books, January 2005
- Personal recommendation is the most influential
- A good book review holds more sway than the bestseller list
- Richard and Judy apparently lack street cred
- Gifting is an important market feature
- A third of consumers buy books on impulse
- Reading for relaxation comes top
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- Figure 47: Reading habits, January 2005
- Reading serves as entertainment…
- …and as a functional tool
- Parents recognise the importance of encouraging children to read
- Gender differences in reasons for reading
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- Figure 48: Reasons for choosing books, by gender, January 2005
- ABs trust friends’ recommendations
- Differences in choosing books
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- Figure 49: Cross-analysis of attitudes towards reading and type of books, January 2005
- Assessing consumer target groups
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- Figure 50: Consumer typologies with regard to reading books, January 2005
- Fully Booked (21% of sample)
- Bookworms (32% of sample)
- Part-time Readers (17% of sample)
- Unread (30% of sample)
- No consumer group can be ruled out as potential targets
- Men prove to be the biggest challenge
- Key target groups in the books market
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- Figure 51: Assessing target groups for books, January 2005
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Attitudes and Enthusiasm – Detailed Demographics
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- Reading habits
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- Figure 52: Reading habits, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 53: Reading habits, by ACORN categories, media usage, commercial TV viewing, Internet usage and supermarket usage, January 2005
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- Figure 54: Reading habits, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 55: Reading habits, by ACORN categories, media usage, commercial TV viewing, Internet usage and supermarket usage, January 2005
- Motivations to read books
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- Figure 56: Choosing books, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 57: Choosing books, by media usage, commercial TV viewing, Internet usage and supermarket usage, January 2005
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- Figure 58: Choosing books, by gender, age, socio-economic group, lifestage, Mintel’s Special Groups, region, marital status, working status, presence of children and household size, January 2005
- Figure 59: Choosing books, by media usage, commercial TV viewing, Internet usage and supermarket usage, January 2005
- Assessing key target groups
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- Figure 60: Assessing target groups for books, by gender, age, socio-economic group, ACORN categories, lifestage, region, presence of children, Mintel’s Special Groups, media usage, working status, supermarket usage and commercial TV viewing, January 2005
The Future
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- Consumer spend on books
- Academic and professional, school and ELT
- Long-term growth to be encouraged
Forecast
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- Optimistic future growth
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- Figure 61: Forecast of the UK retail sales of printed books, 2005-10
- Further price promotion will have a negative effect on the value market
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- Figure 62: Index growth of the printed books sector, 2005-10
- Audiobooks to take off
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- Figure 63: Forecast of the UK retail sales of audiobooks, 2005-10
- Factors used in the forecast
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