In Germany, fewer books were sold in 2018 - yet the industry has implemented almost as much as the year before. This is mainly due to price increases. While book sales fell 2.3 percent, book prices rose 1.7 percent on average. The figures come from an evaluation of the journal "Book Report", which belongs to the SPIEGEL publishing house and determines the weekly bestseller list.
In the online business, sales of books increased by more than two percent, while stationary bookstores lost 0.6 percent in the coffers. "Book Report" sums up that customers would increasingly use online services for "target purchases", ie whenever they want a specific title. Growth is not limited to Amazon alone; Even bookstores that would offer their customers the option of buying online, would report increases.
Especially nonfiction books but also children's and youth literature were sold more than in 2017; Novels and books from the fields of travel, guides and literature lost. Thus, for example, the area of travel literature in stationary retail lost 4.2 percent of sales - apparently travelers are increasingly turning to digital helpers. The best-selling travel guide is no longer a book about the island of Mallorca, but deals with London.
THE MIRROR / Book Report
Although the minus of just under one percent sounds rather moderate in fiction, this is by far the largest and thus the most important category in the book market. The "Book Report" rates the decline "as an indication of the intensified entertainment media competition".
Another trend is the increasing concentration in the stationary book trade. Thalia - the largest German bookseller with around 300 branches - announced today that it intends to merge with the bookstore chain Mayersche (55 branches), which is based in North Rhine-Westphalia.