In the spring of 2020, against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, Russian online sites recorded a sharp increase in demand for books among buyers. So, for example, from March to early June, sales of literature in the Ozon online store immediately rose well by 40% compared to the same period in 2019. About this in an interview with RT told the director of business development of the company Anna Karpova.
According to her, children's literature, as well as books on virology, psychology and self-development, were the most popular among buyers.
The main reason for the increase in online book sales was the closure of retail stores due to quarantine restrictions, as well as the introduction of a self-isolation regime in Russia. About this RT told investment strategist "BCS Premier" Alexander Bakhtin.
“In favor of the so-called electronic counters played a period of forced non-working days, when people suddenly had a long weekend. At the same time, lack of time is one of the main factors that impede the reading of books. Moreover, in the conditions of self-isolation, which operated throughout this period, the choice of activities was limited. As a result, the Russians decided to fulfill their reading needs, as well as acquire new skills by studying professional literature, ”Bakhtin explained.
According to the Russian Book Union (RKS), over the period of quarantine, the share of book sales over the Internet in the country almost doubled.
“If earlier sales in the Internet channel amounted to 23-25%, now the share of online sales is growing rapidly and, according to experts, may reach 40-50% in the near future,” RT told the RKS press service.
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In addition to buying paper literature on the Internet during the pandemic, Russians also began to purchase electronic and audio books more often. According to RT in the book service LitRes, from the end of March to mid-May, sales in this segment increased by more than 50% compared to the same period in 2019.
“In the MyBook subscription book service (part of the LitRes group of companies), users have become 3.5 times more active in adding books to their account compared to the same period in 2019, and revenue at this time doubled. The audience for the quarantine period has also increased significantly: the number of users in April grew by 314% compared to the same period last year, ”said Sergey Anuryev, Director General of LitRes.
According to him, buyers of electronic and audio books most often acquired literature on the world economy (sales grew by 129%), science fiction (by 84%), sex (by 80%) and popular psychology (by 77%). At the same time, the most popular were business-related products (sales decreased by 7–8%) and guidebooks (by 48%).
“The pandemic and its attendant negative factors - the global economic crisis and collapses in the financial markets - have increased the interest of Russians in books on the global economy. At the same time, reading psychology literature is associated with powerful pressure on the people they faced in self-isolation, and increased stress amid widespread uncertainty. At the same time, as a result of border closures, the guides turned out to be the least popular, at least during this holiday season, ”Nikita Ryabinin, head of the Luxembourg office of KRK Group consulting company, explained to RT.
According to the forecast of LitRes specialists, in 2020 the share of electronic and audio books in the total sales volume of the Russian book market may exceed 12.5%. For comparison: at the end of 2019, the indicator was 10%. As noted by Sergei Anuryev, in recent years, the interest of Russians in audio books has been growing most actively.
“This segment continues to be the fastest growing not only in the world, but also in Russia. In 2019, their sales in Russia exceeded 1.5 billion rubles, which is about 2.5% of the entire book market. In May 2020, we sold 47% more copies of audio books than in the same period last year. According to the results of 2020, sales of audio books will account for up to 3.5% of the entire share of the book business, ”Anuryev said.
As Natalia Milchakova, deputy head of the Alpari information and analytical center, told RT, over the next few years, the share of electronic and audio books in the total market can reach 14-15%. Moreover, even after quarantine has ended, online sales of literature will continue to increase, the expert said.
“With the opening of bookstores, the demand for buying goods online will temporarily decline, but in the long term, the transition of book trade to the Internet is an objective trend. I don’t exclude the possibility that in ten years 75% of book sales will be on online platforms, since making an order on the Internet is easier and faster than going around several bookstores in search of a particular work, ”concluded Milchakova.