News
Online Book Sales Poised to Overtake Brick-and-Mortar Stores
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Retail news source ICv2 reported on Thursday that a survey of 2012 book sales found that online book sales are set to overtake brick-and-mortar books stores this year. The Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Groupcompiled the annual survey from data that covers more than 1,500 publishers in the United States.
Sales from online retailers such as Amazon rose 21% to US$6.9 billion, while brick-and-mortar bookstore sales dropped 7% to US$7.5 billion. Other trends included flat sales of most print formats, while e-book and downloadable audio books sales are prospering. According to the survey, net sales revenue for ebooks also doubled from 2010 to 2011 in the overall Trade sector.
Bookstore chain Borders bowed out of the market in 2011 after declaring bankruptcy. The brick-and-mortar portion of Barnes & Noble is still profitable despite poor holiday sales last year and store closures. The company is looking to sell its e-book Nook segment.
[Via ICv2]
