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| Nielsen's entire presentation is available at: http://www.slideshare.net/PublishersLaunch/the-changing-mix-of-what-sells-in-print-jonathan-nowell-nielsen-book |
Nielsen also says that print books sell well during the yearend holiday buying period, whereas e-books sell well during the first half of the year. One explanation is that print books are gifts, and e-book sales rely on gifts of devices received during the holiday period.
Waterstone's recent results pointed to the continuing interest in print books and confirm that print books are purchased for the holidays: The UK chain had a 5% increase in print books sold during the fourth quarter. Yet Waterstone says that Amazon Kindle purchases were less strong.
Last year, projections suggested that e-books would outsell print books by 2018. However, print books continue to sell (if not as well in every genre). And print books are the engine of profitability for many publishers (and, of course, book sellers). Now Waterstone is planning to open new book stores--a strategy contrary to the trend of book retailing in most recent years. What are the consumer behaviour implications of these trends?
