Booksellers Foyles and Waterstones have both recorded bumper Christmas sales of print books as online trading growth slows.
Foyles posted an 8.1% increase in like-for-likes during the month of December and attributes the surge to better merchandising.
Meanwhile, Waterstones reported sales of Amazonâs Kindle have shrunk dramatically as sales of physical books rose 5% during December.
Foyles chief executive Sam Husain said: âOnline sales were ahead of last year, but the growth is definitely slowing down, so I would say online is important to us, but there is nothing like people actually browsing in-store.
âI think the print market is coming back and I would expect print books to have resurgence. People do want internet shopping but they also love the high street.â
Waterstones boss James Daunt revealed the resurgence of print books has prompted the business to plan to open a dozen new stores this year.
Husain said Foylesâ growth is a result of a better merchandising rather than discounting and said the retailer offered fewer discounts this Christmas compared with last year.
He cited the success of the new Charing Cross Road store, which increased like-for-likes over Christmas by 17.8%, that although smaller has âbetter merchandising opportunitiesâ due to its layout.
Husain also credited the retailerâs strong Christmas sales to âvery impressive Christmas campaigns supported by publishersâ for books such as âNot That Kind of Girlâ by Lena Dunham.
Foylesâ best-seller this Christmas was the âPolpoâ cookery book by Russell Norman, while Hilary Mantelâs âThe Assassination of Margaret Thatcherâ was also among the best sellers.
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