According to a report by The Bookseller Association, although the UK makes significant use of promotions and discounts, these promotions “do not translate into higher growth in volumes when compared to the markets studied”.
UK bookshops have the lowest growth in market value and although the UK has one of the highest levels of per capita book purchases, it has the lowest level of profitability, along with Sweden.
UK bookshops are also losing out to supermarkets and online retailers in a way that other nations are not, with the report estimating they had lost 10 per cent of volume sales to other sources, such as supermarkets and online retailers, between 2004 and 2007.
Of the countries studied, only the US had a lower average selling price than the UK, with the number of books sold at discount in the UK rising from 44 per cent in 2004 to 51 per cent in 2007.
President of The Booksellers Association Graham Rand said: “Competition has driven a deeper discounting and promotions orientated market than in other countries. We have to ask ourselves whether the industry has gone too far in creating this ‘lowest price’ environment for consumers.”
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