Canadian Book Buyers: What Are They up to in the First Half of 2019?
Are you aware that we are halfway through 2019 and looking up for 2020? And do you know what most Canadian book buyers are up to in the first half of 2019? If you know all this, then you are ready for the year 2020. In order to get the borrowing data and sales for the books that most Canadians are purchasing in the first half of 2019 as well as the books they are borrowing from the libraries, we used two of our reputable products which include LibraryDada and the SalesData.
These tools helped us to obtain data and know some of the bestselling books in Canada. Apart from this research, we also came up with a decision to turn to our book customer study in Canada and bring you some highlights for the first half of the year. If you want to learn more about the subjects and formats of the books that Canadians are buying in the first half of 2019, and where they are purchasing from, then continue reading
Where Canadians are Purchasing Their Books
In order to know where Canadians are purchasing their books in 2019, we had to categorise retail stores into in-person and online channels. In-person channels represent all purchases made from general retailers, chain bookstores, grocery stores, book clubs, discount stores and independent bookstores.
On the other hand, online channels represent all purchases from e-book/audiobook downloads, websites and mobile applications. From 2016, online purchases have been increasing steadily while the in-person purchases have been dropping slightly. So far, both online and in-person purchases have been 50% each backing the trend that has been there in the previous years.
Book Formats Purchased by Canadians
According to our research, print purchases account for approximately three-quarters of the entire buying process, combining both hardcover and paperback. Digital books, including audiobooks and e-books, account for the remaining percentage, which is 24% of all the purchases made in the first half of 2019
From 2016,the percentage of audiobooks has been increasing steadily. Their share of all purchases increased from 5% in 2019 compared to 2% in 2017 and 4% in 2018. E-book purchases account for about 18% while paperback purchases account for approximately 50%. The hardcovers account for approximately 21% of all purchases in 2019
Popular Subjects amongst Canadian Book Buyers
To make it simple, we categorised the subjects into two groups, including fiction and no-fiction for both adults and young adults. They include:
Adult Non-Fiction and Young Adult No-Fiction
- Religion
- Biography and Autobiography
- Health and Fitness/Diet
- Computers
- True Crime
Adult Fiction and Young Adult Fiction
- Fantasy
- Suspense and Thrillers
- Romance
- General
More Facts about Book Buyers in Canada for the First Half of 2019
- Approximately 65% of book buyers are the members of a book-based VIP or loyalty program.
- Approximately 14% of all book buyers are members of a reading group or book club.
- The number of Canadian book buyers who belong to a reading group or a book club has grown.
- Most online searches are for books written by local authors and about local subjects.
- Canadian book buyers primarily plan to read or read their e-books on the e-readers, followed by their mobile devices.
If you want more information about Canadian book-buying habits, digital publishing, sales trends and anything in between, then you can find them on our website.
