There is no crystal ball when it comes to predicting the book market. That said, we’ve been able to pinpoint certain consumer trends by aggregating data across tens of millions of book titles, geographies, and publishers who publish into different segments. By collecting and analyzing this data, we can better determine how consumers will react to different global shifts in the market.
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Key Trends in Consumer Behavior
eCommerce
Despite a dampening effect one year into the pandemic, ecommerce is way up and is continuing in that direction. A significant reason is consumers shifting to online shopping like never before. What started as a necessity or convenience soon became the preferred way for consumers to purchase specific products – including books.
Value-Based Shopping
A key trend that caught the eye of many companies in 2021 was value-based shopping. Between Shop Indie campaigns, Black Lives Matter campaigns, and everything in between, it became evident that consumers were more likely to do business with companies, brands, and authors that aligned with their values.
And we see that trend continuing, as shown by a 2022 Customer Loyalty Study across brands (non-book specific). In the study U.S. consumers were asked what keeps them loyal to their favorite brands, with 22% stating a “strong sense of community” and 16% stating a “positive social impact”. In comparison, 17% said “better prices” as a reason to stay loyal to a brand, which showcases just how strong consumer loyalty is tied to the stated and delivered values of a company.
We can also see values-based shopping playing a role in the media growth of bookshop.org from July –December 2021.
Their growth has been consistent and steady, with no sign of falling off like other indie fads over the past two years. We can attribute part of their staying power to their ability to be a part of the community, as a large value prop of bookshop is supporting local bookstores.
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Format Trends
According to a Pew Research Center study, the number of U.S. adults reading has barely changed in the last ten years, moving from 78% to 75% – still a large addressable market! Of that market:
- 65% read a print book (down from 72%)
- 30% read an ebook (up from 17%)
- 23% listened to an audiobook (up from 11%)
From this data, it’s clear that print remains the dominant format, however both ebooks and audiobooks essentially doubled in terms of their penetration into the market.
by Peter McCarthy, Ingram Content Group
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Magazine Training International’s mission is to encourage, strengthen, and provide training and resources to Christian magazine publishers as they seek to build the church and reach their societies for Christ.
