By Darren E Laws
Independent bookstores and Foyles, the largest independent bookstore in the UK, have reported excellent Christmas trading figures despite maintaining recommended retail price on titles or minimal price cuts. Whether this trend continues as the year progresses will be interesting to see but it is encouraging and maybe shows that the consumers love affair with the traditional bookstore is not over yet. The holiday season is a traditional time for strong sales growth, with many people giving books as gifts. So it is not unusual to expect increased footfall and sales recorded, but it would appear that many consumers have made a decision that price may not be the key factor when making that purchase. So what are the key reasons for this growth; the answer has to be choice. Consumers have made the decision that the supermarkets might have the strength when it comes to bargaining power but they don’t have the range. Ultimately consumers want choice even if it comes over price but the sad reality is that Christmas does not come every day and while these trading figures are good news, they won’t sustain shops for the other 11 months of the year when consumers pick up their top 20 bestsellers for the supermarket.
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