Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association
Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association
Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association
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The <strong>Australian</strong> Retail Space<br />
In Australia in early <strong>2013</strong>, bookshops were closing at a rate of one per week. In 2012, some two hundred accounts<br />
with an annual value to the market of $10,000 and over closed. Some of Australia’s oldest and most respected book<br />
stores have been forced to downsize to smaller more affordable retail premises in order to survive, and in Melbourne<br />
two local bookstores launched public appeals for support so that they could keep their doors open until Christmas.<br />
When I left for the UK, it was amidst reports from Nielsen Bookscan that sales through <strong>Australian</strong> bookshops in 2012<br />
had dropped a huge 9.3% in value; that discount department store Target would no longer employ a book buyer;<br />
and that in general the past twelve months were seen as ‘one of the toughest years in the trade in a long time’. 1 And<br />
then there were Those Amazon Rumours. 2<br />
Australia source of purchase 2012 volume share % 3<br />
Dymocks<br />
12%<br />
QBD<br />
5%<br />
Collins<br />
3%<br />
ABC Shops<br />
3%<br />
Newslink<br />
3%<br />
DDS<br />
19%<br />
Others<br />
16%<br />
Leading Edge<br />
11%<br />
Department stores<br />
3%<br />
Amazon<br />
6%<br />
Specials<br />
13%<br />
Other online<br />
6%<br />
Combined e-book and hard-copy book purchases made online in Australia (by volume) currently sit at 13%. Modest<br />
predictions see this rising to approximately 35% over the next four years – more if Amazon opens a fully-functioning<br />
.au shop front. Locally, our two largest online retailers, Booktopia and the Pearson-owned Bookworld, are reporting<br />
significant growth year-on-year. Last year saw Bookworld try to capture the Christmas market quite aggressively<br />
with high-profile print, television and online advertising.<br />
There’s no longer any doubt that the <strong>Australian</strong> market is being revolutionised by digital sales and publishing. But does<br />
this spell doom and gloom for traditional trade publishers ‘Not at all’ argues Stephen Page, CEO of Faber and Faber.<br />
What’s up for grabs for publishers – in Australia and in the UK – is the significant opportunity to be<br />
valuable to writers and readers at a time of great change. 4<br />
1 http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/DetailPage.aspxtype=item&id=25903<br />
2 http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/cloud/amazon-lands-in-australia-20120621-20q6y.html<br />
3 As reported by Nielsen bookscan, 2012<br />
4 Face-to-face interview with Stephen Page, CEO Faber and Faber, 12 June, <strong>2013</strong><br />
Author: <strong>Kelly</strong> <strong>Fagan</strong><br />
5