Online sales in the year ended September 30 rose 65% and now account for 40% of overall sales at Thalia Books, Germany's major bookstore chain, the company announced. Bricks-and-mortar sales fell 16%, and the company's overall sales rose 7%, to €1.1 billion (about $1.28 billion). Thalia has approximately 350 bookstores in Germany and Austria and owns 50% of Orell Füssli Thalia, which has more than 30 bookstores in Switzerland.
Thalia said that the drop in sales in bookstores was because of government-ordered pandemic closures over five months, which caused "the important bricks-and-mortar Christmas business to completely disappear." Nonetheless, the company didn't close any stores or let any staff go because of the pandemic.
CEO Michael Busch said that "the joy over our sales gain doesn't lessen our disappointment that we didn't meet our goals for the fiscal year. The damage of the forced closings of our bookstores in both years of the pandemic has amounted to about €65 million [about $75.7 million]. The government has contributed a modest double-figure amount in the millions. We've had to finance the rest through credit--as a result we're missing many millions of euros for necessary investments."
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BookNet Canada offered three tips to boost bookstore's holiday shopping season, including:
Welcome holiday shoppers online and in-store
During the first half of 2021, 39% of Canadians visited a bookstore online and 24% of Canadians visited a bookstore in-person. This is expected to continue throughout the holiday season. As of June 2021, 58% of U.S. holiday shoppers will shop online more this season than in previous years and 86% of U.S. shoppers will shop in-store this holiday season.
Make sure holiday shoppers can find your store
In the first half of 2021, 50% of Canadian book buyers browsed for books on a store's website, 24% by search engine, and 19% in-store.... It's estimated that 26% of U.S. shoppers plan to use social media to assist them in their holiday shopping. For Canadian readers, 22% discover books on social media.
Be ready for holiday shoppers earlier than ever
In 2020, Canadian holiday shoppers started buying books in the first half of November--a week or two earlier than usual.... More than half of U.S. holiday shoppers will shop earlier to avoid an item being out of stock (59%)--so much so that by June 2021, 31% of U.S. shoppers had already started their 2021 holiday shopping.
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"There are moments when I have this kind of crazy thought, that our job is the easiest in the world," La libreria del Golem in Turin, Italy, posted on Facebook, noting: "It's easy to feel placidly alive, part of a bigger organism, but always alive and dynamic. It's those moments that you enjoy the numbness of being able to relax while working. Like when you pedal a straight line without hands, maybe they're even in your pocket, listening to music; you keep going because it's natural to do it, but at the same time you're still in your inner place. Sometimes it's really easy to do our job, thanks to everyone who makes it so." --Robert Gray