comScore Media Metrix examines sales in online book retailing and how they continue to be strong despite many changes in ecommerce.
Parents and children around the world felt their Harry Potter fever reach its peak on July 16, with the official release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling’s mystical series of smash-hit books. In early June, Amazon.com reported that over one million pre-sale orders had been placed for the book since late December 2004. If the Harry Potter phenomenon is any indication of the state of online book retailing, it is clear that sales of books online remain strong despite the multitude of other items offered by many online retailers, such as cell phones, apparel and personal music players.
Sites in the retail/books category were visited by 48.6 million people in June 2005, up 15 percent from 42.2 million visitors in June 2004. It was the fourth most visited retail category in June 2005, more popular than department store sites (47.9 million visitors), apparel (46.3 million visitors) and music sites (28.2 million visitors). During the first quarter of 2005, Americans spent $833.8 million on books and magazines online, up 15 percent from the same quarter the previous year. During all of 2004, more than $2.8 billion was spent buying books and magazines online, which exceeded other popular online retail categories such as computer software ($1.6 billion), jewelry and watches ($1.3 billion), and flowers, greetings and gifts ($1.9 billion).
Overall, sites in the retail /books category appealed the most to males between the ages of 45 and 54, who were 18 percent more likely than the average internet user to visit the category in June 2005. Thanks to ease of use and availability, users with broadband connections at home were 31 percent more likely to visit online book retailers than the average internet user, a trend that is evident across all online retail channels.
Books have always been a popular purchase online, paving the way for other retail items. The convenience of ordering, excellent shipping deals, unmatched product availability and very competitive prices have made the sale of books a pioneering process in online retailing. Larger online book retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have become the quintessential online multi-channel retailers, adding products beyond the book boundary, including music, movies and even electronics and toys. Book retailers have embraced the web and effectively promoted their products across a variety of channels. Online book retailers have successfully integrated the immobile content of the printed book with the dynamic, ever-changing pace of the internet.
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