Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Nielsen BookScan Christmas figures: value and volume up

Local booksellers have recorded a boost in sales over the Christmas period. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales were up 1.5% in volume and 0.7% in value over the 13 weeks to 27 December 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.

Sales were even better over the four weeks to 27 December, with volume up 2.6% and value up 1.3%.

The boost in sales can be attributed directly to children’s books, which were up 7.6% in volume and 12.7% in value over the four-week period. Fiction was up 0.2% in volume but down 4.8% in value. Nonfiction was down 2.4% in volume and down 2.2% in value.  

The average selling price (ASP) for the four-week period was $18.60, down slightly from last year’s ASP of $18.80.

The top-selling titles over the four weeks before Christmas were:

Overall

  • The Long Haul: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney, Puffin)
  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan, Vintage)
  • The Great Zoo of China (Matthew Reilly, Macmillan)
  • Guinness World Records 2015 (Guinness World Records)
  • Jamie’s Comfort Food (Jamie Oliver, Michael Joseph)

           

Fiction                 

  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan, Vintage)
  • The Great Zoo of China (Matthew Reilly, Macmillan)
  • The Road Back (Di Morrissey, Macmillan)
  • Leaving Time (Jodi Picoult, A&U)
  • Gone Girl film tie-in edition (Gillian Flynn, Hachette)

                               

Nonfiction                         

  • Guinness World Records 2015 (Guinness World Records)
  • Jamie’s Comfort Food (Jamie Oliver, Michael Joseph)
  • Gallipoli (Peter FitzSimons, William Heinemann)
  • Family Food (Pete Evans, Plum)
  • The New Easy (Donna Hay, HarperCollins)

           

Children’s                          

  • The Long Haul: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney, Puffin)
  • 52-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
  • Minecraft Blockopedia (Egmont)
  • The 13-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
  • Disney Frozen Happy Tin (Parragon).

 

 

Category: Local news