Industry Statistics

Retail sales at bookstores in March 2007 decreased as compared to the previous March, according to preliminary estimates released by the Bureau of the Census. In addition, the Bureau adjusted February 2007 figures upward, though the end result is that bookstore sales decreased by 6.4 percent this past February, and not 6.5 percent, as preliminary figures indicated.

Did you know ... of the 172 bookstores that participated in both the ABACUS 2006 and ABACUS 2005 surveys, 104 stores (or 60 percent of the total) reported an increase in sales between 2005 and 2006. The average sales increase was more than 10 percent.

Retail sales at bookstores in February 2007 were down as compared to the previous February, according to preliminary estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. In addition, the Bureau adjusted both January 2006 and January 2007 figures upward, but the end result was that bookstore sales decreased by 1.4 percent this past January. February 2007 bookstore sales of $1,012 million were lower than the previous February by 6.5 percent. This was the eighth month in a row that book sales failed to keep pace with the previous years' results.

The American Booksellers Association is now collecting data from member booksellers for the 2007 ABACUS survey through an enhanced web form.

Retail sales at bookstores in January, while stronger than in recent months, failed to equal sales of the previous January, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. January 2007 bookstore sales of $2,122 million were lower than the previous January by slightly less than one percentage point. This was the seventh month in a row that bookstore sales failed to keep pace with the same period during the previous year.

December was the sixth month in a row that bookstore sales failed to match 2005 levels, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. December bookstore sales of $1,987 million were 8.8 percent below the $2,179 million of December 2005.While bookstore sales were down for nine months in 2006, compared to 2005 results, the year as a whole was only off 2.9 percent.

November was the fifth month in a row that retail sales at bookstore sales failed to keep pace with 2005 results, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. November 2006 bookstore sales of $1,092 million were 1.7 percent below the $1,111 million realized in November 2005. Bookstore sales for the first 11 months of 2006 are 1.8 percent below those for the same period in 2005.

Since the inception of the Book Sense Gift Card program in fall 2003 through December 31, 2006, participating stores have sold 700,100 cards, with a total value of more than $18 million and an average sale per card of $25.96. For the 2006 holiday season, Book Sense Gift Card sales grew nine percent over last year.

October was the fourth month in a row that retail sales at bookstores fell below 2005 levels, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. Retail sales at bookstores during October were $1,006 million, 2.3 percent below the $1,030 million figure for October 2005. The Census Bureau also lowered previously released estimates for September 2006 bookstore sales from $1,497 million to $1,483 million. This puts year-to-date bookstore sales at 1.7 percent below 2005 results.

Retail sales at bookstores in September were nearly on a par with the previous September, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census. September 2006 bookstore sales were down just 0.9 percent from September 2005. However, it was the third month in a row that bookstore sales failed to equal or exceed last year's results. Year-to-date sales are 1.6 percent below 2005. Overall retail sales of $352 billion for September 2006 are 4.5 percent above the $337 billion of September 2005.