Today we’re continuing our tour of the Spanish market with the third installment in our series. Here’s an excerpt from our 2015 guide Selling Canadian Books in Spain with some information on the sales channels for print books in the Spanish market.
Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores
Spain has the highest number of bookstores in Europe for a total of 16.9% of all European bookstores (followed by Germany with 14.9% of bookstores, France, 14.6%, and Italy, 11.2%.) From the figures provided in 2012 by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Institute, INE), it is estimated that in Spain there are currently 5,556 book-stores. To confirm the reality of this number, in 2013 the Confederación Española de Gremios y Asociaciones de Libreros (CEGAL) conducted a map of bookstores of Spain, which identified 4,336 bookstores. The study also noted a 21.5% decline in bookstores over the past five years, from 7,074 bookstores surveyed by INE in 2008 to 5,556 in 2012. Thus, Spain is no stranger to one of the big problems faced by European culture: the gradual disappearance of bookstores.
Distribution of bookstores in the Spanish territory
In Spain, there is an average of five bookstores per city, although this figure can’t be taken literally, as bookstores are concentrated in large cities. Andalusia has 603 book-stores (13.9%), Catalonia, 601 (13.9%), and Madrid, 517 (11.9%), all of which account for nearly 40% of the total number of Spanish bookstores.
Features of Spanish bookstores
The group of independent bookstores consists mostly of small businesses: the annual turnover in 6 out of 10 bookstores is below €150,000. Twenty-eight percent of them sell between €150,000 and €300,000 per year. There are only 197 bookstores (7.3%) in Spain selling over €600,000 per year, and of these, 41 (1.5%) sell over €1,500,000. Most Spanish bookstores (62.5%) are generalists: 33.3% are general backlist bookstores (with over 3,000 backlist titles), while 29.2% are independent bookstores (with fewer than 3,000 backlist titles). Specialized bookstores (over 60% of sales in one to three areas) make up 27.1%, and generalist bookstores with some kind of specialization (between 30% and 60% of sales of one to three areas) make up 10.4%. Among the specialized and generalist bookstores with specialization stand out those dedicated to the arts, fine arts, and sports, as well as those dedicated to the social sciences (economics, law, and education).
Breakdown of sales according to the languages of publication
In Spain, there are three official languages besides Spanish: Catalan, Basque, and Galician, spoken in six regions. Small to medium bookstores sell the highest number of books in Spanish (71%). Large bookstores sell the most books in other official languages (24.8%). Very large bookstores have the highest percentage of sales in foreign languages (20.5%).
Local sales through bookstores
Since 2010, book sales in brick-and-mortar bookstores have shown a downward trend despite being the most effective sales channel, with 54.7% of total book sales. During 2013, sales fluctuated, and although they soared nearly 40% higher in the third quarter (the season typically with the best sales), the fact is that between this period and the same one in 2012, sales fell 8.07%. Total turnover in 2013 was €701.48 million, 10.7% lower than the results obtained in 2012 (€785.45 million). As for 2014, things got worse, with sales of only €180.16 million in the second quarter; in the same quarter in 2011, sales were €250.8 million.
Regarding units sold, we see a decline in sales in 2013 of 14.11% compared to 2012. The generalist backlist bookstores are doing most of the sales (47.02%).
Direct Sales of Books by Publishers
Forty-four percent of sales made by Spanish publishers are direct, meaning they do not use a distributor. The applied discounts are the same as those given to various channels. All the business-to-consumer (B2C) channels, directed at the final consumer, have maintained the downward trend of previous years, falling 39.3% in the past five years.
- Credit sales (usually of book collections like encyclopedia’s that are paid monthly to the buyer): -48.8%
- Book clubs: -39.5%
- Mail order sales: -75%
- Phone sales -16.2%
Only ebooks have broken the downward trend in sales, instead having grown by 13.9% in the past four years.
Online Sales for Physical Books
Just as brick-and-mortar bookstores have seen their sales reduced, the same has happened to online sales of physical books. In 2012, 16.4% (2.5 million) of the Spanish population claimed to have bought books online at least once. This figure plummets in 2013: only 5.9% of Spaniards claimed to have purchased books online. However, in 2013, the average spending per shopper amounts to €137 per year. In Spain, the top site for physical book sales is casadellibro.com.
Amazon debuted in Spain in 2011, with less force than in other countries due to Ley española del Libro (the Spanish Book Law), which prevents aggressive discounting that has been traditionally common with Amazon. However, ease of purchase and speed of delivery have quickly placed Amazon among Spaniards’ favourite bookstores. Amazon is also the owner of Iberlibro, the Spanish subsidiary of AbeBooks, which specializes in second-hand and out-of-print books, among which there are also titles in English and French.
Up next, we discuss sales channels for Spanish digital editions and ebooks. Check back with us next week for more information from industry experts Arantxa Mellado and Silvia Mas.
11/25/2015 | Export, Market Guides