Pretty gloomy with no resilience in the market

The general book trade struggled in the first half of 2017, as consumer confidence slumped and food prices continued to rise. Andrew Marjoribanks of Wordsworth described the period as “pretty gloomy, with no resilience in the market”. The only reprieve came from a fairly stable currency, which saw book prices flatten out or even decline. A pound cost R16.90 on the 1st of January, and R17.00 on the 30th of June. However, unit sales continued to decline as customers tightened their belts. The market contracted by nearly R22 million in the first 6 months of the year, with 278 552 fewer books sold. Emile Johnsen, MD of C.U.M. Books commented that “The economy is pushing consumers to downgrade from more expensive shops to affordable outlets. That explains the performance of the Steinhof brands that are growing currently while high end retail is suffering.” John O’Sullivan, owner of Bargain Books, felt the same: “The general level of despondency and lack of confidence is definitely impacting books, which are a discretionary spend.” Benjamin Trisk, CEO of Exclusive Books, described the year so far as “Very tough, with volumes marginally up; no big books, which is always a factor; prices down with no real impact on demand.”

Unit sales in all categories declined. The market sold a higher value of children’s fiction books, but this was driven purely by a price increase of 6.9% in this category. Adult Non-fiction sales contribution dropped by nearly 2%, perhaps due to some lists no longer being available in the market. The last year saw agents PSD and Trinity close shop, with only some of their lists finding new homes, while Real Books discontinued many of their book lists to focus on Moleskine. To quote Andrew Marjoribanks on the loss of these agents: “We miss their variety and expertise”. With Jonathan Ball no longer representing Taschen, access to range is becoming harder and harder. Protea reported an uptick in children’s book sales, especially sales of remaindered titles. Bargain Books started focusing more on full-priced books, which pushed up their average selling price. Exclusive Books reported a marked shift in the market, with their Pan-African writers list showing more than 60% growth.

The usual mix of big name fiction, local politics and evergreen core titles made up the top 10 (below). The Christmas success of Trevor Noah and The Book of Joy continued deep into the year. Kayla Itsines’ lifestyle book was the only real surprise. Lower down in the rankings, another surprise success was the raunchy self-published Hlomu trilogy by Dudu Dubisani Dube. New SA Bookseller Association member C.U.M. saw the unit sales of Bibles and Afrikaans books grow, while English book sales were down significantly. The top-selling book in their stores was Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, now reprinted with the new title What Am I Here For?

On the news front, distribution reshuffles continued to happen, with sporadic supply chain interruptions. With Booksite of greatest concern, it came as good news to the trade when systems were finally integrated, although electronic ordering for all their vendors is not yet possible. C.U.M. moved their Struik Christian Media leg of the business into their Vereeniging warehouse, by all accounts a smooth and painless transition.

The first 6 months of the year saw a few bookshops closing, but also some opening. Exclusive Books shut down their operation in Westville, but opened a stunning new store in Ballito. C.U.M. did not close any branches, and opened up shop in Ballito and Port Elizabeth. Bargain Books closed in Northgate and Boardwalk (Port Elizabeth), and opened in Springs, Walmer (Port Elizabeth) and Randridge). Protea moved their Rondebosch branch to Sir Lowry Rd and renamed it Protea Cape Town. CNA closed their branch in Klerksdorp city centre.

Staff changes in the general trade included:

• Matthew Noel-Barnam is now the National Operations Manager at Bargain Books
• Bianca Adendorff became the Marketing Manager at Bargain Books
• Grant Pattison was appointed the COO of Edcon, and will step into the role of CEO in February 2018
• Ingeborg Pelser joined Exclusive Books as manager of the Stellenbosch branch
• Linda Nell took over from Meryke van Niekerk at Exclusive Books Waterfront
• Justin Schweizer replaced Helen Suzor at Exclusive Books Rosebank
• Marlize de Jongh was welcomed back to Exclusive Books as manager of Hyde Park

The trade was tragically robbed of two legendary booksellers this year: Maria Lastrucci of Phambili, who died after a long illness, and Carol-Anne Wright of Wordsworth, who passed away shortly after her retirement.

Key challenges in the sector at present include the escalating theft of books, now on a cross-border scale, and a critical shortage of skills. Book prices settled somewhat and landlords were more amenable, but with the economy showing no signs of improvement, this remains a hard trade to be in.

Trade Sector Report
Olinka Nell (Trade Chairperson, SABA)
(ALL STATISTICS COURTESY SAPNET)