The document provides an overview of findings from a survey of book purchasing behavior among Canadians. Some key findings include: - 1 in 3 Canadians purchase a book each month, buying an average of 2.87 books per month. - The typical Canadian book buyer is most likely a female, university-educated professional between $50,000-$75,000 income. - Most books are purchased from book retailers (37%) and non-book retailers (33%), while online purchases account for 27%. - Print books remain the most popular format at 86-88% of purchases, though ebooks have grown from 15-21% of purchases between 2012 quarters. - The average price paid is

1. BNC
Technology
Forum
Canadian
Book-­‐Buying
Behaviour
Noah
Genner
Friday, 8 March, 13

2. why
consumer
analy/cs
Deliver
higher
returns
on
marke9ng
and
promo9ons
Increase
sales
force
effec9veness
by
targe9ng
qualified
prospects
Improve
the
channel
mix
to
lower
cost
to
serve
Lower
customer
acquisi9on
and
reten9on
costs
Increase
sales
to
new
and
exis9ng
customers
Friday, 8 March, 13

3. Canadians
-­‐
Leisure
Ac9vi9es
0.000%$ 5.000%$ 10.000%$ 15.000%$ 20.000%$ 25.000%$ 30.000%$
Other,$please$specify$
Shopping$
Dining$out$
Cra>s$$
Playing$video$games$
Relaxing$
Watching$a$movie$
Spending$Fme$with$friends$
VacaFon$
Listening$to$music$
Browsing$the$internet$
Exercising/working$out$
Spending$Fme$with$family$
Reading$
Watching$TV$
2012$ 2013$
Friday, 8 March, 13

4. correla9on
does
not
imply
causa9on
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/correlation.png
Friday, 8 March, 13

5. Canadians
-­‐
Reading
0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%# 100%#
Read#a#book#on#my#mobile#phone#
Listen#to#audio#books#
Read#digital#books##
Read#books#(paper#version)#
More#than#3#hours#per#day# 1#to#3#hours#per#day# <1#hour#per#day#
2012#
2013#
Friday, 8 March, 13

6. Book-­‐Buying
Behaviour
in
Canada
Friday, 8 March, 13

7. Methodology
• Online
survey
• Approximately
1000
English
speaking
book
buyers
across
Canada
are
surveyed
each
quarter
(333
per
month)
• Respondents
had
to
purchase
at
least
1
book
in
the
proceeding
month
to
qualify
• Ques9ons
are
asked
about
all
books
purchased
• Par9cipants
are
compensated
for
par9cipa9on
• Same
base
ques9onnaire
being
asked
each
quarter
• Ability
to
ask
custom
ques9ons
with
each
quarterly
fielding
Friday, 8 March, 13

8. ~4,000
respondents
about
~12,000
books
in
2012
we
asked...
Friday, 8 March, 13

9. Friday, 8 March, 13

10. Friday, 8 March, 13

11. the
Canadian
book-­‐buyer
•
female
•
born
in
Canada
•
have
a
household
income
of
$50,000
to
$74,999
•
a
professional
or
execu9ve
•
employed
full-­‐9me
•
have
a
university
degree
•
live
in
a
city
or
urban
area
•
good
chance
they
didn’t
buy
their
book
in
a
‘bookstore’
Friday, 8 March, 13

12. the
Canadian
book-­‐buyer
1
in
3
Canadians
Buy
a
Book
Each
Month
Friday, 8 March, 13

13. the
Canadian
book-­‐buyer
In
2012
Book
Buyers
bought
2.87
books
a
month
Friday, 8 March, 13

14. Book
Retailers 37%
Non-­‐Book
Retailers 33%
Online
27%
Other 3%
where
did
they
buy
Friday, 8 March, 13

15. what
did
they
buy
Format/
Period
Q1
2012 Q2
2012 Q3
2012 Q4
2012
Print 86% 87% 86% 88%
Ebook 21% 18% 19% 15%
Both 5% 6% 6% 5%
Friday, 8 March, 13

16. what
did
they
buy
0%#
10%#
20%#
30%#
40%#
50%#
60%#
70%#
80%#
90%#
100%#
All#Adult#Books# Adult#Fic9on# Adult#Non<Fic9on#
Other#
E<Book#
Paperback#
Hardcover#
Subject
by
Format
Friday, 8 March, 13

17. what
did
they
buy
0.00%$
2.00%$
4.00%$
6.00%$
8.00%$
10.00%$
12.00%$
14.00%$
16.00%$
18.00%$
20.00%$
Q1$ Q2$ Q3$ Q4$
Percentage$of$E7Book$Sales$2012$$
E7Book$$
Friday, 8 March, 13

18. what
did
they
pay
$12.89'
$19.49'
$12.59'
$6.97'
$0.00'
$5.00'
$10.00'
$15.00'
$20.00'
$25.00'
All'Formats' Hardcover' Paperback' E@Book'
Average
price
paid
for
books
purchased
in
2012
Friday, 8 March, 13

19. Friday, 8 March, 13

20. e
to
p
comparison
shopping
0.0%$
5.0%$
10.0%$
15.0%$
20.0%$
25.0%$
30.0%$
35.0%$
O*en$ Some0mes$ Rarely$ Never$ I$only$
purchase$
e>books$
Friday, 8 March, 13

21. 0.0%$
5.0%$
10.0%$
15.0%$
20.0%$
25.0%$
30.0%$
35.0%$
O*en$ Some0mes$ Rarely$ Never$
e-­‐retailer
comparison
shopping
Friday, 8 March, 13

22. devices
they
own
27%
of
book
buyers
own
a
dedicated
e-­‐reader
20%
of
book
buyers
own
a
tablet
Friday, 8 March, 13

23. How
do
book
buyers
discover...
Friday, 8 March, 13

24. awareness
game...
#1
-­‐
In
store
#2
-­‐
RecommendaJon
from
a
friend
#3
-­‐
Read
a
review
#4
-­‐
Read
an
excerpt
#5
-­‐
Bestseller
List
all
formats
Friday, 8 March, 13

25. awareness
that
results
in
a
sale
*
47%$
31%$
22%$
4%$
1%$
22%$
In*person$
Online$
Print$$
TV$
Radio$
Other$
*
Respondents
can
make
more
than
one
selecJon
%
of
all
books
purchased
in
2012
Friday, 8 March, 13

26. in
person
awareness
*
Respondents
can
make
more
than
one
selecJon
Received'recommenda-on'
from'a'friend/rela-ve,'25.5%'
Book'Club/reading'group,'
2.3%'
Book'Fair,'3.1%'
Saw'author'talk'about'the'
book,'2.9%'
Recipient'Asked'For'Item,'
4.0%'
Received'as'a'GiK,'3.4%'
At'School,'7.0%'
At'the'library,'9.2%'
InNStore'Sales'Clerk,'4.8%'
InNStore'Display/On'Shelf/
Spinning'Rack,'37.8%'
Other,'20.5%'
Friday, 8 March, 13

27. social
media
=
publisher’s
websites
Friday, 8 March, 13

28. Magazine(Ad,(2%(
Newspaper(Ad,(2%(
Ad(on(a(website((banner(ad),(4%(
Read(an(excerpt(from(the(
book,(13%(
Email(From(Retailer,(5%(
Email(From(Publisher,(4%(
Book(
Review(
(e.g,(NY(
Times),(
7%(
Customer(Review((e.g.,(
on(a(retailer's(
website),(8%(
Author's(Website,(12%(
Publisher's(Website,(6%(
Read(about(
author/book(on(
a(blog,(9%(
Saw,(or(heard(about,(the(author/
book(in(a(video((e.g.,(Youtube),(5%(
Received(recommendaVon(
on(a(social(network((e.g.,(
Facebook,(TwiWer),(6%(
Retailer(recommendaVon(on(a(
retailer's(website((e.g.(Amazon.ca),(
10%(
Book(Club/reading(group,(4%(
Read(a(teaser(in(a(book(I(was(
reading,(5%(
Other,(35%(
online
awareness
Friday, 8 March, 13

29. awareness
vs.
format
0%#
10%#
20%#
30%#
40%#
50%#
60%#
70%#
80%#
90%#
100%#
All# Paper# E5Book#
Other#
Print#
Online#
In#person#
Friday, 8 March, 13

30. awareness
game...
#1
-­‐
RecommendaJon
from
a
friend
#2
-­‐
Read
an
excerpt
#3
-­‐
Bestseller
List
#4
-­‐
Retailer
recommendaJon
#5
-­‐
Author’s
website
digital
formats
Friday, 8 March, 13

31. awareness
vs.
subject
Adult
Fic9on...
Adult
Non-­‐Fic9on...
Bestseller
Lists,
In-­‐Store,
Excerpts
Recommenda9ons,
See/Hear
the
Author,
School
or
Library
Friday, 8 March, 13

32. Going
to
the
store/browser...
25% of book purchases are impulse buys
ebooks tend not to be impulse purchases
Friday, 8 March, 13

33. #1
-­‐
I
like
the
topic/subject
#2
-­‐
I
like
the
author
#3
-­‐
Price
#4
-­‐
I’ve
read
other
books
in
the
series
#5
-­‐
I
looked
though
the
book
and
liked
it
Why
did
you
purchase
this
book?
N
=
8665
All
Books...
Friday, 8 March, 13

34. #1
-­‐
I
like
the
author
#2
-­‐
I
like
the
series
#3
-­‐
Price
#4
-­‐
I
like
the
character
#5
-­‐
Intrigued
by
book
Jtle
Why
did
you
purchase
this
book?
N
=
1005
FicJon
-­‐
Mystery
Friday, 8 March, 13

35. social
‘reader’
networks
None,&83%&
GoodReads,&7%&
LibraryThing,&3%&
Living&Social,&3%&
BooksConnect,&3%&
ConnectViaBooks,&1%&
RedRoom,&2%&
WeRead.com,&1%&
Pulse&It,&1%&
Shelfari,&2%&
49th&Shelf,&1%&
Other,&3%&
Other,&27%&
Friday, 8 March, 13

36. the
joy
of
the
‘other’
answer
My niece is named Zoe and I couldn't resist the
colourful pictures and glitter on the book and so it
was an impulse buy as a gift
There was a good review in a magazine I read (sorry,
you'll have to actually generate a decent survey to find
out which magazine ;o)
When i wait somewhere for a rendez-vous
your survey gave me information on
other ereader/book sites i didn't know
about. thank-you.
Why
did
you
buy
this
book?
Where
are
you
going
to
read
this
book?
Our
Survey...
Friday, 8 March, 13

37. the
joy
of
the
‘other’
answer
I LOVE BOOKS!
Friday, 8 March, 13

38. BNC RESEARCH
The Canadian Book
Consumer 2012
PREPARED BY BOOKNET CANADA STAFF
© BOOKNET CANADA 2012
Book-Buying
Behaviour In Canada
January To June 2012
Out
Now
Out
Now
April
Friday, 8 March, 13

39. Thank
you
ngenner@booknetcanada.ca
hep://www.booknetcanada.ca
Sign
up
for
free
BNC
eNews
facebook.com/BookNetCanada
@booknet_canada
Friday, 8 March, 13