Book sales declining Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book sales declining - Essay Example However, the current economic circumstances are pushing the physical book sales market further down the line with low chances of recovery. 2. Variables The variables listed above are explained below to enhance understanding on the issue at hand. A. Global economic down turn: The economic crises that unfolded in recent years have hit the retail business as a whole. This has forced the retail business sales to go down significantly. Data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States indicates that employment at major retail stores has gone down by 8.6% between December 2007 and December 2009. (Miliot) This is compounded by the fact that retail stores have decreased the number of hours that employees work at retail stores which effectively signals cost cutting techniques at work. This variable has tended to affect book sales as a whole (online and physical) negatively. Negative growth resulting from the economic down turn has been rapid and seems bent upon sustaining current trends . Consumers are still figuring out how much their budgets can afford the purchases of new books. The spike in sales in the last quarter of each year indicates that consumers do have the kind of purchasing power required to buy books but they lack the initiative too given the general state of depression. However, it is significant to note that the larger authors are still generating sales as they did previously. The larger brand names in publishing are averaging around the same business level which again shows market potential. (Rich) B. Growing use of e-books: The growing move towards e-books has hit the regular book publishing markets highly in the long run. It is expected... The economic crises that unfolded in recent years have hit the retail business as a whole. This has forced the retail business sales to go down significantly. Data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States indicates that employment at major retail stores has gone down by 8.6% between December 2007 and December 2009. (Miliot) This is compounded by the fact that retail stores have decreased the number of hours that employees work at retail stores which effectively signals cost cutting techniques at work. This variable has tended to affect book sales as a whole (online and physical) negatively. Negative growth resulting from the economic down turn has been rapid and seems bent upon sustaining current trends. Consumers are still figuring out how much their budgets can afford the purchases of new books. The spike in sales in the last quarter of each year indicates that consumers do have the kind of purchasing power required to buy books but they lack the initiative too given the general state of depression. However, it is significant to note that the larger authors are still generating sales as they did previously. The larger brand names in publishing are averaging around the same business level which again shows market potential. Growing use of e-books: The growing move towards e-books has hit the regular book publishing markets highly in the long run. It is expected that regular book publishing will decrease at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 3% between 2010 and 2014.