Market trends in the first half of 2019

The Italian trade book market grew in the first six months of the year compared to the first six months of the previous year (+4.0%)[1].

The following trends were observed by the sales channels:

  • chains and e-commerce (which account for around 70% of the total market) recorded growth of +6.9%, mainly driven by growth in e-commerce;
  • independent bookstores (around 23% of the market) were essentially on a like-for-like basis (-0.6%);
  • large-scale retailing (which accounts for around 7% of the market) continued its downward trend (-8.0%), though less than in previous quarters.

With reference to the product categories, there was an increase in both Hardcovers (+4.6% compared with the same period of the previous year, representing around 83% of the market at 30 June) and catalogue products (Paperback) (+1.0%).

The first five months of 2019 saw the following trends in the reference markets for magazines in Italy.

  • The advertising market in May saw an overall fall of -4.0%, with growth in the Digital (+2.0%) and Radio (+2.2%) channels; magazines reported a fall of -15.4%, newspapers a fall of -10.6% and TV a fall of -3.7%[2];
  • the magazine circulation market declined by -12.3% (with a slowdown in both the newsstand and subscription channels);
  • in the first five months of the year, the add-on market recorded a negative trend of -6.9%[3].

[1] Source: GFK, June 2019 (data at market value). As of May 2019, GfK expanded its coverage panel by increasing the survey of e-commerce operators; as a result, the overall market value and the relative yoy differences were re-profiled and the details by channel were revised by merging book chains and e-commerce.
[2] Source: Nielsen, progressive data as of May 2019
[3] Internal source: Press-Di, progressive data as of May 2019 (newsstand channel + subscriptions) in value.

Market's evolution

1H191Q19FY189M181H181Q18FY179M171H171Q17FY169M161H161Q16
Trade books +4.0% +0.8% -1.1%-0.4%-0.1%4.1%5.4%2.3%1.3%-0.4%0.7%2.3%2.6%0.5%
  • Bookstore chains and e-commerce*
 +6.9% +0.8% -1.1% -1.3%-1.2%0.8%2.7%1.9%1.4%0.2%2.4%4.9%6.0%4.6%
  • Independent bookstores
 -0.6% -2.6% -2.7% -3.5%-3.2%-1.3%-2.0%-4.1%-4.8%-7.3%-6.5%-1.1%-1.4%-3.3%
  • E-commerce
 – +10.6% 8.5% 12.9%11.6%21.6%37.3%24.6%21.4%23.7%15.6%17.0%15.6%8.2%
  • Large retailers
 -8.0% -17.3% -18.7% -16.7%-12.5%-4.5%-12.2%-14.2%-15.4%-20.3%-15.7%-13.1%-12.5%-10.8%
Magazines Italy
  • Circulation**
 -12.3% -13.5% -8.6% -9.0%-9.1%-9.3%-10.6%-11.9%-12.7%-11,5%-10.6%-8.3%-8.8%-7.1%
  • Advertising

Print

 -15.4% -13.1%  -8.2% -8.9%-8.6%-11.0%-6.2%-7.0%-6.1%-7.7%-4.0%-3.6%-3.0%-4.5%

Web

 +2.0% +3.0% 4.5% 4.0%2.1%2.5%1.7%-1.0%0.6%-2.6%-2.3%-1.6%-1.9%0.8%
  • Add ons
 -6.9% -5.6% -18.2%  -10.8%-16.4%-19.5%-21.9%-27.7%-29.7%-26.8%-12.8%-6.7%-6.8%-3.0%
Magazines France
  • Circulation (newsstands)
 – – -7.1% -7.0%-4.8%-19.5%-6.1%-6.8%-8.1%-8.1%-5.4%-5.3%-4.4%-5.6%
  • Advertising (print)
 – – -10.8% -10.7%-10.7%-9.9%-10.8%-11.4%-11.2%n.d.-8.4%-6.3%-3.1%-1.8%

* As of May 2019, GfK expanded its coverage panel by increasing the survey of e-commerce operators; as a result, the overall market value and the relative yoy differences were re-profiled and the details by channel were revised by merging book chains and e-commerce.

* Starting from 1H 2016, the % variations refer to the whole circulation market trends (newstands + subscriptions)

Sources
Trade book: GFK (value)
Magazine Italy: circulation, internal estimate (value) – advertising, Nielsen (value)
Magazine France: circulation, internal estimate + Presstalis (value) – advertising, Net Index (value)