ABSTRACT
Publishers can operate through a variety of sales channels, and the choice of channel will depend on the sector in which they operate. The sales success of consumer books, for example, depends on retail exposure. As we saw in Chapter 10, an important purchase prompt is being visible in the shops. The booksellers are the consumer publishers’ most important customers and the sales channel at which they direct most of their marketing and sales effort. But publishers also have to pay attention to the growth in sales from the supermarkets and through the internet. Table 13.1 shows the market share by value of different retail outlets in the UK – volume fi gures (units sold) show higher shares for the supermarkets and online. Over time the trend has been for the share of supermarkets and the internet to grow, and for independent bookshops, bargain bookshops and book clubs to suffer a decline (Table 13.2).
