Christmas discounting arrives 'early'
04.09.09 Victoria Gallagher in The Bookseller

Deep discounting on Christmas titles has begun “early” with retailers offering up to 62% off the £26 r.r.p. for Jamie Oliver’s new book.
Despite it being only the beginning of September retailers are also offering discounts on pre-orders for a range of titles anticipated as vital for Christmas.

Waterstone’s is selling Jamie’s America (Michael Joseph) for £9.99 both online and in store until Sunday (13th Sept). Amazon is offering the book for the same price and Sainsbury’s is selling it for £11.99, Play.com for £12.99 and WHSmith.co.uk for £13.
Meanwhile, Waterstone’s and Amazon are offering pre-order prices with 50% off r.r.p. on Peter Kay’s Saturday Night Peter (Century), Ant and Dec’s Oh What a Lovely Pair (Michael Joseph) and Guinness World Records 2010 (Guinness World Records).

Play.com head of books Caroline Mileham thought the deep cuts on Jamie’s book signalled the beginning of the Christmas price discounting. She said: "I think that Jamie is now such a staple of Christmas. It’s a bit of a signpost in terms of Christmas, so I think it probably is the start."
Mileham said that owing to the recession she thinks that retailers may be keen to start the critical Christmas season earlier. She added: "I think there will very possibly be more discounting as everyone is aware that people have not got money. I think on key titles people [retailers] will discount earlier."
Borders senior non-fiction buyer John Packard said: "This week sees a great start to non-fiction publishing for the autumn, with sure-fire winners such as Jamie’s America being released—sure to drive footfall." He added that another "potentially huge" week for new releases would come at the beginning of October.
Asda books buyer Steph Bateson said she thought that Christmas for the consumer would begin after Hallowe’en. Bateson added: "In the retail world we get a bit hung up on releases, but I don’t think customers will notice."