Britain’s economic “recovery,” which the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition that has run the country since May 2010 once promised would be well in hand by now, has receded beyond the horizon. Despite that, U.K. booksellers are more optimistic than they were a year or so ago, reporting that consumer confidence has increased in what one independent described as “a slightly more buoyant atmosphere.” 
The view was echoed by a number of in-house sales directors, and by James Daunt, now finishing his second year as managing director of Waterstones, the U.K.’s largest book chain. Daunt noted that while London is “robust, some parts of the country are truly awful”—particularly the north, where a high percentage of the population relies on government jobs, which are no longer secure.

Last summer, the Olympics provided a mood boost, though no significant sales increase. It’s hard to account for the high spirits this summer. It’s likely that Britons have adjusted to the new reality and are spending. It helps, too, that publishers are responding to the e-book surge by producing more covetable print editions.
Bowker research presented at the Books & Consumers Conference in March revealed that the rise of e-books was not enough to prevent an overall 1% decline in the value of consumer book purchases in 2012. The U.K.’s consumer book market was worth £2.1 billion last year—significantly down from the 2007 record of £2.5 billion. Yet unit purchases were only 2 million behind the 2007 figure, at 296 million, and up from the 2011 figure.

Bowker’s data shows that e-books accounted for 6% of 2012 purchases by spending, and 11% by units last year. Most book buyers still don’t own tablets or e-readers, and e-reader owners continued to buy two-thirds of their books in print form. But the rise of e-books has accelerated the shift among book buyers toward online purchasing. Online-only retailers took 38% of consumer book purchases by units in 2012, jumping ahead of bricks-and-mortar booksellers at 37%. However, physical booksellers remained ahead in revenues. Not surprisingly, Internet-only retailers—with Amazon way ahead of its rivals—took 95% of e-book purchases. Worryingly for bookshops, e-book purchasers bought most of their print books online as well.
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