According to the survey “Reading and cultural consumption in the year of the emergency”, promoted by the Centre for Books and Reading (Cepell) of the Mibact and the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) with the collaboration of Pepe Research, in 2020 Italians read more .
In fact, the number of respondents between the ages of 15 and 74 who read at least one book (paperback, eBook or audiobook) in October 2020 increased by 3 percentage points compared to the data for May 2020 and October 2019 (58%), for a total of 27.6 million people .
Compared to the pre-pandemic situation, the ways of enjoying and purchasing books have also changed.
40% of those who have October said they have read at least one book in the last 12 months, in fact, they read digitally , against 46% of those who prefer paper . 14% , however, use all types of media , analog and digital.
Books, eBooks, and Audiobooks: Online Book Purchases on the Rise with COVID-19
If we look at the data from 2019 , just one year before the pandemic, “digital” readers were 32% , compared to 51% who read on paper and 17% who used both methods.
Due to the obligation to remain confined at home during the worst months of the pandemic between March and May, 2020 saw a significant increase in the number of Italians who purchased online and readers who opted for digital media. Specifically, book readers and existing customers of traditional bookstores who purchased a book online for the first time reached 3.4 million , while those who bought an eBook for the first time reached 2.3 million .
According to data from the AIE survey "Effects of Covid-19 on the market and purchasing behavior in this first part of 2021", it is also estimated that 31% of readers between 15 and 75 years old have read more because they have had the opportunity to discover new proposals and an unpublished offer on the web: it seems, in fact, that in online bookstores it is easier to intercept lesser-known books and authors and this would have led to an increase in interest in reading and, consequently, in purchases .
With physical bookstores struggling to drive sales during the pandemic, it was online that drove a 54% increase in turnover that drove the sector to growth in 2020.
In 2020, 55% of people read paper books , 30 % eBooks , and 12% of people choose audiobooks (+2%).
Books, eBooks, and Audiobooks: Online Book Purchases on the Rise with COVID-19
Italians are back in bookstores. Other physical stores and libraries are also doing well.
The indisputable growth in the number of Italians who have begun to purchase online has not, however, decreed the death of bookstores, quite the opposite.
Again according to data collected by the Italian Publishers Association and the Mibact Center for Books and Reading, in October 2020 67% of readers said they would continue to frequent the bookstore . The figure is slightly down compared to the previous year's numbers (74%), but a clear recovery compared to the 20% of May 2020.
Also at the end of 2020, 23% of readers chose other physical outlets , especially supermarkets, while in 2019 the percentage stood at 21%.
41% of Italians have rediscovered titles from their home library and library loans (in addition to loans and gifts from relatives, acquaintances and friends) as a source of reading.
In particular, bookstores have proven to be essential in choosing what to read: 33% of readers, in fact, choose which title to buy once they enter the bookstore . 23% , instead, rely on information found online , while 21% rely on traditional media .
Ebooks and audiobooks are list of anguilla consumer email growing , therefore, as is the e-commerce channel in general. Despite this, the physical channel (bookstores or large-scale distribution) and the paper book , not only do not retreat, but are returning to attract customers almost at pre-pandemic levels.
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