A 2023 Consumer survey by BookNet Canada highlighted rising prices and buying trends in the country. Around 48% of 4,270 participants said they bought new books in 2023, 22 percent of whom say they bought secondhand books, and 24 percent of whom say they borrowed books from the library.
The percentage of Canadians who bought books in 2023 is dropping in the price range of CAN$1 to $49. The following chart shows the number of survey respondents who said they’d bought in that range in 2023 fell to 53 percent from 64 percent in 2022.
Image credit: Publishing Perspectives
The BookNet reports: “While 88 percent of Canadians who bought new books looked for sales, promotions, and coupons when they shop for books. Most of them paid full price for the books they purchased in 2023, at 61 percent.”
That percentage, they say, is the highest it’s been in the last five years—up from 55 percent in 2022, 56 percent in 2021, and 55 percent in 2020 and 2019. In format comparisons, full-price purchases were most likely to be paperback (67 percent) or hardcover (61 percent), rather than an ebook (45 percent) or audiobook (37 percent).
Consumers responding to the research said that despite the price increases, they considered the value they got for the money to be “excellent” (49 percent) or good (38 percent). Some 12 percent said they saw that value as “fair” (12 percent), and only 1 percent said the value for the money was “poor.”
Image credit: Publishing Perspectives
In secondhand book buys, consumers said they were influenced by pricing, just as in new-book purchases:
- 89 percent said they checked for sales, promotions, and coupons while shopping for books.
- 70 percent said they preferred to pay for a bundle of content more so than buying one single item.
- 66 said they added books to their online cart to get free shipping.
- 53 said they bought whichever book was least expensive, regardless of its format (print book, ebook, audiobook).
And in that CAN$1 to $49 range as far as secondhand books, the percentage of respondents who said they spent something in that range on secondhand books fell by 31 percent from 2022.
Image credit: Publishing Perspectives
In addition, the BookNet survey results showed that 63 percent of self-styled book borrowers said they participated in book-related reward and loyalty programs: up from 52 percent in 2022, 55 percent in 2021, and 21 percent in 2020.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.