Indigo Books and Music had a great holiday season selling books and the company has just reported that revenue has increased by 12.9%. Sales rose to $383.2 million at the Canadian retailer, while net earnings in the quarter jumped to C$52.8 million.
The chain reported that increases were across all channels and categories. On a comparable store basis, Indigo and Chapters superstores posted 15.5% growth, while Coles and Indigospirit small format stores increased by 13.4%. Sales from Indigo’s online channel, indigo.ca, rose 17.9%. Indigo operated one fewer superstore in the quarter than last year, and four fewer small-format outlets.
As at February 2, 2016, the company operates 90 superstores under the banners Chapters and Indigo and 126 small format stores, under the banners Coles, Indigospirit, SmithBooks, and The Book Company.
What I find quite surprising about the latest financial report is how far e-book and e-reader revenue has fallen. During the crucial holiday season it looks like overall digital and hardware sales are at record lows.
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.