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Waterstones has reported a 5% revenue rise, which its CEO says is fuelled by an increased interest in fiction by younger readers
Bookstore chain, Waterstones, has reported that it is adding about ten UK stores annually and has seen a 5% revenue rise, fuelled by an apparent surge in younger readers.
Waterstones currently has 320 bookshops and owns the Foyles, Hatchards, and Blackwell’s brands, with its parent group also owning Barnes & Noble, the US’s largest bookstore chain.
According to information provided to The Guardian by Waterstones, fiction sales have jumped up by 12.2% in the last year, offsetting declines in children’s and non-fiction.
Growth is said to be even stronger in the US, where sister brand, Barnes & Noble, is planning 60 new stores a year.
Despite these rises, the UK print book market as a whole shrank by 1%, making up about 80% of total sales, while digital sales grew by 17%.
James Daunt, chief executive officer of Waterstones, believes that younger adults are being inspired to pick up paperback fiction by social media trends such as the surge in ‘BookTok’ recommendations on TikTok.
Speaking to The Guardian, Daunt says: “They want to do something that is not staring at a screen and that is relatively inexpensive, and once people start collecting books they just buy more. BookTok is an easy label to put on it, but this is about people wanting to read and talk about books.”
BookTok, the book-loving corner of TikTok, has helped to propel numerous books to fame. Titles including the ‘Court of Thorns and Roses’ series by Sarah J. Maas, ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller, and ‘It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover have gained major popularity through recommendations and reviews from BookTok creators.
Speaking of Waterstones’ plans for the future, Daunt says that the bookseller is aiming to keep hold of its shops, even in less affluent areas where other retailers have exited.
He gives the example of a store in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is reportedly seeing a resurgence thanks to new orders from local employer, BAE Systems. “If you stay in these places, the pendulum does swing back,” Daunt says.
