Winter 2023 edition of EIBF Insights now available
Welcome to a new edition of EIBF Insights, our quarterly newsletter dedicated to sharing news from the EIBF world and the wider bookselling industry.
In this edition, we are taking a closer look at the speakers of the upcoming RISE Bookselling Conference 2023, sharing EIBF's contribution to the European Commission's consultation on French minimum delivery fee for books, reflecting on our members' insights during the latest EIBF international call, inviting you to listen to our new RISE Bookselling podcast and sharing a book review by our member. Find out more in EIBF Insights 109.
On May 23, EIBF Policy Assistant Tora Åsling and EIBF Intern Alexandra Giovagnoli attended the 11th annual conference on European e-commerce which took place in Brussels, Belgium. Continue reading for a summary of the event.
Bringing together policymakers from the European institutions and its member states as well as stakeholders in online commerce, the 11th annual European e-commerce conference discussed current issues surrounding European e-commerce regulation. A wide range of issues arising from the digital revolution were broached, including the future of the digital single market, online consumer protection through the “New Consumer Agenda”, and sustainable e-commerce.
The rise of digital technologies is constantly modernizing our societies, requiring increasingly modern, future-oriented policies. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission has placed the digital revolution at the heart of its work. The European Commission’s Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, who introduced the conference, began by highlighting the importance of consumer protection in Europe’s digital market, at a time when 90% of consumers say they have been exposed to targeted advertising which makes them feel unsafe online. As Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), pointed out, consumers are often vulnerable and at risk in online spaces as many tech-giants don’t comply with existing regulations on consumer protection, such as GDPR for instance. The European institutions should provide efficient support to consumers, both offline and online, she continued.
To counter this negative trend and increase consumer safety online, the European Commission has set up the "New Consumer Agenda" to give European consumers the means to play an active role in the green and digital transition. The New Consumer Agenda was launched by the European Commission at the end of 2020 and is to run for the next five years and will, for instance, involve tightening regulations on the transparency of product information provided online and better consumer protection in online commerce.
Another major issue discussed at the conference was the future of the digital single market. The Digital Single Market is a policy pursued by the European Commission to create the conditions for a digital single market within the European Union. This strategy is based on three objectives: improving access to digital goods and services throughout Europe, creating an environment conducive to the development of digital networks and services, and maximizing the growth potential of Europe's digital economy. The stakeholders agreed that regulating online commerce is crucial in order to allow European small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), like bookshops, to compete fairly in the online sphere. The existence of a digital single market would make it easier to understand the rules of a market that is constantly evolving. To harmonize the European digital market effectively, digital tools need to be put in place, notably through projects such as the "Singe Digital Gateway", to facilitate online access to information and administrative procedures for EU citizens and businesses. This platform provides an online service called "Your Europe", where businesses and individuals can be guided through the rules, rights and procedures established by EU law.
The sustainability of the digital single market is also at the heart of the contemporary challenges facing e-commerce. Pierre Hausemer, Managing Director at the Valdani Vicari & Associati group (VVA group), a public policy consultancy in Europe, spoke in particular about the survey they carried out on the environmental footprint of online commerce. Their survey revealed a significant lack of consumer understanding of online platforms, as well as the growing practice of greenwashing, which is a marketing technique designed to convey an embellished or even false image of a company's eco-responsibility. The various participants, i.e., European politicians and stakeholders in online commerce, agreed on the importance of “consumer coaching”, to create conscious consumers. To achieve this, they need to be provided with the information they need to make it easier for them to make conscious decisions and buy sustainable products.
Finally, all the stakeholders agreed on one of the central problems of the digital single market which is the failure to comply with and enforce existing legislations especially so when it comes to tech giants, but it also applies to SMEs, as some laws and their application are confusing to smaller businesses. Indeed, the participants agreed that it is now necessary to focus on the application of laws rather than bringing in more. It has been observed that non- compliance with the law is very often unintentional, due to a lack of information for SMEs. The introduction of guidelines accompanying new laws was mentioned, to enable SMES to be guided in complying to the regulations that concern them.
Overall, this conference on e-commerce in Europe allowed professionals to address fundamental issues about the future of online commerce in Europe. The stakeholders in the sector were able to discuss the challenges of the digital revolution, while at the same time coming up with potential solutions. The conference taught us that there are many challenges ahead in the field of e-commerce, particularly in terms of protecting consumers online, ensuring the sustainability of the digital single market, and improving law enforcement to help both big and small businesses, including bookshops, participate in the digital transition.
Libri.Campus, Germany's largest training event for the independent book trade, celebrated last 11-12 May the 20th edition of its annual event. Always set around a theme or issue concerning the book industry, the 2023 programme revolved around the goal of getting to understand young readers and ran under the motto ‘Generation Book’.
Following this symbolic milestone in the history of Libri.Campus, we had a discussion with Alyna Wnukowsky, Spokeswoman for the Management Board of Libri, who guides us through the contributions that Libri.Campus has made to the book sector over the years, and how it stands as a valuable platform for booksellers to connect, gain knowledge a thrive in the industry.
Where does the idea of the Libri.Campus come from?
The concept behind the Libri.Campus is to empower the independent book trade. These locally owned bookstores ensure the visibility of books even in rural areas. However, amidst their day-to-day operations, booksellers often struggle to keep up with current trends. Today, the Libri.Campus is the largest educational event for independent booksellers.
What specific solutions can Libri.Campus provide to booksellers/the bookselling sector?
The Libri.Campus provides a platform for learning, idea-sharing, deep-diving into topics, and simply having a great time together. It's important to note that booksellers are the true experts in their own businesses. We merely provide them with the space to connect and exchange experiences, along with knowledge from industry experts and valuable data. For instance, this year, we collaborated with the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and conducted a survey involving 30 young adults to understand their reading habits and buying behavior. Additionally, we commissioned a GfK evaluation on the purchasing behavior of young book buyers. Drawing upon these evaluations and others, we engaged in collaborative discussions at the Libri.Campus.
Each year, the Libri.Campus focuses on a central theme. In 2022, the emphasis was on sustainability and the impact of values in the book trade. This year's theme was "GENERATION BOOK." How did this approach come about?
In the German book market, we observe a decline in young readership every year. However, it's also worth noting that young people are now spending more money on books compared to five years ago. To summarize, while we have fewer young readers, those who do read are highly enthusiastic. This led us to ask ourselves: How can we spark excitement about locally owned bookstores among young book lovers? How can we reach a broader audience of young people? And most importantly, how can we understand their desires and establish effective communication channels?
At Libri.Campus you place a lot of emphasis on practical approaches. Where do these ideas come from?
We work with project groups, where a team of booksellers develops ideas related to the Libri.Campus's main theme prior to the event. This year, a group of fourteen booksellers focused on the young target audience and tested their ideas within their bookshops during their day-to-day operations. At the live event, these fourteen booksellers form the "project group" and present their results on stage. The response has been fantastic, with fellow booksellers in the audience expressing enthusiasm. All these ideas have yielded positive outcomes within a few weeks and can be easily implemented, regardless of the size of one's bookstore.
How has booksellers' engagement with Libri.Campus evolved over the years? Can you summarize its impact on the bookselling sector?
The Libri.Campus has become a crucial industry gathering that booksellers eagerly anticipate each year. The trade press also takes a keen interest in the event and it`s topics. Ultimately, every successful bookstore adds to the diversity of our industry.
How do you look at the future of Libri Campus?
The Libri.Campus has always been attuned to the spirit of the times and will continue to be so. Our goal has always been to identify the challenges that the independent book trade will face in the future at an early stage. This will remain our guiding principle in the years to come. It's a priority on our agenda.
EIBF is pleased to announce the publication of the Global Bookselling Markets report for 2022, which explores current trends in the sector, analyses the impact of inflation on bookshops and highlights the different development paths they could take in the future.
2022 has been a year of transformation and transition for the bookselling industry, following two unprecedented years of disruption. When looking at the overall book sales numbers from all the analysed markets, we can observe two distinct trends across the globe. Half of the analysed markets experienced a clear decrease in book sales last year, while the other half reported stability and, in some cases, a positive development in turnover.
Broadly speaking, this decline can be explained by two main factors. On the one hand, the exceptional circumstances in 2021: after months of closure, bookshops reopened, boosting sales to a 10-year high, especially at Christmas. Thus, if 2022 sales data still display some positive and encouraging results, they appear very modest when compared to the preceding year. On the other hand, the inflation rising throughout 2022 and the energy crisis, partly caused by the outbreak of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has limited readers' purchasing power, as well as pushed up production costs within the sector.
Global overview of the bookselling markets in 2022
That said, when taking a closer look at each of the analysed markets we can see that their performance throughout 2022 has been very diverse. In some cases, the complete return to physical spaces has boosted brick-and-mortar sales. As for digital sales, several of the analysed countries report more modest numbers than in 2021.
The report is based on a survey carried out by EIBF over the past semester. National booksellers associations and EIBF associate members from sixteen countries have responded to a questionnaire, providing an insight into the state of play of their respective markets and the potential directions that the sector could be heading in: Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
On January 25, at Winter Institute 11, Civic Economics and the American Booksellers Association released a groundbreaking new study, “Amazon and Empty Storefronts,” which details the overall negative impact that Amazon has had on Main Street retailers and jobs, and the communities in which they are located, across the country.
While Amazon generally receives substantial subsidies and tax breaks from states and municipalities for opening warehouses staked on the premise that these warehouses will create thousands of jobs, the national results are quite the opposite. Even counting all the jobs in Amazon distribution centers, Amazon sales produced a net national loss of 135,973 retail jobs, and the study showed that a total of more than $1 billion in revenue is lost to state and local governments.
“This unprecedented study makes abundantly clear the deleterious effects on the American economy resulting from Amazon’s strategy of retail dominance,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “It’s our hope that the facts included in this report will help policymakers and the public better understand the need for more diversity in the marketplace and help them recognize the potential long-term costs of the loss of healthy local economies.” (For the complete study, executive summary, or individualized state summaries, click here.)
On today's antitrust day of action, Molly Bond, Advocacy & Public Policy Manager at the American Booksellers Association, spotlights some of the recent work the association has been doing in this space
The U.S. retail world stands on the precipice of something that only a few years ago seemed impossible – Amazon being sanctioned, and possibly broken up, for its abusive tactics. Antitrust is no longer solely a progressive issue – it is quickly becoming a bipartisan effort.
State of Play
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) began the fight against Amazon 23 years ago when the online giant refused to collect and remit sales tax for online orders, leaving customers to believe shopping on Amazon was “tax free”. While ABA was repeatedly told that sales tax fairness was a lost cause, ABA’s advocacy division, empowered by active and persistent bookseller involvement, successfully lobbied for sales tax fairness. We see the same pattern happening today with antitrust; there has been a sea change in just the past three years alone.
Following a 16-month investigation by the House of Representatives Antitrust Subcommittee into the Big Tech companies’ abusive market dominance, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI-1) and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO-4) introduced a package of bills aimed at addressing the key findings in June 2021. The bipartisan package includes the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, which would prohibit self-preferencing, and the Ending Platform Monopolies Act, which could break up Amazon. On the Senate side, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced their own version of the American Choice and Innovation Online Act. Thanks to booksellers who contacted their lawmakers, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees advanced the bills in late June 2021 and January 2022, respectively.
On the state level, the New York State legislature is considering the Twenty-First Century Antitrust Act to hold individual companies accountable for abusing their dominance. The legislation, if enacted, would be an aggressive attempt to sanction companies like Amazon for market dominance.
In May 2021, the District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against Amazon accusing Amazon of fixing prices on its online marketplace for third-party sellers and illegally tilting the playing field in its favor. Unfortunately, the Superior Court of D.C. threw out the lawsuit in March 2022. AG Racine is said to be contemplating an appeal.
ABA’s Work
Over the years, ABA’s advocacy efforts include:
building coalitions
communicating with key decision-makers
penning position papers outlining Amazon’s abuse
empowering booksellers to advocate
ABA currently belongs to three coalitions working to tackle concentrated market power and create a fair playing field for small businesses: Alliance for a Resilient Small Business Economy, Rein in Big Tech, and Small Business Rising. Through collective work with these coalitions, ABA has sent letters to lawmakers, crafted advocacy campaigns, and organized policy briefings for Congressional staff and education sessions for small businesses.
ABA, along with coalition partners, engages in ongoing discussions with federal and state lawmakers and agency heads. Whether it’s providing feedback on proposed legislation in the House or New York State Legislature, meeting with or writing to lawmakers and their staff to tell booksellers’ stories and demand action, or submitting comments to the Federal Trade Commission, ABA is in constant communication with key decision-makers.
To draw attention to Amazon’s wide scope of abuse, ABA has penned two position papers. In early 2019, ABA released a paper detailing why Amazon is a monopoly. In 2020, as a follow-up, ABA released a legally grounded argument making the case as to why Amazon is in violation of antitrust laws and should be broken up. ABA sent both papers to key legislators, the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, and Attorneys General in all 50 states and D.C. ABA met with State Attorneys General (AGs) earlier this year and presented the most recent paper to 80 attendees. ABA is now working on drafting a third position paper which will take a deep dive into the bookselling industry.
ABA’s work is rooted in grassroots bookseller support. That’s why ABA has provided booksellers with tools to advocate. These tools range from talking points when booksellers accompany ABA in lawmaker meetings to one-click advocacy campaigns for booksellers to contact their lawmakers.
In 2020 ABA also launched #BoxedOut, a consumer marketing campaign designed to bring attention to the costs and consequences of shopping with Amazon. The campaign went viral, bringing attention to both antitrust concerns and the value of shopping indie.
ABA's assets for the #BoxedOut campaign, with new social media assets that highlight reasons to shop with indie bookstores
How Booksellers Can Get Involved
Booksellers were the driving force behind this movement 23 years ago and still are today. So how can you get more involved?
Participate in ABA’s advocacy campaigns: Your voice matters! Taking a few minutes to tweet, call, or send a pre-written email to your lawmakers is so simple and yet so impactful. Lawmakers want to hear stories from constituents like you.
Be active on social media: If your bookstore has a social media presence, don’t be afraid to use it to draw attention to Amazon’s negative impact on your store and other small businesses. As the momentum shifts, Amazon has started to go on the offensive – pushing a false narrative that antitrust reform is bad for small businesses. Speak your truth!
Talk to your customers and your community: When possible, engage with your customers and your community about Amazon’s negative impact at the local level and how Amazon’s monopoly power directly hurts your bookstore. Urge your retail neighbors and customers to get involved and shop local.
The French-German declaration of the 9th of September 2013 from Deutscher Kulturrat, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V., Syndicat national de l’édition and Syndicat de la Librairie Française.
Pour que vive l’exception culturelle française, pour que la diversité reste un droit, pour que chaque lecteur ait le choix de sa librairie numérique, les libraires défendent le principe de l’interopérabilité des systèmes liés au livre numérique.
L’ALIRE, le SDLC, et le SLF diffusent en français un résumé de l’étude de l’Université Gutenberg sur l’interopérabilité du livre numérique commanditée par l’EIBF (Fédération Européenne et Internationale des Libraires).
Les lourds investissements que nos entreprises de librairie font actuellement sur ce marché ne seront rentabilisés que le jour où le consommateur pourra librement choisir sa librairie numérique, comme il choisit aujourd’hui sa librairie physique. Grâce au prix unique du livre numérique voté par les parlementaires français et à l’égalité de tous les acteurs du numérique face à l’impôt, que nous appelons de nos voeux, nous pourrons alors trouver les conditions d’une saine concurrence entre les différents acteurs français ou étrangers au bénéficie du développement du marché européen.
L’ALIRE, le SDLC et le SLF remercient Madame Neelie Kroes, Vice-présidente de la Commission européenne en charge de la stratégie numérique pour son soutien et l’EIBF et son président, John McNamee pour leur aide dans cette approche.
« De l’interopérabilité des formats du livre numérique : une étude de l’Université Gutenberg, commanditée par la Fédération européenne des libraires ».
L’ALIRE (Association des Librairies Informatisées et Utilisatrices de Réseaux Électroniques) est une association de libraires qui représente l’intérêt de tous les libraires en matière d’échanges de données informatisés concernant le livre papier et numérique. ►http://alire.asso.fr
Le SDLC (Syndicat des Distributeurs de Loisirs Culturels) regroupe les principales chaines de distributions de produits culturels en France : Cultura, Chapitre, Decitre, le Furet du Nord et les magasins affiliés au groupement Starter. Toutes ces enseignes ont développé une offre de vente à distance de livres physiques et numériques. Le SDLC est engagé dans la défense de la diversité culturelle et la prise en compte des attentes des consommateurs ► http://www.sdlc.fr/
Le SLF (Syndicat de la Librairie Française) est le syndicat représentatif du secteur de la librairie et regroupe plus de 600 libraires de toutes tailles. Son action s’appuie sur les valeurs d’indépendance et de promotion de la diversité culturelle ainsi que sur la valorisation du travail des libraires, conjuguant le service personnalisé au client, l’offre d’un assortiment varié de qualité et une animation sociale et culturelle liée à l’ancrage dans un territoire. ►http://www.syndicat-librairie.fr/
L’ALIRE, le SDLC et le SLF représentent la France au sein de l’EIBF (Fédération Européenne et Internationale des Libraires ►http://www.europeanbooksellers.eu
EIBF co-President Jean-Luc Treutenaere and EIBF Board members Anne Martelle and Nina Stavisky explore the opportunities and challenges on the French bookselling market in 2021
Last year has been a very good year for booksellers in France. After a very turbulent 2020, with businesses being impacted by lockdowns and various restrictions, many bookshop customers returned to stores. The market figures show an increase in sales of roughly 20%, which is probably the best ever!
However, the results are not only a matter of chance or opportunity, but they highlight the hard work of the whole book chain. During this period, booksellers invested in scaling up their digital services – for example, in the past two years, we have seen a rise of 1500% in online sales for independent booksellers – , as well as setting up click and collect units and providing diverse operations to engage their customers.
Despite the pandemic, bookshops remain open
On the pandemic side, all bookshops remained open across the country, and freely accessible. Customers have to wear a mask, keep safe distances and use hand sanitiser during their visits. Booksellers strive to ensure an important level of protection for both their customers and their employees. On the other hand, a vaccine pass is compulsory to visit libraries, restaurants and movie theatres.
France introduces new shipping law
One of the major political highlights for independent booksellers in France in 2021, was the adoption of the law introducing a minimum shipping fee for selling books. So-called ‘Darcos Law’, deriving its name from the Senator Laure Darcos, will help even the playing field for all booksellers. The shipping costs are yet to be defined, but they are predicted to be in the range of two to five euros. This should be confirmed in early 2022, with the law expected to enter into practice at the end of this year.
Launch of the culture pass
In 2021, France also launched the culture pass for all 18 year olds, which allows them to spend up to 300 € on theatres, movies, music, and books! It was a big success, resulting in an important rise of sales of comics and mangas. The pass has now been extended to younger people, with a smaller sum.
New year also bring new challenges, with many opportunities ahead for French booksellers, including:
• The rise of digital and audio books, on which traditional booksellers have poor, or no, offer and market share
• The access to large libraries through subscription (Kobo, Amazon Unlimited, Youboox, Youscribe, etc)
• The purchase of Hachette (first French publisher and sixth on the planet) by Vivendi (Editis, second publisher in France). This could lead to a ‘mega publishing and distribution house’, weighting between 40 and 60% of some bookstores or chains’ revenues
• The technical and accounting challenges of implementing dematerialised invoicing in all French companies, which will bring about profound changes in the way we manage our businesses
Still, we are very confident for the year ahead, ready to welcome our customers and help them discover the treasures in our inventories.
This article has been written by EIBF co-President Jean-Luc Treutenaere and EIBF Board members Anne Martelle, President of the Syndicat de la librairie française, and Nina Stavisky, Executive Director of ALIRE.
The EU Commission will by no means discuss fixed book prices as part of negotiations relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), even if US negotiators bring up the matter themselves. Following the suggestion of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association), EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has now clarified this position in a written reply. According to Malmström, national book price-fixing systems – such as Germany’s Buchpreisbindungsgesetz (Fixed Book Price Law), which applies to both printed and electronic books – will in no way be affected by the planned TTIP trade agreement. This means, for example, that even US-American eBook platforms will be legally obliged to adhere to retail prices determined by German publishers when selling German-language eBooks to customers based in Germany. It also means that any non-compliance with this obligation can be prohibited in an effective manner.
As Börsenverein Managing Director Alexander Skipis noted, “For German and European book markets, the official confirmation from the EU Commission that fixed book prices will form no part of TTIP negotiations is a tremendous step forward. It means that we were successful in enforcing our central concern with regard to the ongoing trade-agreement negotiations. Our thanks go out to EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström as well as to Germany’s Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel and Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, all of whom supported the book industry on this point. The Börsenverein will continue to follow the further course of negotiations with great interest.”
Book price fixing in Germany has been regulated by law since 2002. This law acts as a guarantor of quality and diversity on the book market. Germany has the world’s second largest book market and – with its delicate book-trade structures and multifaceted publishing landscape – profits considerably from this law. Fixed book prices also result in the average price of books being clearly lower than in countries without such regulations.
