The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Internet book sales increase in France

19.05.08 Barbara Casassus

The internet increased its share of book sales in France to 6.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, compared to 4.6% of the €4.1bn book market in 2007, 3.5% in 2006 and 3.0% in 2005, according to figures prepared by market research firm GfK for the French E-Commerce and Distance Sales Federation (Fevad).

Internet book sales jumped in value by 32% in the first three months of this year, against only 0.6% for cultural products overall. Books rose in value by 27.5% to €171m in 2007, against 10.2% to €407m for all cultural products, and are expected to increase by at least 25% for 2008 as a whole, said Anne-Sophie Bender, head of the cultural products distribution for GfK France.

The French edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows broke all records in 2007 with sales worth an estimated €2.03m. The English version ranked fourth among all cultural products with €860,000, just after the DVD of season two of "Desperate Housewives" and the game "World of Warcraft: the Burning Crusade".

Most internet booksellers are understood to be operating at a loss, a problem that is at the centre of the legal battle over free book deliveries waged by the French Booksellers Association (SLF).

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