Amazon’s share of the book market is forecast to keep on growing. But Amazon is already so big, you say. How is this possible?
First, it helps to understand just how big Amazon is. When we talk about Amazon’s size in relation to its share of the book market it’s easy to forget that Amazon is also giving players in other industries quite the drubbing.
Look at e-commerce in general, for instance. Walmart grew its e-commerce business by 70% in 2020, making it the second-biggest online retailer in the US. This year, the research firm eMarketer, expects Walmart to bring in a total of $64.6 billion. That’s a lot of dough, but it’s only one-sixth of the $367.2 billion that Amazon is forecast to make.
On the book front, Amazon’s share of book sales in the US is estimated to stand at about 54%. Since Amazon does not report on book sales figures specifically but gives overall numbers and trends, researchers have to work on estimates.
In a recent article, Andy Hunter, Founder and CEO of Bookshop.org, revealed that if Amazon maintains its current growth rate of 8%, it will control nearly 80% of the consumer book market by the end of 2025.
He presents a graph that shows that Amazon is heading towards controlling nearly 80% of sales in this market by 2025.
“Every single book lover should worry,” says Hunter, “After we’re done worrying, we must change the way we buy books.”
Read the full article on Medium.
Besides Bookshop.org, Hunter is also the founder of three major online literary publications; Literary Hub, Catapult, and Electric Literature.
Author: Team VoW
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