JD Books and iResearch jointly released the “China Book Market Report 2020” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) on the “World Book Day” on April 23. Through multi-dimensional analysis of user portraits, consumer behavior habits, and geographical distribution, the characteristics and development trends of the Chinese book market in 2020 are fully presented.
The “Report” shows that in 2020, affected by the pandemic, many Chinese have increased their reading time during their stay at home, and health books are particularly concerned. At the same time, the integration trend of paper books, e-books, and audio books has become more apparent. From the perspective of the characteristics of the user population, the spending of Chinese users on reading has further increased, but they are also more careful in their calculations; the post-95s and “small-town youth” have become new forces in reading consumption; the increase in the growth rate of book purchase consumption by users in lower-tier Chinese cities is particularly obvious.
In addition, in the “Report” released this time, multiple lists in the book market were also released.
Nearly half of Chinese users have increased their reading time, and the era of integrated paper, electricity and sound has arrived
In 2020, the long time at home allowed more Chinese people to have more time to enjoy reading, and it also quietly changed the reading habits of many readers.
In 2020, Chinese people’s reading time increased significantly. Among them, 46.1% of users increased the reading time of paper books, 59.6% of users increased the time of e-book reading, and 58.8% of users increased the time of listening to books. In 2019, it increased by 40%.
At the same time, more Chinese are willing to pay for reading. In 2020, most users’ book purchase expenditures were concentrated at 200-500 yuan, accounting for 43.6%; compared to 2019, the proportion of users who bought books at more than 500 yuan in 2020 increased by 6.1%. Overall, the per capita spending on book purchases by book users in 2020 increased by 3.3% compared to 2018.
In addition, most Chinese users have noticeably increased their attention to health books. In the TOP10 list of the TOP10 promotion of user reading preferences due to the pandemic in 2020, medical/health books ranked first with a proportion of 45.4%, and preventive medicine/ The sales of hygiene books were 5 times that of 2019.
It is worth noting that not only are Chinese users becoming more and more enthusiastic about reading, in 2020, but users also had more and more diversified reading channels. The “Report” shows that under the premise that the reading time of paper books, e-books, and audio users has increased, the gap in the proportion of reading time of various reading forms was narrowing, and the reading forms of users were becoming more and more diversified. In this regard, most of the current reading users preferred to use a comprehensive platform with more comprehensive functions, which also shows that a whole ecological era of reading with “paper, electronic and sound” has arrived.
Post-95s and “small-town youth” become new forces in reading
The Chinese book market in 2020 has shown many new trends. While users’ reading habits have changed, new readers have also risen. The “Report” shows that the post-95s generation and the “small-town youth” have become two important groups of people promoting the further development of the book market.
Among them, with the gradual rise of Generation Y and Generation Z, the younger generation of Chinese book users has become more and more obvious. The “Report” shows that among the book buyers in 2020, the proportion of post-95 users and the unit price have increased significantly compared with 2018. The proportion of users under the age of 25 has increased from 16.4% in 2018 to 17.6% in 2020. In 2020, the unit price of post-95 users has increased by 10% year-on-year. It can be seen that, as a rising star, the post-95s generation has grown into a new force in book consumption.
With the continued increase in the sinking market by retail platforms represented by JD Books, the reading needs of emerging users in the sinking market have been further satisfied. Especially for users under the age of 25, the growth of book purchases in the sinking market is also quite tense. The “Report” shows that the growth rate of post-95 users in China’s sixth-tier cities was 24% higher than that of first-tier cities. With the high growth rate, the gap in the proportion of post-95 users in fifth- and sixth-tier cities and first- and second-tier cities have shrunk significantly – from 18% in 2018 to 10.6% in 2020.
In addition, it can be seen that from 2019 to 2020, the growth rate of book turnover in China’s fifth and sixth-tier cities was in the first place, and as the growth rate is still continuing to accelerate, the lead of the growth rate of turnover in fifth and sixth-tier cities over the growth rate of turnover in first and second-tier cities has expanded from 4 percentage points in 2019 to 8.6 percentage points in 2020.
Emerging technologies help all people to read, users favor omnichannel reading experience
It is also worth noting that in 2020, affected by the pandemic, many Chinese users’ book purchase channels have accelerated their shift to online. The “Report” shows that in 2020, China’s book retail sales accounted for 79% and 21% of online and physical stores respectively. Online book purchases have become the main way for users to buy books.
In order to further meet the needs of Chinese users for buying books, in 2020, JD Books tested the “One-Hour Delivery” service through the “Natural Selection Project” to optimize distribution costs and customer waiting time; at the same time, through the JD Express Edition, JD treasurer, Jingxi, etc., to provide services for small bookstores in lower-tier cities. In the future, JD Books will continue to explore new ways of playing under the trend of omnichannel integration, and bring readers a better shopping experience.
Although more and more users are accustomed to buying books online, offline bookstores still have the advantages of immersive reading, experience, and added value as a leisure space. Data shows that 66.5% of online book users still have the willingness to go to physical bookstores. At the same time, 96.4% of users referred to online lists when buying books online, and over 40% of users referred to book reviews, sales lists and word-of-mouth lists. In a sense, the user’s book-buying behavior is also a manifestation of the integration of online and offline.
In addition, with the rapid development of diversified communication methods such as short videos and live broadcasts, in 2020, many users increased the frequency of watching e-commerce live broadcasts and short videos while at home. The “Report” shows that 53.0% of users watched e-commerce live broadcasts more frequently, and 55.8% of users watched short videos more frequently.
To this end, JD Books launched the short video column “Shusheng Shuo” in 2019, and continued to build the official live broadcast column “New Books Please” and “High Energy Publishing House” in 2020 to provide readers with live broadcasts by inviting writers and celebrities. Recommend books. In 2021, JD Books will continue to invest heavily in live broadcasts and short videos of merchants and talents, and recommend high-quality books to readers.
Many best-selling books and classics are not declining, the 2020 best-selling book list is released
Not only to interpret the book market trend in 2020, but the “Report” also released a number of book lists. The list provides a data reference for the further development of the book market from multiple dimensions such as geographic distribution, paper and electronic bestsellers, store and institution rankings.
According to the “Report”, according to JD Books data, the top ten cities in terms of book sales volume in 2020 were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi’an, Wuhan, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou. Among them, five cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, also ranked top in the 2020 city rankings in terms of the number of book users and the number of transactions.
In the specific book list, “Modern Chinese Dictionary”, “The Three-body Problem”, and “Ordinary World” have been shortlisted for three consecutive years on the TOP10 paper book popular list, demonstrating the lasting vitality of classic books. In the TOP10 best-selling new product list of paper books, there are a total of 4 investment management, inspirational, and philosophy books, and 2 books for children and parent-child family education. It can be seen that self-improvement and child education has always received the most attention from users.
In the e-book best-seller list, novels and financial management e-books are still popular. It is also worth noting that with the popularity of the TV series “Celebrating the New Year” in 2020, its novel of the same name has entered the e-book best-seller list and audiobook at the same time. The best-selling list, the influence of IP cannot be underestimated.
In addition, the list also announced paper book publishing organizations, e-book publishing organizations, JD book stores, and the TOP10 list of IP entertainment products. Among them, the “old faces” on the list, such as CITIC Publishing Group, Machinery Industry Press, and People’s Literature Publishing House, still performed well. In the list of IP entertainment products, “national idol” Cai Xukun’s Q version doll and official Ying Leng won the top two in the list in one fell swoop, once again demonstrating the purchasing power of fan users.
In 2020, the new trends and characteristics shown by users in book consumption directly promoted the further prosperity of the book market. It can be seen that more and more Chinese people are reading books in the way they like and integrating reading into all aspects of their lives, and the atmosphere of reading for the whole people is getting higher and higher.
Source: Xiaoxiang Morning News