Slightly better weather helped outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan post their best performance in a month, in the week ended Feb. 23, 2014. Still, unit sales of print books fell 2% in week eight of 2014, compared to the week ended Feb. 24, 2013, and were off 3% in the year to date. The weekly decline came entirely from the mass merchandiser channel, where units fell 14% in week eight of 2014 compared to the week ended Feb. 24, 2013, while sales through retail and clubs rose 2% in the same period. The overall improvement came mainly from the adult categories, where adult nonfiction managed to post a small gain in the most recent week, compared to an 8% decline in week seven of 2014. Unit sales in the adult fiction category fell 10% for week eight, but that was much better than the 19% decline that occurred the prior week. Unit sales of board books posted a decline in the most recent week—a rare occurrence. The format has been extremely resilient for well over a year, but units fell 9% in week eight of 2014, compared to the similar week last year.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Feb. 24, 2013 Feb. 23, 2014 % Chge Week % Chge YTD
Total 11,003 10,783 -2% -3%
Mass Merch./Other 2,422 2,071 -14 -10
Retail & Club 8,581 8,712 2 -2

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Feb. 24, 2013 Feb. 23, 2014 % Chge Week % Chge YTD
Adult Nonfiction 4,124 4,154 0.7% -2%
Adult Fiction 2,728 2,466 -10 -15
Juvenile Nonfiction 749 789 7 5
Juvenile Fiction 2,944 2,892 -2 4

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

Feb. 24, 2013 Feb. 23, 2014 % Chge Week % Chge YTD
Hardcover 2,867 2,763 -4% -2%
Trade Paperback 5,808 5,821 0.2 -3
Mass Market Paperback 1,535 1,404 -8 -11
Board Books 500 453 -9 2
Audio 82 88 7 2

Source: Nielsen BookScan and Publishers Weekly.

Nielsen BookScan’s U.S. Consumer Market Panel covers approximately 80% of the print book market and continues to grow.