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Online Sale of Books & Magazines

One of the industries being most buffeted by the transition to e-commerce is publishing. For decades book publishers have used a network of book retailers as their primary means of getting books to the general public. With the advent of e-commerce this began to change. One can see clearly the speed with which this shift has altered the book selling landscape. Amazon was started in 1994 and by 2010 it became the largest retailer of books in the United States. The previous book retailing leaders, Barnes & Noble and Borders (which entered bankruptcy reorganization this month) have scrambled to adjust to the new world of selling books while independent book sellers continue to hang on for dear life, declining in number every year as they have since the 1980s with the rise of Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Further complicating this dynamic shifting within the book world is the fact that books and magazines themselves are reasonably easily digitized. This means that the Internet provided a means not only to place orders for books and magazines but to instantly receive them in a digital format. While the shift to e-Books is still young—representing less than 9% of the trade book market in 2010—it is a vibrant part of the publishing business and is coloring many of the actions taken by publishers and book sellers alike as they try and adapt to the new realities of the retail landscape for books, magazines, and all printed material.

For anyone interested in more statistics on this subject, we studied it closely last year and have a series of posts on the subject at another of our sites, the Dwarf Planet Press blog site, available here.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2003 and 2008
Market size: Sales: $2.06 and $5.14 Billion respectively, an increase of 149%.
Source: “Table 1055. Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses—Total and E-Commerce Sales by Merchandise Line,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 663, U.S. Census Bureau, available online here in a spreadsheet format, and here as a PDF file.
One word of clarification to help prevent any confusion about just what is being presented here. The data in the source table are provided in two columns per year, the first one called “Total,” and the second is “E-Commerce”. The column headed “Total” refers to the total sales for the industry “Electronic Shopping and Mail-order Houses,” [NAICS 4541], and the second column is the e-commerce portion of that industry’s total. Do not confuse the “Total” column for a measure of total sales of the product line listed in that row. It is, rather, the total sales of that product line made electronically and through mail-order houses.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Online Sale of Computers—hardware & software

Selling computers and software online seems pretty natural, after all, the buyer is using a computer to make the purchase. This may explain why the growth rate of online sales of this line of merchandise was not quite as robust between 2003 and 2008 as the growth rate for other lines of merchandise—clothes, sporting goods, food, beer and wine, and appliances to name a few lines, each with an online sales growth rate over 200%. Selling computers online has been underway since the 1990s whereas online sales of other lines of merchandise have only moved onto the Internet in a big way since the early 2000s.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2003 and 2008
Market size: Sales: $7.8 and $14.3 Billion respectively, an increase of 84%.
Source: “Table 1055. Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses—Total and E-Commerce Sales by Merchandise Line,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 663, U.S. Census Bureau, available online here in a spreadsheet format, and here as a PDF file.
One word of clarification to help prevent any confusion about just what is being presented here. The data in the source table are provided in two columns per year, the first one called “Total,” and the second is “E-Commerce”. The column headed “Total” refers to the total sales for the industry “Electronic Shopping and Mail-order Houses,” [NAICS 4541], and the second column is the e-commerce portion of that industry’s total. Do not confuse the “Total” column for a measure of total sales of the product line listed in that row. It is, rather, the total sales of that product line made electronically and through mail-order houses.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

By the way, for anyone not familiar with the Statistical Abstract of the United States, a wonderful compilation of a huge variety of important measures of the United States, learn about it here. It is a great place to start with any investigations about the U.S. economy, business climate, people, government, and many more things yet.

Online Sale of Clothes and Shoes

The market size presented here is the total value of clothing and shoes that were sold electronically in 2003 and 2008. It is interesting to see that growth of online sales of clothes and shoes have grown briskly over this five year period since it was believed that such merchandise would be harder to sell online than other things, things that people would not wish to try on before purchasing. Four Census Bureau product codes are included in this market size calculation, they are: 20200 (Men’s wear); 20220 (Women’s wear); 20240 (Children’s clothes), and 20260 (Footwear).

Geographic reference: United States (based on the location of the selling entity)
Year: 2003 and 2008
Market size: Sales: $5.13 and $17.06 Billion respectively, representing a 233% increase.
Source: “Table 1055. Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses—Total and E-Commerce Sales by Merchandise Line,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 663, U.S. Census Bureau, available online here in a spreadsheet format, and here as a PDF file.

One word of clarification to help prevent any confusion about just what is being presented here. The data in the source table are provided in two columns per year, the first one called “Total,” and the second is “E-Commerce”. The column headed “Total” refers to the total sales for the industry “Electronic Shopping and Mail-order Houses,” [NAICS 4541], and the second column is the e-commerce portion of that industry’s total. Do not confuse the “Total” column for a measure of total sales of the product line listed in that row. It is, rather, the total sales of that product line made electronically and through mail-order houses.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Online Sale of Furniture

Today we will present the first in a series of market sizes based on the online sale of a particular line of merchandise. The
online sale of furniture is our market for today.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2003 and 2008
Market size: Sales: $3.1 and $9.8 Billion respectively, representing a 217% increase over five years.
Source: “Table 1055. Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses—Total and E-Commerce Sales by Merchandise Line,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 663, U.S. Census Bureau, available online here in a spreadsheet format, and here as a PDF file.
One word of clarification to help prevent any confusion about just what is being presented here. The data in the source table are provided in two columns per year, the first one called “Total,” and the second is “E-Commerce”. The column headed “Total” refers to the total sales for the industry “Electronic Shopping and Mail-order Houses,” [NAICS 4541], and the second column is the e-commerce portion of that industry’s total. Do not confuse the “Total” column for a measure of total sales of the product line listed in that row. It is, rather, the total sales of that product line made electronically and through mail-order houses.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

E-Commerce

The title of this post is a bit… well, optimistic. You see, it’s hard to get an accurate read on the size of the e-commerce market. Part of the problem is defining the term. It is a large, nebulous thing, this e-commerce market. It is a growing market that covers a large range of products and its participants vary greatly. Some are “bricks and mortar” stores that also sell online. Others are entities that do business through the Internet exclusively. And the systems needed to track all of this are only being created and fine tuned so it is early days for getting a clear picture of what is actually going on. But, there is plenty going on, that much we do know. What we present here are the data that the Census Bureau has tracked under the industry title “Electronic Shopping and Mail-order Houses,” [NAICS 45-411].

As we have time, we will try and present a few more detailed slices of this industry and clarify exactly what it does and does not include.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 10,013 and 21,795 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $69.03 and $215.96 Billion respectively. Please note, these figures include e-commerce sales as well as mail-order house sales.
Market size: Employment: 218,406 and 342,138 respectively.
Source: “Sector 44: EC0744I2: Retail Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census, after conversion of the data to a NAICS 2002 basis.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Florists

Florists are another retailing segment that has suffered declines as a result of sales transactions of its primary product moving onto the Internet. Florists still handle many things that are not as easily done online. They likely still handle the bulk of large orders and of event related floral needs. But, the decline in their establishment counts, sales and employment do suggest that part of their traditional business has gone elsewhere.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 26,200 and 19,609 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $6.55 and $6.28 Billion respectively.
Market size: Employment: 125,195 and 93,683 respectively.
Source: “Sector 44: EC0744I2: Retail Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census, after conversion of the data to a NAICS 2002 basis.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Music Stores

To be precise, the figures below are for the industry designated by the Census Bureau as Prerecorded Tape, Compact Disc and Record Stores [NAICS 45-1220]. Now, the very name of this industry will likely explain why it has seen such precipitous declines over the last decade… since music is now so often purchased online and downloaded as an electronic file. It also serves as an extreme example of a retailing segments that is having to grapple with a major shift in how business is done.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 8,158 and 4,102 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $7.37 and $3.51 Billion respectively.
Market size: Employment: 66,623 and 28,685 respectively.
Source: “Sector 44: EC0744I2: Retail Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census, after conversion of the data to a NAICS 2002 basis.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Department Stores

Department stores appear to be losing ground to newer sorts of retailers. These newer retailers include those referred to as warehouse stores, those called discounters and those focused on a smaller range of particular products, apparel, shoes and accessories only, for example. Whatever the cause, department stores as a group have been in decline for some time now which can be seen clearly in the figures below. While the retail sector as a whole did well during the decade from 1997 to 2007, some segments have been under pressure due to the changes in the way we get things.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 10,366 and 8,553 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $220.12 and $210.14 Billion respectively.
Market size: Employment: 1,795,577 and 1,229,489 respectively.
Source: “Sector 44: EC0744I2: Retail Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census, after conversion of the data to a NAICS 2002 basis.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Warehouse Clubs and Superstores

The rise of what is often called “Big Box” stores is something that has clearly altered the retail landscape significantly. The
figures presented here show this transition from 1997 to 2007, although it is worth noting that not all “Big Box” stores are warehouse clubs or superstores. The term “Big Box” includes many home improvement centers and other categories of retailer. The figures correspond to the industry designated by the Census Bureau’s North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code as 45-2910 and carrying the same title as this post.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 1,530 and 4,259 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $81.92 and $324.96 Billion respectively.
Market size: Employment: 428,357 and 1,244,250 respectively.
Source: “Sector 44: EC0744I2: Retail Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census, after conversion of the data to a NAICS 2002 basis.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Retail Trade

This week we’ll take a look at how some sectors within the overall retail trade industry are faring during an era of structural change going on in our system for getting products from maker to end user. Our online purchases are rising quickly while restructuring within the distribution channel has caused some wholesale industries to be absorbed by the ends of the chain, manufacturers or retailers. To start off, a look at the Retail Trade Industry as a whole. Please note, these figures do not reflect the downturn suffered as a result of the recession which began, officially, in December 2007.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 1,118,447 and 1,122,703 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $2.46 and $3.93 Trillion respectively.
Market size: Employment: 13.9 and 15.6 Million respectively.
Source: “Sector 00: EC0700CADV2: All Sectors: Core Business Statistics Series: Advanced Compariative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.