AAP June 2024 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Up 6.2% for Month of June, and Up 5.6% Year-To-Date

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has decided to quit it’s micro-blogging site, alongside Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with immediate effect. The company closed down its Twitter and Facebook accounts, which had 44,000 and 100,000 followers, respectively, as well as its Instagram feed, for all of its 900 pubs and head office. It added that recent concerns regarding the misuse of personal data, following the Facebook scandal, and the addictive nature of social media had influenced its decision. Tim Martin, Chairman of the pub chain told the BBC he believes that this action will not affect the business. In fact, after much consultation, more than 90% of the pub managers felt that using social media was not helping the business and the idea of social media as an essential tool to advertising was simply untrue. Click Read More below for additional information.

Retailers and consumers aren’t the only ones who think the holiday season is the “most wonderful time of the year.” With consumers stepping up the frequency of online shopping this holiday season, thieves are getting more brazen, and ready to pilfer home deliveries. And they have been honing their craft, as nearly one in five (19%) of homeowners in the United States were the victim of a package theft in the last year, according to a study from connected home security provider Ring. One in two homeowners (26%) receive a delivery at least once a week, and 24% receive packages multiple times a week. Yet, 73% of homeowners said carriers leave the deliveries on their front porch — in clear view of passers-by, especially criminals. Click Read More below for additional information.

A BISG webinar held in early July sought to draw attention to the growing challenges in the book industry’s supply chain. Panelists pointed to shortages of truck drivers and trailers, congestion at the ports, and escalating transportation costs as factors that, in the words of David Hetherington, Book International’s v-p of global business development, were putting more pressure on the supply chain than at any time he could remember. In the ensuing two months, things have gotten worse, as printing capacity continues to shrink and labor shortages have made it difficult for printers, retailers, and wholesalers to fully staff their businesses. Concerns have risen to such a level that the two biggest trade wholesalers, Ingram and Bookazine, have reached out to their accounts to urge them to take a range of actions to try to mitigate problems, informing them of steps they should take to be better positioned to meet the needs of the fall and holiday. Top of the recommendation list from both Ingram and Bookazine is for accounts to order as early as possible.