USPS Simplifies Package Shipping Options

Total revenues across all categories for the first quarter of the year were up 0.2% as compared to the first three months of 2023, coming in at $3 billion. Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 2.8% during the first three months of the year, coming in at $2.1 billion. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the first quarter, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 4.9%, coming in at $733.2 million; Paperbacks were down 3.4%, with $756.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 25.7% to $31.0 million; and Special Bindings were down 7.8%, with $48.5 million in revenue. eBook revenues were down 1.5% as compared to the first three months of 2023, for a total of $255.6 million. Digital Audio was up 15.3% for the first three months, coming in at $243.6 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 29.1% coming in at $2.1 million.

Millennials and Gen Z are known as “robust samplers,” meaning they are accustomed to a risk-free subscription model for media consumption. Think Netflix, Amazon Unlimited, Audible, and Spotify. As it turns out, according to a new report from the American Library Association (ALA), “in the traditional, print-centered book publishing ecosystem, libraries are the place for robust sampling.” According to the new report Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through Media Use, Gen Z and Millennials (roughly ages 13 to 40) are using public libraries, both in person and digitally, at higher rates than older generations.

Costco Wholesale Corporation announced its operating results for the second quarter (twelve weeks) and the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2024, ended February 18, 2024. Net sales for the quarter increased 5.7 percent, to $57.33 billion, from $54.24 billion last year. Net sales for the first 24 weeks increased 5.9 percent, to $114.05 billion, from $107.68 billion last year. Net sales for the Company were negatively impacted by approximately one and one-half percent for the quarter and by approximately one-half percent for the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2024 from the shift of the fiscal calendar, as a result of the fifty-third week last year.