About this report
 
About the market…
 
This report is essentially three reports in one as it covers three distinct markets, namely, book, music and video retailing. The three product categories are often grouped together under the heading of “cultural goods” and while the three sectors have enjoyed varying degrees of success in recent years, the products share certain similarities that justify our decision to include them in one report title.
 

 
A modest decline in book sales and a more drastic decline in music sales reflect poor consumer confidence and retail conditions in the German market. Growth in online sales helped save the book market, while the 28% drop in music sales was hugely impacted by illegal downloads and copying. By contrast, the video retail market more than doubled in size between 1999 and 2004 and has outpaced growth in consumer spending and retail sales. A dramatic rise in DVD retail sales is responsible for the anomalous success of video retailers. What drives success in these highly fragmented markets?
 

 
Specialists in each of these three markets are losing market share to internet retailers and Mintel predicts that E-commerce will become an increasingly important channel for book, music and video retailers. However, the prospects for these markets must be viewed in the scope of the wider German retail market and short-term growth will be difficult to achieve.
 

 
About Mintel’s research…
 
Pooling together the most innovative consumer research and latest market analysis, Mintel's new report offers you all the insight and inspiration you need for designing clever, creative and profitable business strategies in the German market. Use Mintel's research to:
 

 
Develop your sales strategies to win shares of developing markets
 

 
Discover what consumers think about purchasing books, music and videos
 

 
Switch German book browsers, to book buyers
 

 
Pinpoint market potential before your competitors
 

 
Find out how to best reach key audiences with the most effective marketing communications
 

 
Track the sales performance and trading strengths and weaknesses of the market’s leading retailers
 

 
Measure market forecasts and build realistic business models
 

 
Intriguing findings include…
 
People living in Berlin are much more likely to have purchased a book in the last 12 months and they are also most likely to be heavy users (5+ books per year)
 

 
People from the lowest income bracket (including probably a lot of young people) are as likely to buy mini-discs as those from the highest
 

 

Contents
 

 
Executive Summary – Germany
 

 
Books and music falter, but video sales climb thanks to DVD
 
Relative importance of specialists declines
 
Highly fragmented sector
 
Leading specialists
 
Non-specialists are important players in the music market
 
Overseas presence very modest
 
The Internet will become a key channel
 
Prospects for German retailing remain grim
 
Report Scope
 

 
Definitions
 
Booksellers
 
Music retailers
 
Video retailers
 
Home shopping retailers
 
Technical notes
 
Financial definitions
 
Currencies
 
Figure 1: Exchange Rates: National currencies against the Euro, 2002-04
 
Country codes
 
VAT
 
Figure 2: Europe: Standard VAT rates, 2004
 
Other abbreviations
 
Background Data – Germany
 
Population
 
Figure 3: Germany: Population trends, 1999-2003
 
Figure 4: Germany: Population, by age group and sex, 1999-2003
 
Figure 5: Germany: Households, 2000-02
 
Figure 6: Germany: Regions and major cities, 2002
 
Economy
 
Figure 7: Germany: Gross domestic product, 1995-2003
 
Figure 8: Germany: Consumer prices, 1997-2003
 
Figure 9: Germany: Consumer expenditure, 1995-2003
 
Figure 10: Germany: Detailed breakdown of consumer expenditure, 1999-2003
 
The German Book, Music and Video Market
 
Market value and trends
 
Consumer spending on books, music and videos
 
Figure 11: Germany: Consumer spending on books, music and video, 2003
 
Figure 12: Germany: Consumer spending on books, music and video, 2003
 
Consumer spending on books
 
Figure 13: Germany: Consumer spending on books, 1999-2003
 
Consumer spending on pre-recorded music
 
Figure 14: Germany: Consumer spending on pre-recorded music, 1999-2003
 
Figure 15: Germany: Number of pre-recorded music items sold, 2002 and 2003
 
Consumer spending on video
 
Figure 16: Germany: Consumer spending on video, 1999-2004
 
Figure 17: Germany: Relative performance of video retail and rental markets, 1999-2004
 
Channels of distribution
 
Books
 
Figure 18: Germany: Channels of distribution for books, 2000 and 2003
 
Figure 19: Germany: Change in share of book market by channel, 2000 vs 2003
 
Music
 
Figure 20: Germany: estimated channels of distribution for music, 2003
 
Figure 21: Germany: estimated channels of dstribution for music, 2003
 
Video
 
Figure 22: Germany: Channels of distribution for videos, 2004
 
Figure 23: Germany: Channels of distribution for VHS and DVD video combined, 2004
 
Specialist book shops
 
Specialist music and video retailers
 
Department stores
 
Electrical retailers
 
Other retailers
 
Home shopping
 
Book, Music and Video Retailers
 
Sales values and trends
 
Specialist book retailers
 
Figure 24: Germany: Book specialists’ sales, 1999-2003
 
Specialist music and video retailers
 
Enterprise and outlet data
 
Figure 25: Germany: Retail businesses, 1997-2001
 
Figure 26: Germany: Retail outlets, 1999 and 2000
 
Consumer Trends
 
Introduction
 
Book buying
 
Figure 27: Number of books bought in the last 12 months in Germany, by gender, age, family income and region, 2004
 
Visiting book shops, reading and buying books
 
Figure 28: Visiting bookshops, reading and buying books in Germany, by gender, age, family income and region, 2004
 
Music – CD, DVD and mini-disc purchasing
 
Figure 29: Purchasing of CDs, music DVDs and mini discs in the last 12 months in Germany, by gender, age, family income and region, 2003/04
 
Video and DVD purchasing
 
Figure 30: Purchasing of any videotapes or DVDs in the last 12 months in Germany, by gender, age, family income and region, 2004
 
Leading Players
 
Figure 31: Germany: Leading players, 2004
 
Market shares
 
Figure 32: Germany: Leading books, music & video retailers' market share, 2003
 
Music downloads
 
Figure 33: Germany: Leading digital music services, March 2005
 
Prospects and Forecasts
 
Figure 34: Germany: Retail sales forecasts, 2004-09 (f)
 
Major Company Profiles
 

 
amazon.com
 
Background
 
History
 
International expansion
 
Customer focus
 
Financial data
 
Figure 35: Amazon.com: Financial performance, 2000-04
 
International division outperforms North America
 
Figure 36: Amazon.com: Sales and gross profit by segment, 2001-04
 
Figure 37: Amazon: Sales by division, 2001-04
 
Products
 
Operations and systems
 
Loyalty card
 
SWOT
 
Bertelsmann DirectGroup
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Bertelsmann Group
 
Figure 38: Bertelsmann Group: Financial performance, 1999-2003
 
Bertelsmann DirectGroup
 
Figure 39: Bertelsmann DirectGroup: Financial performance, 2000-03
 
DirectGroup operations
 
Figure 40: Bertelsmann DirectGroup: Sales by region and business type, 2003
 
Figure 41: Bertelsmann: DirectGroup clubs and businesses, 2003
 
Europe
 
European book clubs
 
Figure 42: BCA: Leading clubs, 2003
 
US
 
Asia
 
SWOT
 
HMV Group
 
Market share
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 43: HMV Group: Financial performance, 1999/2000-2004/05
 
Outlets
 
Figure 44: HMV Group: Outlet data, 2000-04
 
Figure 45: HMV Group: International stores by country, Year to April 2004
 
E-commerce
 
Music downloads
 
Products
 
Figure 46: HMV Group: HMV UK & Ireland (a) Product breakdown, 2000/01-2003/04
 
Figure 47: HMV Group: HMV UK & Ireland Estimated sales by product breakdown, 2000/01-2003/04
 
Figure 48: HMV Group: Asia Pacific & North America product breakdown, 2003-04
 
SWOT
 
Thalia (Douglas Holding)
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 49: Thalia: Financial performance, 2000-04
 
Outlets
 
Figure 50: Thalia: Outlet data, 2000-04
 
E-commerce
 
Products
 
SWOT
 
Mini Company Profiles
 
Hugendubel
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 51: Hugendubel: Sales, 2000-04
 
Outlets
 
Figure 52: Hugendubel: Outlet data, 1999-2004
 
Mayersche
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 53: Mayersche: Sales, 2001-04
 
Outlets
 
Figure 54: Mayersche: Outlet data, 1999-2004
 
Stern Verlag Janssen & Co.
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Outlets
 
Weltbild
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 55: Weltbild: Store-based turnover, 2001-04
 
Outlets
 
WOM (KarstadtQuelle)
 
Background
 
Financial data
 
Figure 56: WOM: Sales, 1999-2003
 
Outlets
 
Figure 57: WOM: Outlet data, 1999-2004