Come
late spring, an interesting thing happens on college and university campuses,
and it’s not related to romance or spring-break shenanigans: Students suddenly
start buying more e-textbooks.
The
number of purchasers isn’t huge, but it’s enough to create a noticeable spike,
according to Kirk Bodick, vice president of sales for Akademos, Norwalk, CT, in
his Flash session on the Akademos-TextbookX Online Bookstore Trends Report at
CAMEX 2013 in Kansas City. The trends report tracked student book purchases for
the last three years.
Late-spring
e-book sales to students “reach the highest percentage of total book sales” for
the academic year, Bodick said.
Bodick
speculated the uptick came from students who had tried to avoid buying course
materials for class and then found themselves needing the book to study for
exams. Campus store attendees in the audience confirmed their print stock
levels are low late in the semester, which might leave digital books as the
only fast option for students. Bodick noted online book marketplaces such as
Akademos do still have used copies available at that time “but it’s a question
of the quality of condition.”
But
if spring e-book sales go largely to procrastinators, why isn’t there a
corresponding bump in sales late in the fall term?
Bodick
said early purchases by summer-term students may be augmenting the spring
numbers. Another audience member suggested students may be receiving iPads or
other reading devices as holiday gifts, providing a ready backup for students
hoping to get by without any book.
Another
possibility is the start of the third term at quarter schools may be tipping
spring e-book sales.
