Partnership helps understanding of e-book purchases

Nielsen has announced an association with Kantar Worldpanel that promises to allow the company to provide its book industry clients with data and analysis services using Kantar Worldpanel consumer research. This new service will complement the continuous retail sales tracking service that Nielsen provides with its Nielsen BookScan service and will enable the company to provide consumer e-book buying habits.

The Kantar Worldpanel data is sourced from a panel of 15,000 participants and gathers key information about book purchases. This data includes where the book was purchased, the format, price paid and the reason for the purchase. The ISBN is recorded so that the bibliographic data for each book purchased can be accurately attributed and aligned with Nielsen’s core data.

Kantar collects detailed personal information from its participants, which means that Nielsen will be able to provide analysis on the demographics of the book-buying public. This insight into consumer purchasing habits for e-books promises to allow the industry to look at future trends to inform their business decisions.

'This is an important new development for Nielsen and our clients. Combining consumer research with our Nielsen BookScan sales tracking data will give a richer and deeper view of the book market and answer some of the key questions that people in the book world have been asking about e- books,' commented Ann Betts, Nielsen Book’s commercial director. 'It will also allow us to analyse, for the first time, who is buying which format of a book from where and how their book buying behaviour changes once they become a digital reader.'