The Bookseller.com

10th October 2008

Asda gains 79% share of £1 Harry

18.07.08 Graeme Neill

Asda has reported a 79% market share of sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' children's edition after its first three days in shops, following the supermarket's unprecedented decision to sell the book for £1. Rivals reacted angrily to Asda's "£1. Magic Price" offer, advertised in the national press. "It's absolutely mad," said one. "Given their sales figures, [Asda] would have lost around £150,000 on this. This wasn't a book trade decision, it was an Asda sales decision."

The supermarket sold the children's and adult editions of the book at £1—89% off its £8.99 r.r.p—until Sunday (13th). It also claimed a 53% share of sales for the adult edition by Saturday. Book buyer Steph Bateson said Asda sold 27,000 copies of both editions on the Thursday, and just under 40,000 copies by the end of Sunday.

According to Nielsen BookScan figures for the week to 12th July, the discounting meant the book's a.s.p. fell to just £1.96—78.2% off its £8.99 r.r.p. Through all retailers, the two versions of the paperback sold a combined total of 46,257 copies by the end of Saturday.

Last year, Asda accused Bloomsbury of "attempting to hold children to ransom" over the r.r.p. of the hardback edition. The supermarket was forced to climb down after Bloomsbury said Asda owed it money, and pulled supply of the title.

Borders children's buyer Becky Stradwick said she was not surprised at Asda's pricing. "It's predictable considering [Asda] wanted to take on Bloomsbury last year," she said. "The question is how much money did [Asda] throw away? It is a bit galling to see one of our most valuable commodities being given away."

However, Asda's Bateson shrugged off any criticism. "I think we have shaken the other retailers up a bit, which was always our intention," Bateson said, adding that the offer, which Bloomsbury was unaware of, was a "genuine footfall and sales-driving promotion". "It was to reinforce our value position to customers on books," she said. "It's offering a book to people who maybe couldn't afford it at £8.99—that's a lot of money at the moment. We have seen a hit on hardback sales because of the economic climate."

The book has been selling in Asda at £3.86 since Monday. As The Bookseller went to press, it was £4.49 in Waterstone's and on Amazon. Tesco originally sold the paperback at £6 but then dropped it to half price, while it was part of Borders' buy one, get one half price offer. Bloomsbury executive director Richard Charkin said: "It's out of our hands."

Blog: Why Harry missed out

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