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Asda has revealed January sales, partially helped by a campaign pricing paperbacks at £1, has led to volume growth of 100% in its book market.
Its value growth has also increased by more than 20% during the same period.
Asda book buyer Steph Bateson said that growth had been driven by promotions. She said: "It's the first time we have done a dedicated book campaign in grocery and seasonal space. We had good support from publishers and it was profitable growth as well."
Since 27th December, Asda has sold more than 30 paperbacks for £1 by authors including James Patterson, Cecelia Ahern, Karen Rose, Cathy Kelly and Jill Mansell. The offer will end within the next week.
The supermarket has also been running a mix and match Big Read campaign across more than 100 titles. Customers can buy selected titles at £3 or two for £5. The promotion mainly concentrates on chart paperbacks but also includes children's picture books, classic, children's and adult fiction.
The campaign has been in stores for the past fortnight and will end next week. Among the titles that featured are Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl and Karen Rose's Don't Tell.
eanwhile, Asda is trialling an academic bay in six stores. Dubbed "the learning bay", the trial will run until May and could be rolled out to all stores. Bateson said: "Initial signs are promising."