German booksellers concerned by UK import delays

Three months after the post-Brexit transition period ended on 31st December, wholesalers and booksellers in Germany, one of the largest book export markets on the continent, have joined British publishers in concerns about delays and rising costs hitting the trade since the UK became a third-country trade partner.

Karin Simon from book importer Petersen Buchimport said she saw signs that the situation is slowly improving, “with orders finally beginning to arrive at more regular intervals”, but said business is still not running as smoothly as she would like. Deliveries to the Hamburg-based company-Petersen started importing books from the UK in 1948—still take longer than last year, when fulfilment from the UK ranged between 10 and 20 days, depending on the supplier. The worst-hit months were January and February, Simon said, when shipments took four weeks and longer, heavily disrupting a business that is based on continuity for its bookselling customers. “Now we are slowly coming down to about three weeks”, she said, adding that she hopes that the worst may be over.

Germany’s largest wholesalers, Zeitfracht (formerly KNV) and Libri, are also still experiencing delays. Strict hygiene measures due to Covid-19 add to post-Brexit teething problems at the border, said Libri spokesperson Thorsten Simon, who puts current delays at about two weeks. Simon joined UK publishers in his criticism that regulations were “often rather vague initially", but noted that procedures are slowly improving.

According to Zeitfracht’s head of communication Hans-Joachim Sch√∂ttes, most of the problems boil down to customs formalities. “While we have quickly found viable solutions with our long-standing partners in the UK, delays are still longer than expected”, he said. “We are hoping for gradual improvement once clearance is running more smoothly.”

German wholesalers are worried not just about delays, but also costs. Both Sch√∂ttes and Simon agreed that higher costs for customs clearance and transport will most likely have an impact on the price for English-language books on the bookshop shelf. But they are reluctant to predict when and to what extend price increases will filter through onto the retail floor. “It is too early yet for any prognosis on prices”, said Simon.

A noticeable trend that has emerged in recent weeks is a marked shift in the ordering routine of German booksellers, which Simon also puts down to rising costs due post-Brexit administrative demands. “Bookshops which prior to Brexit would have ordered directly from UK publishers, are increasingly switching to wholesalers,” she said. While the trend was initially started by small booksellers, a growing number of larger shops have begun to follow suit, including Dussmann, das Kulturkaufhaus, Germany’s largest independently owned bookseller, with a 7,400 sq m store in a prime location in Berlin.

Dussmann had for years ordered from both publishers and wholesalers, but this year switched mainly to the latter because direct delivery orders were beginning to arrive either intermittently, extremely late, or not at all. Upon inquiring, Diana Fr√∂hlich, floor manager of the English & International BookShop, learned “that many of those got stuck at customs while missing information was being chased up.” Fr√∂hlich praised her customers, many of whom are regulars from the embassies in the capital, who have reacted with “much understanding” to any delays.

Her shop covers approximately 450 sq m on two floors, carrying around 20,000 different titles in 12 languages. Ninety per cent of the stock are books in English, with roughly two-thirds coming from the UK, making it the largest English-language specialist in Germany. As a precaution, Fröhlich had pre-ordered much larger than usual quantities of top-selling titles as early as November, a move that helped to tide her over when orders were at their most erratic, from the end of December to mid-February.

English-language titles have become a must-have in many German bookshops since the heydays of Harry Potter. The demand is such that new books from popular English and American authors often make it onto the bestseller lists twice, first the original English-language version and then the translation.