An Ipsos survey commissioned by Indigo Books & Music found that 2/3 Canadians would like to receive a book this holiday season, and nearly 3/4 of Canadians gift books as a way to connect with their recipient.

TORONTO, Dec. 11, 2019 /CNW/ - According to an independent survey commissioned by Indigo Books & Music Inc. (TSX: IDG), the world's first cultural department store for booklovers, books are among the top five favourite gifts to receive and to give, with 1/3 of Canadians saying books are among their favourite gifts to receive.

The survey found that the main reason books make great gifts is that giving books is overwhelmingly about creating a personal connection between the gift giver and the recipient.  The majority of Canadians believe that the act of giving a book is considered thoughtful (87%) and is a way to show gift givers understand the recipient (79%).  Three quarters of Canadians report that giving books is a great way to connect, and in fact, the closer the relationship the gift giver has to the recipient, the more suitable books are considered to gift.

"We truly believe that stories connect us.  From inspiring a great conversation with a friend to creating an annual holiday tradition re-reading a classic as a family, books have the ability to create special moments between people," said Rania Husseini, SVP of Print.

While books make an appropriate gift for many occasions, the majority of Canadians (77%) report that the best occasion to gift a book is during Christmas and the holidays.  According to the survey, 2/3 of Canadians report that they would like to receive a book this holiday season.  Of those who would not like to receive a book as gift this holiday season, the primary reason is that they like to select their own books. 

Looking to gift a book this holiday season? Check out these tips for how to make that gift extra special:

• Include a handwritten note with a book:  77% of Canadians looking forward to receiving a book this holiday would be excited to get a book with a personal note, but 54% of people report they do not include one.  This holiday season, include a handwritten inscription or letter with a book to create a treasured keepsake.
  
  
• Participate in a book exchange: instead of a traditional Secret Santa, gather a group of friends together and exchange each other's favourite books!
  
  
• Look to your recipients' hobbies: Canadians report that while fiction and non-fiction have similar chances of pleasing gift-receivers, one of the best ways to select a book is to first look for books centred around hobbies and interests, along with the recipient's favourite authors.
  
  
• Gift a special edition book: 74% of those looking forward to receiving a book this holiday would be excited to be receive a special edition book.  Look for books with exclusive content, first editions, new covers, and more.
  
  
• Get it autographed: 70% of Canadians looking forward to receiving a book this holiday would appreciate a book autographed by the author.

Ask Indigo's expert in-store staff or #AskIndigo on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for more great gift recommendations.  To make the gift of a book even more meaningful, customers are invited to visit Indigo, Chapters and Coles locations for a free bookmark to write a note along with a book they plan to gift this holiday season, while supplies last.

About the study: These are some of the findings of an Ipsos survey conducted between Oct 9^th to 17^th, 2019 on behalf of Indigo. For this survey, a random sample of 1,026 Canadian adults aged 18-70 were interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the target population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online surveys is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the survey is accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians 18-70 been surveyed. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. Ipsos is an independent global market research and consulting firm.

About Indigo
Indigo Books & Music Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (IDG). Indigo is the world's first Cultural Department Store – a physical and digital meeting place inspired by and filled with books, music, art, ideas, beautifully designed lifestyle products. Indigo believes in real books, in living life fully and generously, in being kind to each other and that stories – big and little – connect us.

SOURCE Indigo Books & Music Inc.

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