On the Dot Speciality Publications expands retail book offering with fresh, data-led approach

The division has delivered a strong year of growth, expanding its retail range across cookbooks, children’s books, adult colouring, diaries, planners, gifting products and more. Its strategy is focused on offering fresh, commercially appealing titles that are matched to the right stores and customer profiles.

Sales are monitored over a three-month period, allowing strong performers to remain on shelf while slower sellers are replaced with new titles. This ensures retail shelves remain fresh, responsive and regularly updated, with new titles planned monthly or bi-monthly.

Building publisher partnerships

A key driver of the division’s growth has been its expanding network of local and international publishing partners. On the Dot continues to work with leading South African publishers while building relationships abroad to source high-quality titles for the local market.

During the year, five titles were successfully imported from a UK publisher and performed well in South Africa, demonstrating the potential of carefully selected international content for local retail customers.

The team also attended the London Book Fair at Olympia London in March, opening up new sourcing opportunities and broadening access to international content, formats and product ideas. One of the key outcomes was a royalty-licence arrangement with a UK publisher, which will allow On the Dot to print an international cookbook locally. This model is expected to reduce lead times and shipping costs while bringing world-class publishing content to South African consumers.

New relationships formed at the fair will also support the import of children’s books, further strengthening one of the division’s key growth categories.

Strong category momentum

The Books division continues to build a balanced retail range that includes internationally recognised chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi, alongside local favourites including Jan van der Westhuizen, Jan Braai, Ilse van der Merwe, and Zola Nene.

Cookbooks remain a strong category, combining food, lifestyle and gifting appeal. Other growth areas include adult colouring books within the mindfulness trend, romance titles in both Afrikaans and English, and children’s books featuring popular brands such as Bluey and Peppa Pig.

The under-six activity book segment is also gaining momentum, supported by new interactive story-time formats and locally printed children’s colouring titles developed with Novus Print.

Expanding beyond books

Beyond traditional book categories, On the Dot has explored adjacent product opportunities such as diaries, planners, gifting and cross-merchandising ranges. A three-diary range placed in Checkers performed exceptionally well, securing a larger order for the following year.

Gifting and seasonal lifestyle products will also be explored further as new opportunities for publishers and retail partners.

A forward-looking retail publishing partner

On the Dot Speciality Publications’ Books division is focused on building a responsive, data-informed and commercially relevant book offering for the South African retail market.

By combining careful store allocation, regular sales monitoring, local and international publisher partnerships, and a commitment to fresh monthly or bi-monthly ranges, On the Dot is helping to reshape how books and related products perform in retail.

For publishers, this creates a route to market that is active, targeted and commercially engaged. For retailers, it means shelves that remain fresh and responsive to customer demand. For consumers, it means more choice, more variety and more reasons to browse the book section.