This is the cover of one of a series of four new titles sent to newsagents by newspaper publisher Fairfax in August. These pocket size ‘magazines’ represent significant challenges for newsagents.
They are of a non standard size and therefore do not work with existing newsagent fixturing. The only reasonable place is the counter and this means product will be quickly dog eared. There is no category for these products within newsagent ranges. The covers are not clear about the offering inside. Point of sale material was only a poster. Completely inadequate to launch a new category. They are over priced.
Newsagents have been sent the stock without it being requested. No recall date has been provided meaning it will sit on newsagent shelves until recalled by the publisher.
These four new titles were sent at the same time as three new crossword/quiz related titles. While crosswords are a strong category, newspaper related titles don’t sell that well.
In my case between the new titles from this one newspaper publisher, I received $1,000 worth of stock of which I reasonable expect to sell $100.00 worth over a two month period. That’s a $25.00 return. In the same period I would expect theft to cost between $10.00 and $20.00 given the size of the products. Since I have to pay based on returned quantities and not scanned sales data, I have to carry the cost of theft of this unordered product.
Maybe some open newsagent/publisher dialogue prior to the release of these new products could have avoided what will be a frustrating and possibly expensive problem for newsagents. I have access to extensive sales data which could have guided a better outcome for my business and Fairfax.