Zinio launches global newsstand for digital magazines

Zinio Systems, Inc., has announced the launch today of the first global distribution channel for published digital media. Zinio currently offers access to digital magazines from nine countries from its global newsstand website.

Newsagents in Australia retail plenty of product from overseas and while Zinio does not currently offer the depth newsagents offer, one must expect the online product range to expand with time. A niche publisher will weigh the return of scale out to, say, 4,600 newsagents for sales of, say, 2,000 copies verses an online only supply chain. The online model may generate less sales in the short to medium term but it does not have the same distribution cost. Having said that and based on the most recently published sales data for digital magazines, consumer up take could be expected to quickly surpass newsstand sales in many titles.

I’d tag this move by Zinio as a tipping point in magazine distribution.

Newsagents on the one hand don’t want to carry titles which do not pay their way yet was to ‘own’ range in the magazine category. That Zinio global is operational opens a new and lean competitor to the newsagency channel in overseas titles. Take Business Week for example. At Zinio global I can subscribe for around US$27.97 a year. In my retail newsagency I sell Business Week (Asia edition) for $6.60 or $343.20 a year. It may not be the perfect comparison but it makes my point. As a Business Week reader I’d be happy to purchase the digital version. It’s better value. I can access the product where and when I want. There is consistency of supply.

Zinio’s announcement yesterday has altered the playing field. Magazine distributors and newsagents need to respond. It would be ignorant to dismiss the Zinio move as irrelevant at present. Hindsight will prove such a view wrong.

I applaud Zinio for their move. It makes sense to their business model and was always to be a key part of their expansion plan. As newsagents we need to educate ourselves about such moves and get about building our businesses with products and services over which we have more control.

Here are some quotes from the Zinio press release:

“Our global newsstands open new markets for publishers needing to appeal to consumers around the world,” said Jeff Bruce, president, publishing for Zinio. “Today, magazines are instantly available to global magazine consumers with the convenience of language and currency preference at domestic prices. These benefits and the immediacy of the digital format will boost subscriptions and revenues for publishers.”

“Zinio is the clear market leader in the U.S. and offers a compelling model for magazine publishers abroad,” said Paul Cheal, Publishing Director, IPC Country and Leisure Media. “The global network offers us the potential to target and convert new readers through Zinio’s international sales channel and delivery platform.”

The Zinio Global Newsstand Network offers about 400 magazines available through franchise partners in local markets, including Poland, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and Thailand. The network also features a UK newsstand with more than 40 magazines from fourteen publishers.