Adult, Computer and Buying and Selling magazines are in trouble if the data I have been looking at from several newsagencies is reflective of what is happening nationally. I have compared magazine growth for the newsagencies with the national average and most are close. I have also compared year on year performance for six key popular titles with national data for these titles and they, again, are close. So, I know the data from my sample is good and it is reasonable to consider that other magazine data from this small group might reasonably reflect a national trend.
Based on the stores I have looked at I have grave concerns for the future of the Adult, Computer and Buying and Selling categories. In these stores, between September to November, comparing 2005 with 2004, unit sales were down by more than 30%. In the same stores women’s weeklies, women’s interests, house and garden, fashion and food and all solid growth categories.
When you think about it, falling sales for Adult, Computer and Buying and Selling categories ought to be expected. Here’s why:
Adult. If you want porn it’s easier and faster to get it on the Internet. Magazine porn is so yesterday. Computer. Computer geeks through to novices all know that the latest information is on the Internet. There are new computer ‘magazines’ which only publish on the Internet. Duh! Buying and Selling. Print lead times mean that ads in the trader type newspapers and magazines are out of date by the time they hit the shelves. If you want a car look online – the ad looks better and you have more useful search tools.
Magazine publishers and distributors and newsagents need to work together, urgently I suspect, to finesse space allocations and adjacencies to respond to the falling and growing categories. Sure it’s bad news but it’s also an opportunity. It is important that newsagents are not the last to find out about the sales fall. They cannot afford to carry the categories as they fade into oblivion. In my own store even though sales in the three categories are down, scale out has not been altered so my stock investment is generating less of a return today.
It would be easy to see if the data from my sample is accurate. Once it’s confirmed a clear strategy needs to be developed and implement.
My feeling at the moment is that I want to remove Adult altogether as the return is not there for the stock investment. I’d keep Picture and People and lose all the bagged magazines – Playboy, Penthouse etc. This over the counter market is gone. I’d shrink the computer section by 50%, relocate it and re launch the category. I’d cut buying and selling by 50% – specifically I’d eliminate the magazines with a long shelf life and out of date content.
With the reclaimed space I would reinvigorate Food, Fashion, Women’s Weeklies and Crafts – all strong categories in my store.
The Internet is affecting magazine sales and what we’re seeing with Adult, Computers and Buying and Selling is the beginning of very significant change.