This graph illustrates how the Crossword magazine category is drowning in imported product. While data from a sample of newsagencies shows that Australian titles account for 75% of sales, imported product accounts for 64% of titles. 10% are homeless. In my newsagency, before I culled imported titles, they took up 60% of available real-estate. Most newsagents rely on distributors to manage their range. Distributors don’t talk to each other about range, leaving most of our 4,600 newsagencies over supplied.
With three magazine distributors needing to keep their engines fuelled with stock, titles cut by one distributor are soon picked up by another. This happened last year and the titles we all thought would not be imported again are now being supplied to newsagents – despite appalling sell through rates. With newsagents only getting paid if they sell a title it’s cheap system for publishers and distributors at the bottom end of the market.
Australia is a dumping ground for some overseas crossword publishers. The only way to stop this is the establishment of a joint industry taskforce involving magazine distributors and newsagents – a pooling of resources to ensure that junk titles do not find a way to abuse the efficient newsagent channel.