As a retail only newsagent now I don’t like the post-it note ad on the front of The Age today luring customers to get the newspaper home delivered. There’s nothing in that for me. If the folks at The Age want me to engage in in-store promotions to drive over the counter sales, they need to NOT undercut me in this way. What they are doing is disrespectful to all newsagents – delivery newsagents make less from a subscription delivery than they make from an over the counter sale. The retail channel is important to publishers – taking sales out of retail weakens the channel, leaving what? Not much.
The stuck on ad covered a promotion for a feature. Surely there are arguments going on within Fairfax about these stuck on ads?
I note that not all Ages in Melbourne had the ad. In two newsagencies I saw product without the ad whereas in mine and a convenience store the ads were in place.