IT standards fail newsagents, again

Magazine distributors have criticised newsagents for years about lack of compliance. Now, the ball is on the other foot. Part of the compliance regime is that newsagents supply distributors with pre-sold data – listing the number of each title for which the newsagent has a firm order. The idea was that the distributors would use this to ensure that at least minimum orders are fulfilled – essential for partworks.

The distributors are letting newsagents down. They are not using the data and newsagents are often, with partworks, supplied fewer copies than firm orders from customers of long standing.

Newsagents are rightly questioning the value of the much vaunted IT standards.

Newsagents using software from my company account for at least 75% of the compliant newsagents providing data – one distributor says we have an 85% share of compliant newsagents. I know from talks with some of these compliant newsagents that their clear and trusted data is being ignored by distributors. They are being supplied fewer copies of some titles than their firm orders. The magazine distributor involved knows that they are failing the system they helped create – they are making the newsagent look stupid.

Newsagents who were bereted into complying and promised better business outcomes are rightly asking whether the investment was worth it.

To the magazine distributor executives reading this – fix the problem, act commercially with newsagents, work with us and help us sell more magazines. You have the data.