Flexibility is trumpeted as another advantage of the digital newsagent over its corner shop rival. Regular readers of a particular publication can choose to buy a month’s subscription to their favoured title but for a generation that has grown up with the luxury of free content from a plethora of different providers, there is an opt-out from that rigidity.
Read more of what Amol Rajan has to say here in his column at The Independent.
“If you think that we’re totally eradicating the printing and distribution costs for these publications, as well as opening them up to a whole new market, I think in time we could argue that we ought to be able to offer a cheaper product than our rivals in normal newsagents. There are potentially enormous cost-savings to be made there.”
Ouch! Here, Rajan is quoting Tony Pescott. Tony Prescott, director of new business development at Asda, the Wal-mart company which has launched a digital newsagent offering in the UK.
The issues here ought to be the main agenda item at newsagent meetings. Many of the issues we face today tie back to challenges facing print and our bricks and mortar businesses.
In other news the owner of the Chicago Tribune and LA Times has declared bankruptcy. Not good times to be a newspaper. Hopefully newsagents have a backup plan in 10 years when no one comes into their shop to buy a paper any more.