Magazine fans, lovers of the magazine medium and lovers of special interest topics covered in the magazine medium, are vitally important to newsagents and our future.
Unfortunately, we get so caught up in supporting top selling titles that we sometimes forget the need to focus on the titles and services which separate us from the other magazine channels: petrol, convenience, supermarket and mass merchant.
By investing time in developing employee knowledge of the magazines we sell, displaying them in a logical and professional way, offering value added services – such as putaways and partworks and rewarding loyalty we can demonstrate that the magazine department as essential to the health of our businesses.
Today, our magazine range is the key differentiator for most newsagencies.
While we would like to think it is customer service or our connection to the community, the reality is that it is our magazine range, our 1,200+ titles, which and the shopping experience associated with them which separates us.
While I see challenges for the medium, smart newsagents have the capacity to grow magazine sales. The key is to run your business in a way which appeals to magazine fans. We need to make the services which support magazines as unique as our range.
Seems simple, I know. The reality is that it is not. It is hard work. Many of us would have to lift out game, and we can.
We need to make managing magazines an owner or senior manager responsibility. We need to educate our team. We need to ensure we have a professional and shopper friendly layout. We need to show our magazine fan customers that we appreciate their business.
The best point of difference for many of us today is in the magazine department. It is up to us to genuinely leverage the opportunity for our profit. We do this by acting as magazine specialists – no matter how frustrating the magazine distribution system is sometimes.