Is the kids magazines category set to be the first to disappear from newsagent and other retailer shelves. This is a reasonable question to ask on the back of the latest circulation numbers. Dmag sales fell 20.05% in the six months to December 2010. K-Zone dropped 16.13%, Mania 15.75% and Little Angel 15.00%. There are more kids titles in the top twenty biggest circulation declining titles than any other category.
This is a most concerning situation for newsagencies since we tend to pride ourselves on being family friendly stores.
Children’s cards continue to sell well in newsagencies, making the decline in Children’s magazines even more concerning. Maybe the medium is the challenge as opposed to the demographic. I am noticing more Children, from stroller up to 10, shopping with their parents and distracted by technology in their hands like an iPhone or a Nintendo device. Maybe the time passing fun accessed through the magazines has been replaced. If so, the December decline will be repeated in the numbers released in July.
I have supported Children’s magazines during the period covered by the audit in my newsagencies with good locations, feature promotions and even counter promotion. Titles from the category did not get the lift we get from other categories, such as food, living and auto.
Spot on mark,we are doing away with kids toys and replaced them with electronic gadgets eg I-pod docks etc
It’s because magazines don’t have seizure-inducing flashing lights or scores and trophies and lots of bright bouncing things or a red man jumping down pipes. And you also have to read.
future does not look good for our kids.
My 3YO grandson comes to my house every Tuesday and it is a constant battle to keep him off the computer (which he turns on by himself and googles game sites that he likes) so it isn’t hard to see why kids mags are declining. Grandparents seem to be the most prolific kids mag buyers in my store and that is because we know the value of reading I guess.
My friend works at EB Games and she told me that a parent wanted to return a game he purchased recently for his child because ‘there was too much reading in it’.
It was a kids game apparently, and the box also said basic reading ability is required.