Sometimes, the sales achieved for a title in a newsagency can be turned around by a change in location, some in-store promotion, co-location or some other support.
While it would be time consuming, newsagents should look through poorly performing titles, those with a sell through of less than 50%, and consider whether they could undertake some action to increase sales.
The alternative is to early return the title and facilitate its ultimate removal from the business.
Given that the majority of shoppers in a newsagency do not go deeper than the front third of the shop, the reason for the poor performance of a magazine could be the lack of creative and energetic engagement with the title by the newsagency team.
It is easy to blame the magazine distributors and they certainly deserve much of what we hurl at them. However, what if you could take some action which turned a situation around for a title. Surely you would be thrilled with the extra sales through the cash register?
If we do what we have always done then the result will be what we have always achieved. This is why we need to look at non performing titles and see what radical moves we could make. Yes, radical. Who knows, you could find sales you’re not currently getting.
I’d encourage newsagents to look at non performing magazine titles and take some action. See if you can achieve sales growth. Let us know how you go.
Recently i had 2 copies of a wood working book left over from a book sale well over 12 months ago ( i missed the return on them)they just would not go , it was $19.95 and i cut the price in half so they would go and still sat there . One of my staff moved them up to the counter area the other day changed the price back to $19.95 and sold both copies within 4 hours . I would normally dedicate this area to gifts ects as they make more money than magazines as an impulse purchase . It just goes to show that sometimes you should try new things and yes move stock around to find that place that works .
We placed the Spitfire magazine at the counter some months back and sold out promptly when it probably would have slow in its usual location. The recent follow up magazine for the Hurricans also sold out quickly from this location and trains customers that we have these types of titles in store. We expect this encourages browsing of the entire magazine department and ultimately benefits all titles.
just received 10 copies of a rose calendar from IPS. Can’t early return it – don’t want it – have to pay for it anyway and it
is only 25% markup. I am getting very
nervous about this new company and its
ability to send us “whatever”.
I want to order what I want when I want it and the push model we have is not working for newsagents and needs changing desperately. Come on ANF.
IPS is another blood sucker worst than GG or ACP.
Do enjoy the thrill, but prefer a margin worthy of the effort.
Be keen to find out how IPS is going, I have no problem at the moment, but got my first unsolicited delivery this week and advised them as such. Love to hear some good news of the new move, suspect not much out there!
We have 4 locals who publish magazines that are distributed by GG, NDC & now IPS and what an intersting conversation it was. They have been forced to wait 90 Days+ after the off sale date to be paid the distributor wants 20% of cover price they refuse to give the publisher sales data and have taken to calling newsagents direct to ask if they have recieved the title only to be told they havent and the distributor has told them that they have distributed all stock. These publishers are looking closely as to whether they go available only on the net as dealing with the distributors is nothing short of painfull the distributors are not only overstocking us with mags we dont want they are giving publishers false data and they are paid for all they distribute not what actually sells. imagine if we were paid for every title they sent to us instead of what we sold. Or how about for every title they oversupplied we were able to raise a claim for 10% of cover price to cover the cost at our end of recieving returning and freight. pehaps then they would not oversupply. Is there inability to get it right going to sink more newsagents before it is to late what as an industry is being done. why do we not get better margins, better supply better incentives to drivr customers eg the giveaway bags woolworths has constantly with mags. this needs to be addressed now not later before there are all but a few newsagents left.
Sonia – I read your post and although it cannot be verified, I do believe it to be true. I believe publishers are on different rates depending on volume/ variety and or sell through rates, who really knows?
Personally the only way to understand the relationship between publisher and distributor is for transparency. I dont know why publishes such as the one’s you spoke to do not explain their pain on this blog, we tend to vent at Publishers sometimes but if we knew what they are up against we may find the smoking gun.
If they suspect that false data or being denied sales data there is a big problem and there are government agencies that will investigate if one has evidence. In the meantime I believe in transparency and frank open sharing regarding this area of the Print Channel. Publisher should consider sharing if they believe they are being misled.
There’s no question from my experience that distributors are the key problem. We need to remove their power from them. X-changeIT holds the key – sales data – the ANF as an independant body should receive all sales data from x-changeIT and publish sales from this channel – including detail such as % sold through the marketing brands Nextra, newsXpress, Newspower etc. Information is power. I once worked for Newslink and was involved in their negotiations. They received almost double the commission of a normal newsagent on airfreight titles, did not accept new titles unless they received a marketing payment up front and those same new titles had a limited timeframe to prove themselves with minimum sales quotos to be achieved. At the time their mag sales were significant but nothing compared to any of the brands I mention above.
20 yr, Gotch and Network have the data – sell through data. This is all that is needed. It has nothing to do with marketing groups.
This may sound rude, I don;t mean it to be.
It’s your problem in your store. What have you done about it? If you;re like most newsagents – nothing. Do something. There is plenty individual newsagents can do on this issue but don’t.
Mark, I understand your comments and yes Gotch and Network have the data but clearly have a conflict of interest, if Sonia’s comments are accurate. What I was suggesting was that you remove the distributor from the (negotiating) equation. Other channels dictate supply – look at AWW Royal Wedding and supermarkets. Data is king and if we had the data to negotiate with as a group or sub-groups things would start happening. The ACP conference noted that Newsagents still sell the majority of Australian Audited titles and we are pretty much the only ones who sell the other 90% of titles available and yet we have little or no control. I periodically go through and alter supplies through Gotch and Network. Each time I do that for a large number of titles through gotch they introduce a large number of other titles and ramp up supplies randomly across the range. Frustrated I rang them and was told I can alter and lock my supplies for 6 months but that would mean that I would not be able to receive any new titles during that period. As a big supporter of partworks I could not afford to take that option.
to lock in your supplies for 6 months would not be a good idea , who knows what the next big mag is coming out just around the corner . One thing i would love to lock out for 6 months is overseas tittles , these i could do without . Does anyone know if this is possible . For me personally it is the overseas tittles that are the killer when it comes to cash flow or over supply or even room to display the mags that would actually sell . As 20yr newsagent mentioned if you cut back something another replaces it . I have cut back to different tittles of log cabins magazines in the last few months just for some other waste of space log cabbin mag to turn up , it is rediculous
20yr, make a formal complaint through an appropriate channel. If you’re in NSW, go through the CTTT as I have said before. I think it would be easy for a NSW newsagent to make such a case.
That’s an option, but I am a big supporter of Magazines. If I’m having these problems as a ‘category 1’ agent (so Gotch tells me) I’m unlikely to get support following legal action. For future reference and other issues I am investigating CTTT options.
20yr, give it a go and I’d be glad to help. The CTTT cold be your best friend in this.
back in april, i went to netonline and set a quantity for a particular magazine to 40. however, today we got 51 copies (full return and heavy magazine) ….so got on the phone to ask them why the allocation was not followed.
was told she can’t find it in their system. even though i can see it on netonline and says there are 2 issues left at 40 copies.
does anyone else have experiences where the allocation they set was ignored?
something is really rotten here i think…..
I have a particular weekly mag that comes from Network that I regularly only sell one or two of a week but that they supplied 4 of, so I early returned 2 religiously. As of last week I’m now getting 6 a week ! There’s actually a second title this appears to be ahappening to as well now.
Paul S, I think I know which mag you are talking about. I sell only one of it and they send me 6.
Happens to me all the time hateBullies. Even better is when you regularly receive say 4 copies, early return 2 and sell one of the remainder, then you try to change the allocation to 2 and it says that it is below your average sales??? If I’ve only ever sold one, average is one not three. Where did Network go to school!!