A newsagent who completed a magazine relay following the advice I published here – How to do a magazine relay in your newsagency business – has let me know that the relay they completed a couple of months has resulted in a 15% increase in unit sales across almost all categories comparing this year to last.
15% year on year growth is a nice return for less than a day of labour.
Some newsagents would prefer to jump at shadows and argue about what suppliers should do for them than make their own success.
I was reading it and thinking what a great little story then i got to the last sentence.
Are you refering to us winging about the whole paper contract deal ?
No Shaun. It was a general comment.
My point is that some in the channel believe they are entitled to certain behaviour by suppliers while others believe they have to behave a certain way themselves.
I’m from the camp believing that we make our own success.
Mark it is the Aussie way to believe you are entitled to everything.Why should people have to work and strive when it should just fall in their lap??It’s always been the suppliers fault with some Newsagents.
It is easier to sit back and complain and whinge about falling mag sales than to put in some extra effort and try something new.
I’m about to do a relay and, based on comments from other Newsagents it sounds like something all should try if they haven’t already.
I know some people resist change or feel that based on their experience it matters very little if at all. Given the amount of change that is being thrust upon us by some of our major suppliers I would think that we should embrace it and capitalise on changes as much as possible. I know it goes against the grain for some and I was one of them but I subscribe to the “you make your success” theory.
Yes! A few hours and no capital investment.
We’re about to launch into a relay now that we’ve rearranged a floor space and reduce the number of mag pockets to 540 from 780. Our sales have dropped around 25% over the last few years to around 9k a month. We return in excess of 60% of what we receive. Just wondering if anyone has any tips for advising the suppliers that we now have less pockets?
Mick, Be sure of your data first. The last thing you want is to lose sales as a result of such a move.
Write to the suppliers advising of shop-fit changes, letting them know the new number of pockets. Ask for them to acknowledge your correspondence.