Newsagents have easy access to magazine sell through data data through the Magazine Sell Through Rates Report with which they can make a case on oversupply by a magazine distributor.
Using industry standard calculations, a Magazine Sell Through Rates Report identifies the titles that are failing to meet minimum performance levels.
Magazines delivering a sell through of lower than 50% are, in my view, under performing. These titles are titles that I would label as over supplied.
The sell through is the percentage of the stock supplied that was sold.
The image shows one page from a magazine sell through rate report from a newsagency. I’ve obscured their identity.
My management tip for newsagents today is to run the Magazine Sell Through Rates Report. Look at what it shows for the last year. If you have titles consistently below 50% sell through this is evidence you ought to send to the ACCC as proof of poor treatment by your supplier.
Magazine distributors say to the ACCC that newsagents have control. This is not the case, not with certainty and not for the long term.
This report offers further evidence to magazine publishers as to why newsagents sometimes early return a title without apparent justification.
I don’y mind going through the process of cutting titles except that for every title we adjust/cut we seem to receive at least one to replace it on an unsolicited basis. We know what we can stock and the distributors need to respect this and give us the opportunity to order new titles as opposed to simply forcing them onto us.
I reckon (with no evidence, just experience at the pointy end) that one’s stock level is dollar based.
ie, no matter what you CANCEL, the equivalent stock in dollar value is sent out constantly.
So cancelling titles is a waste of time.
It may work to tell Gotch and Network that you have cut your mag pockets, I’d like to hear from someone who has done this, do they HEAR you and send less product?
Over supply?? Check this out!!!!
The note on the Network website CONFIRMS that they know they are oversupplying me by at least 3 copies of The Economist
Current Allocation 6 copies
New Base 2 copies
Number of Issues 9
Reason Other (please specify)
Message Oversupply – we only have put away customers for this title
You’ve requested a new Base Allocation of 2 copies.
This falls outside the range for automatic approval.
The recommended value is 3 copies
You may still request 2 copies; Customer Service will review and respond via email.
They want to give me 6 copies.
I want 2 as I have never sold more than that but they say 3 is recommended. This is clearly a 100% oversupply by their own calculations.
Should we be collating these examples for the ACCC ?
BTW I have emailed them that I only want 2 copies.
Good luck. If they act on your request, expect another new title to pop up next fortnight or so !
They do act on these requests h but we should not have to go through this. The point of my post is that they KNOW there is an oversupply.
Sent both a letter a few weeks back advising of fewer pockets with no evidence yet of them taking any notice.
I know they know, so do you, and so do they.
But it makes no difference.
What I want, as do you, is an effective sell-through rate. I currently achieve 50% with Gotch, and 60% with Network, and cannot improve this from my end ( because they pump up the product of other stuff as fast as I cut back )
What does the ACCC think we should be supplied with I wonder?
Like you Brendan, I sent a letter to both on 23/5 advising them of down-sized pocket numbers. To date I have had no acknowledgment or other reponse from either other than an increase in volume of existing titles and new titles as well!
From looking at last month’s accounts I have been supplied with $1500 more of mags than I sold!
I have 2 years worth of evidence to back up that both distributors supply to a dollar figure. I have done a range review recently with both and ever since I have been flooded with titles previously deleted as none performers.
A 50% sell through rate means that you are being supplied 200% of your sales. This in a market in decline.
What makes matters worse is that 90% of my sales for NDC come from 48% of titles.
At least with GG a change online lasts for up to 2 years. NDC changes are a waste of time as they are only a few issues.
We all need to continually demand for the ability to make sustainable changes to our business, just as the distributors are doing from July 15.
Network and Gotch have both said to the ACCC that we newsagents have control. The ACCC has accepted this.
My most recent discussions with the ACCC were just over a month ago. I was making progress and had the attention of an investigator and then, without notice or reason, his investigation was shutdown.
It’s up to us, all newsagents, to prove oversupply. This is vital. Complaints from individual newsagents will make the difference. hence the importance of these magazine sell through rates reports.
We need to flood them with proof. The magazine distributors cannot deny the proof in the report as it uses their algorithm.
Network and Gotch have done a complete snow job on the ACCC!
How – when they receive sales data on a daily basis, when they are continually sent requests for a cut back in supply based on reports such as the Sell Through report, when they are sent information re a reduction in pockets – can they claim we have control.
These people couldn’t lie straight in bed and once again the ACCC demonstrates its willingness to roll over at the behest of big business.
What are we supposed to do – send the ACCC a copy of every request we make of NDC and Gotch.
we have moved to much smaller premises and we advised GG and Network of this.
We went through a gruelling change of
supplies (it took me a fortnight to do it)
and after all the painstaking effort we are
now receiving the SAME dollar value per month as before.
as h said previously – they just replace the copies reduced by either OTHER or NEW product and take no notice of our
requests other than to reduce that particular magazine and replace it with another that we have either never received or never requested.
It is soooooo frustrating.
Mark, I know you are right about newsagents sending advice to the ACCC about this sort of behaviour (the push model) but I know how long I spend in my
business and sometimes there just aren’t any hours left to do this – I know you’ll
say there is no excuse for NOT doing it but there are only 24 hours in a day and I don’t know about other newsagents but I have had to cut staff according to the reduced income from the present retail
downturn and after all day at the counter and an hour or so after the shop shuts to keep up with the paperwork etc. there isn’t much more time in a day.
OK I have time to read this site for a few minutes (usually while having a quick bite to eat and a cup of coffee) but that is the only time off during the working day.
I’m sure I belong to the majority not the minority here.
All newsagents work hard – even the ones that we think are not as good as us.
That is why I charge the ANF with this task. It is their responsibility (in their charter) to look after the investment of the newsagents to the best of their ability and so far their best is simply not good enough.
Under/over supply has always, and probably will always, be a problem for most newsagents. I just do what I have to do – order extras when required and early return what I don’t want.
But after having just boxed up 14 boxes of NW and 6 of GG for last weeks returns I thought maybe it would help if all returns were covers only. What’s the point of returning full copy magazines – when you order more and can’t get your hands on them, or they arrive 3 weeks later when interest has waned, yet other newsagents are early returning full copies – what happens to these magazines?
I’m hearing of more newsagents topping all returns, newsagents as close as 100km from the city.
Mark is this Network or just Gotch? I know Network audit our returns but not sure that GG do. Do they not have return credits knocked back or do they have to credit us anyway?
I’m told both but don’t rely on me for guidance.
Personally, if all returns were topped we would see fairer supply.
And if all returns were topped it would save newsagents who pay to send them back a lot of money.
Food for thought, thank you.
Jenny,
I am halfway between Sydney and Melbourne. I have topped the lot except for Partworks for the last 18 months and
I now no longer spend 1.5% of Mag turnover on Freight for the returns. 2 Boxes a week is a lot cheaper than 8 or more that I was sending. No complaints for Gotch or Network. Once a month or so there is a request from the distributors we do not top Partworks.
Peter,
Same here tops only except Partworks.
I couldn`t see why I had to pay to return their oversupply of mags.
Peter and ACT I shall now do what you do with my returns and encourage others in this area to do the same.
Why the hell would they want full copies back anyway, must cost a lot in recycling fees.
You should have seen the pile of Batman Partworks returned boxes out at the followmont trucking depot in Brisbane on Friday. The palette was stacked over 6 foot high and they had obviously had to make a sign so that they were all piled seperately that many had come back. Obviously alot of people weren’t happy with their supply numbers and sent them straight back !
On topic, I’ve “accidentally” returned fulls as tops before and never had an issue with them being rejected. TBH I suspect who ever audits the returns has no idea whther the retrun is supposed to be topped or fulls.
I have been audit a few times by Network
Have failed for over claiming and under claiming and also have passed but no comment was ever made on everything being topped
Has anyone else checked how many Readers Digest they are getting on Wednesday ?
I am getting about 7 to 10 months supply.
Tower system shows F for full or T for top
or C for cover on their edi labels when we
download and I use that as my guide and
only send full copies if requested – early
or current. I thought that was what was
requested of us.
nth qld tops only for last couple of years, best thing ever. doesnt stop oversupply but eases the pain a little. i always cut heavly and often, doubt it has coat many sales
June that is what is requested, but newsagents are doing otherwise (topping all but part works) and making it easier and cheaper for themselves.
sorry about the spelling, enjoying a well earned week in bali and maybe one to many bintangs 🙂
Our position should be either give us control of supply or we top everything. Doing a quick calculation, I’d say full copy returns are costing newsagents who do them collectively around $250,000 a month. It’s like a fine we have to pay for often poor decisions of others.
Why should we pay to send back returns to these companies, Fairfax and News have always picked up newspaper returns free of charge by their delivery drivers. They want to see our returns let them pay, or trust us that what we submit as unsold is true.
Rick enjoy it while you can, it’s about 7 degrees here, pouring rain and howling winds. Have one of whatever you are drinking for my husband and all the other poor guys that have to deliver papers in this horrid weather!
Jenny that’s a hard argument to put given history. However, given the considerable changes in magazine sales and supply – i.e. deregulation – since the ‘system’ was established, it’s appropriate to reconsider the position.
My understanding is that some of our key competitors don’t have to send back returns.
should we be calling/writing to g+g and network to confirm we are going to send tops only? or just do it?
After G&G Maintenance from Wednesday
I can not send or receive files through XchangeIT though I am on longer the only One now I hear. Only G&G files I think
But my returns deadline is looming and still no fix in site.
Emerald club is tops only.
Max, not only getting 3 times the amount I normally sell of Readers Digest, but a lot of other magazines increased in supply for no reason tomorrow. Network the main offender.
get this, I submitted a request to decrease my standing order for pickup me up 2 weeks ago and instead I just saw my allocation increased by 50% on tomorrow’s invoice.
what a joke.
jenny, just to clarify, was that ONE drink for your husband and the other guys, or one drink EACH for your husband and other guys, if so i need actual numbers so i can keep count. on a serious note, this holiday has been a long time in the planning and really makes you wonder about your priorities sometimes!! we all need a break because its so damn hard at the moment. do whatever it takes but take a few days off somehow and forget about mags, papers and bloody minded suppliers like G&G and NDC. wish i could post some pics 🙂
Gary i needed 2 of the helicopter part works on a standard order as they where only sending me one all the time , apparantly ordering 2 was no good, i had to make a standing order of 5 for some stupid reason , so anyway 5 turn up and i early return 3 so what happens the following issue i get one again …… yep and i also lost the customer .
Rick, stop looking at the internet on your holiday…. go order a bintang for me please.
Rick have whatever you can drink for all of us! We are going to have a pretend holiday tonight – its called camping! Have just arrived home via flooded road to blacked out house, wet fire wood, no water or heating. Enjoy Bali you lucky b!