We received 23 copies Number Cakes, the latest mini cookbook published under the AWW brand, 16 more copies than we should have been sent based on our sales history.
Escalating the issue through network Services we know the allocation was a mistake by an allocations person at Bauer. While I appreciate that I’m able to return the covers of the excess supply, it’s frustrating it happened. Why a human is involved at all is an issue for me. This should be automated and based on the considerable dataset they have for my business.
Bauer should give newsagents a mechanism by which we can preset our title requirements as I noted recently including this:
Here’s what retail newsagents need from magazine distributors Network Services and Gordon & Gotch to enable us to compete with supermarkets, petrol and convenience:
- Scale out based on sales data – you don’t ship all copies provided unless the sales data warrants it.
- Increase or decrease in supply only if we approve.
- Add a new title only if we approve.
- Top only returns.
There are other things I could put on the list, as I have done before, but I wanted to keep this simple. This list of four items is easy for you. Technology could make steps 2 and 3 easy for us and you.
Our competitors have these benefits already. That newsagents do not makes us less competitive and less profitable.