Distribution newsagents have told me to be ready for sell-outs on Monday – Labour Day everywhere except for NSW and QLD – as those managing circulation nationally for News Corp. have set supply numbers based on Australia Day this year. Yes, seriously!
Newsagents who have sought to change their Labour Day 2014 figures based on sales for Labour Day 2013 have, I am told, had their allocation reset to reflect Australia Day 2014 sales.
There are plenty of areas in Australia where customer traffic on Australia Day is very different to Labour Day. I know in Victoria, for example, that Australia Day is about BBQs and parties whereas Labour Day is more likely to be family outings often including shopping.
Looking at my own retail data, Labour Day is easily double the Australia Day sales.
So, if you own a retail only newsagency and find supplies of your News Corp. products low for Monday and can’t get extra, don’t blame the distribution newsagent. They are likely to have been cut by a circulation management decision at News Corp. that has not sought to understand the differences between Australia Day and Labour Day.
One newsagent I was talking with about this yesterday questioned the News Corp strategy: if they want to kill off newspaper sales they’re going about it the right way.
Footnote: today is not GET NEWS CORP. day. This post and the previous one are here because the company is letting shoppers and newsagents down.
And our DT deliveries were shocking late to us today.
I would like to suggest Nationwide put a note on their webpage when certain areas are affected. This would save the poor supply newsagent from over 1000 phone calls from subscribers seeking their deliveries.
Crazy decision. The only thing that saved me was the fact they advised me via email on Thursday so I was able to call to change my order.
My subagents are getting what they sold last year on Labour Day plus a returns allowance less about 20%. This happens every public holiday. Soon they will be getting no papers on public holidays.