Newsagents – how is your supply of Cosmopolitan Bride from Bauer Media?
The magazine allocations experts at Bauer decided to increase our supply on the back of a sell through of 40% or less.
Cosmopolitan Bride is failing for is – we are losing money on it. Bauer would know this yet they want us to lose more. Where is the sense in this?
Click on the image to see the data for yourself. This is data the Bauer experts have access to and on which they made their increase decision.
Why have they increased my supply? For no reason other than to shift stock out of the warehouse and into newsagencies. Our sales data does not warrant an increase. Indeed, the data warrants a decrease in supply of 50%.
So why does Bauer do this? Because they can. Because they can impose the tax of oversupply taking our labour, retail space and cash flow without considering is.
It’s arrogant of Bauer Media because they knowingly do it or ignorant of Bauer Media because flaws in their systems allow this to happen.
This type of oversupply is what is driving more and more newsagents to reduce their reliance on magazines. Other magazine publishers should take note but I doubt they will. They should as this behaviour by Bauer is a reason newsagents early-return.
Take a look at a brief video I shot last week about the high cost of magazine oversupply on newsagents.
Rec 8 here, topped 6 and put 2 out, don’t expect them to sell, but is part of having a good range of mags, they will go when a new wedding mag turns up
Rick this is what does not make sense – the wastage. At least you can top yours. It all newsagents got to top all returns oversupply would stop overnight.
Just top them.
I got sick of lifting and storing boxes of magazine returns so started topping everything except part works about 2 years ago.
Maximum one small box of each per week now (unless there are part works to return), no one has ever complained.
I adjusted my supply down to 3 before this issue, they were sending 8-10 on sales of 1.
The problem is the adjusted supply only lasts a few issues with them (at least with G&G you can choose up to 2yrs) so I will soon have the same problem again. May follow Jenny’s lead and top anything where they ignore the quantities I have set in their system.
Brendan check your contract.
We sell at a 90% rate of Cosmo Bride, popular in our neck of the woods.
I early returned 6 but I am tempted to early return the lot on unjustified supply levels.
Frustration showing on my behalf Mark. I sent the publisher of New Dawn an email with a screen shot of recent sales and returns highlighting oversupply by Network. I hope they take it up with Network.
Brendan – contacting publishers directly is entirely appropriate. Often they are in the dark.
Has anyone else tried to return RM WILLIAMS OUTBACK CALENDAR only to find that it is FIRM SALE?
I did not order this product and the xchangeit label doesn’t say anything about firm sale (in fact it says it is due for recall W0215) but the system won’t allow it to be returned because it is being told that it is a firm sale.
How do we return this item and how do we ensure that we NEVER get firm sale products unless we are pre-informed and we choose to buy with this information intact.
The only product I ever purchase firm sale are the Frankie diaries because I know they will sell.
Has anyone else been caught by this?
June,
I have the RM Williams Outback Calendar. The calendar should be sale or return. The G&G website will allow me to add it to a supplementary return ( I am not game to transmit it though )
The RM Williams Outback diary however is firm sale
Thanks Max – I only have the calendar
but I will try to transmit it online
Brendan , that’s a great idea. Think I will do the same. Sell 1 lonely New Dawn regularly yet Bauer have just increased my supply from 4 (of which I always early returned 2) to 7 ! Arseholes !