Magazine week: Why magazines matter in a retail newsagency

Each day this week I will post about magazines from an overall business perspective in newsagencies. I am doing this because some suppliers think my submission to the ACCC of the proposed trial of new magazine supply rules I made on behalf of newsXpress reflects a move against magazines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am fighting for fairness because of believe in magazines for the long term.

I am kicking this week’s series off with this post on Why magazines matter in a retail newsagency.

Despite all our complaints and all our frustrations with the unfairness of the model of supply to newsagents compared to our competitors magazines matter to us because:

1. Our channel is known as the magazines specialists. If shoppers are looking for a magazine outside the top sellers they think of us.
2. Magazine traffic remains good, not where it was, but still good.
3. People love browsing our shops – we make it easier than any other retailer.
4. We offer magazine related services no one else offers (special orders and putaways to name two).
5. We go deeper into segments, we genuinely cater to special interests.
6. Australians still prefer purchasing over the counter to subscriptions for most titles.
7. Our retail competitors do not want to specialise beyond the top selling titles.
8. There is upside if we are prepared to invest,

These and other reasons make magazines important to us. How important is up to each of us.

Unfortunately, we have publishers and distributors who know the importance of magazines to us and this is why the terms we are supplied under are considerably worse than the terms magazines are supplied under for our competitors. Shame on them for this unfairness.

I think for the medium term we need to rise above the unfairness of the magazine supply model. We need to make the most of the magazine opportunity. We need to use magazine traffic to leverage our way to the future we want for our businesses. This is the most important opportunity magazines present newsagents with today. It is the one reason magazines matter in our businesses.

For too long newsagents have been treated by magazine publishers and distributors in a paternalistic way. Just because we ask for fair and equitable supply so we can compete with others selling magazines does not mean we want to turn our back on the category. It means the opposite. We see a bright future for magazines if we can achieve fair supply.

Footnote: I am calling this magazine week for no reason other than to label the series of posts.