A newsagent colleague called me yesterday with news the newsagency received Wedding Styling Handbook issue #1 for the fourth time. First time around their received 4 copies and sold all. Two months later they received 5 copies and returned 3. Four months later they received 3 and returned 3. This title was done after the first two go rounds. The newsagency shelves were full. They have an excellent range of wedding titles. How long will Bauer continue to hit this newsagent with extra stock of this title? As you would expect, the newsagent early returned the title.
Check if you have been sent issue #1 of Wedding Styling Handbook. Consider early returning – check your sales data.
Bauer says it wants to do the MPA magazine new supply rule trial to help newsagents. Maybe they should spend their time helping not sending the same issue of this title over and over.
What Bauer has done here makes a mockery of their MPA submission and goes to the distrust newsagents have for them. It makes newsagents less competitive than supermarkets as it takes, time, space and cash which supermarkets do not have to spend.
They must have had a lot of copies left. I hadn’t had it before but 2 turned up with a 04-08-2014 on sale date. Took one look at that and through them in the returns pile.
Unfortunately Bauer is the main culprit when it comes to over supply, and it’s Bauer doing all the talking at the ACCC conference on telling newsagents how to be better retailers.
There are no deposits left in the trust bank for Bauer in my account.
When talking over supply, Bauer quickly steers the conversation to demand increases on top sellers, knowing full well that this is not our issue.
It’s titles like this that are choking the supply chain.
We are constantly under supplied on the top 100 sellers and over supplied on 101+.