A consequence of magazine publishers and distributors failing to address the poor financial return from magazines for small business newsagents is a reduction in space allocation in newsagencies for magazines.
In real terms we make less today than five years ago yet the cost to us of magazines has increased between 5% and 10% year on year through this time.
Whereas in the past magazine departments took up a third of floor space, today the space allocation is 25% and less – meaning fewer pockets and no spare space.
The problem is exacerbated by magazines in so many more outlets than newsagents. No wonder we are tight on space. We have to be!
Magazine publishers and distributors need to stop sending us new titles without checking. Many of us have no space for them and have to remove an existing title if a new title is to be given space.
This happened recently with two new titles from Universal Magazines: Beach & Bayside Homes and Kitchen Inspirations. We did remove two titles.
It is ridiculous that in this age of technology the publishers and distributors do not have in place a system to know for certain space availability in our stores. It is like they prefer to be ignorant as this enables them to send us magazines we do not have space to display.
Pretty sure that the Kitchen Inspirations is a redistribution anyway (copyright date is 2014) so here it only goes on the shelf if there is a “hole”.
Further to that, EMG mags are repeatedly recycled, the latest example today being Custom Utes 45, which (if you google)seems to have been originally issued in 2012.
EMG don’t put copyright dates in their mags, but sometimes (eg recent Hot Rod variant mags) you can see that a “new” magazine references, say, “the 2011 Summernats held last month”.
Where do they store these things for 3 years???
on our shelves
It’s precisely the reason I’m cutting to 501 magazine pockets as of later this week. I reckon aything above that number and I’m losing money on magazines. What it also does mean that I will be automatically early returning all of the magazines that don’t make money without any shelf time at all for them and likewise any new magazine is highly unlikely to get shelf time unless its something really special.
Hello All
Mark Darton from Universal Magazines here. With due acknowledgement that space and new titles are an issue and I don’t have an easy solution. Please do not lose sight of the fact that there has rarely been a better time to display and promote Magazines in the Home Category they are in demand. In many areas of Australian we currently have the highest sale rates for houses and apartments, housing approvals and renovation applications are at record highs. Those in the market are looking for ideas and Home Category magazines provide those ideas for your customers. This is a big current opportunity for newsagents to maximize their profit on this magazine category.
Mark while the category is enjoying time in the sun, many publishers are leveraging this and supplying stock. We cannot display what he have no room for. To have to pay to send back stock that cannot be displayed is a galling tax on ur businesses.
The 4wd and camping caravaning section is the WORSE for oversupply and new tittles , it seems to be every delivery day there is a new tittle from EMG magazines .
@ Mark Darton . As Mark Fletcher has said it doesn’t matter how well the category is selling so long as I have other categories which are selling well for me too it will mean that new titles simply won’t get a look in if I don’t have the room on the shelf. I also agree with Shaun that the 4wd and camping section is rife with oversupply. In my new form factor I will keep the top 8 or so in that category based on my previous sales and the rest will get toppped, returned and cancelled. There can’t be any room to not take strict control of magazines based on only 25% , lots of competitors and gross oversupply.
Looking for more Gardening mags. Hard to sell home reno’s when the houses have only been built for 2 weeks but the perfect time for Qlders to get gardens ready for summer!
Please don’t think that all publishers are pushing their products to newsagents via their distributors to be a burden. Magazine publishers like myself see news agencies as the number 1 source to be able to sell their mags. Without newsagents, I cannot sell my magazines. Where else would a new upcoming publisher look to sell their product?
If publishers pay pocket rent , i will have rooms to cater all , premium space pay premium rent, just like supermarket.
Publishers,
Unfortunately somewhere between the printing of a magazine and the end of the retail chain(newsagents) there is a corrupt system operating. Since those above us in the chain refuse to make changes over the years we as newsagents have had to make hard business decisions, not for the hell of it but to remain profitable.
We are severely disadvantaged compared to our competitors, the supermarkets, who of course will not touch a magazine outside the top 200 sellers.
The continued oversupply, and the bombardment of new(and many old mags and bagged rubbish already rejected) adds many unnecessary hours of work to our businesses every week.
For Mark Darton I give you an example. Of home magazines we have 70 pockets with around 90 titles in them. Today(Monday) we sold 3 home mags. Admittedly it was a slow day but to put it in perspective in the last week we sold 28, out of a total of 850 mags.
The womens section of 90 pockets sold 280.
Motoring section of 90 pockets sold 62. Not hard to see from that the supermarket model is more profitable.
With a profit of around $50 per week the home section does not pay anywhere near the rent for the space, nor the wages to process them. At $100 profit the motoring section probably would not break even.
In reducing magazines and replacing with high GP product we have increased profitability already, and unfortunately for magazines their space will keep reducing until we reach an equilibrium where labour costs and oversupply are easily manageable like the rest of our product lines.
Don’t rely on the MPA trial as a saviour because it will only shuffle the pack, and not change anything in the long run.
This is a non-stop cycle ….that has no end in sight….
Magazine Publishers ; you really need to wake up and smell the coffee in realising the current archaic distribution model cannot survive in 2015.
Thousands of newsagents have reduced or are reducing the amount of magazines they display, because the return is simply not there to pay for the space they take up.
If newsagents are your primary source of sales, then why are you not asking newsagents why they are getting out of selling magazines?
Sorry this is where I should have posted my last comment!