For years, newsagents supported Annette Sym’s Symply Too Good cookbooks, carrying them on the shelves for long periods of time, often barely covering real estate and labour costs – if they were lucky.
This week newsagents received new supply of Symply Too Good cookbook. Many are frustrated with the long on sale, the long period of delayed billing and that there was no opt in, no ability for the newsagent to control the spending of their money.
Some newsagents have noted they received an opt out email with 48 hours to act. If true, the 48 hour response time is ridiculous. Other newsagents have said they received no such email.
Given today’s retail real estate and labour costs, only an opt in process is appropriate. Further, the on-sale ought to be optional from 30 days with no delayed billing. These rules would respect newsagents whereas the model being used now does not.
Magazine space in newsagencies is under more pressure than ever. We all need to cut space and labour costs. This leaves less space for slow performing titles. It means we have no room for long on-sale titles. Publishers need to understand this, they need to respect us.
Footnote: Annette Sym will be unhappy at this post. It is important to unpack the facts from a range of newsagents before responding. For example, with the retail space a magazine pocket takes in a shopping centre newsagency costing anything from $1 to $3 a week, return on space is a key metric. The low margin from magazines and the low volume of niche titles like these demand they be under the spotlight when assessing magazine performance. The numbers themselves have us looking at the performance of the Symply Too Good titles no matter how much we like them.
is the 48hr thing a true story ? I know everytime I want to set an order it takes 2 weeks so how come now network can set up an order in just 48hrs and I am presuming thousands of orders at that
IPS same time frame Email 18th 11.00am Thurs 20th to confirm.
The Scottish Banner
NEW PUBLICATION
Dear Retailers,
IPS is pleased to announce that The Scottish Banner has joined our platform and will be on sale Thursday 27th August 2015.
In an effort to streamline the transition and ensure retailers are supplied with their normal quantity, IPS has matched the previous distributor’s data as well as expanded into new retailers.
In conjunction with the recently communicated new business rules, IPS is allowing retailers the opportunity to alter supply.
Supply has now been loaded to your account and retailers have until 11am Thursday 20th August to amend their quantities. Supply can be altered by visiting http://www.ipsonline.net.au and clicking ‘Edit Supply’.
Richard, I don’t get these. If people send them to me I will publish them here.
Shaun I did not receive it but newsagents have told me they did.
We early return most of these every time. Unfortunately junior staff taking mags off shelf for returns saw the decided to Top them for who knows what reason. Ours are now sitting in a box waiting for the delayed billing date to come up!
The ones we received were in poor condition ,definitely been on the shelves more than once before.
I got the email. I acted on it straight away and set my supply to zero for all editions (because it’s a series that never worked for us). And I got zero supply, so I guess the process works as long as you use it.
I know some newsagents who look at emails once a week. 48 hours does not work for them.
Sorry, but any small business person who only reads their emails once a week is out of touch with the realities of modern business!!
I agree Bruce. My comment was more about representing what some others have told me.
Sorry Bruce, I did not get my email. You must have got mine, can you send it through!
We got the email, oddly someone asked for them last week so we kept 2 of each not realising a loooong return date.
I have noticed a lot of networks return dates are getting longer, especially the bagged crap. No doubt setting themselves up for when the “code of conduct” is introduced and we can’t early return.
That adjust your own supply at IPS is going well. Have an email that say’s I’ve got till 11am tomorrow to change “The Scottish Banner” supply. Unfortunately when I went to zero it (1 sale in last 11 issues with Network) I got the bright red “this is outside your trading terms..”. Brilliant!
Steve, thanks for the reminder to change supply on IPS online for The Scottish Banner. At least 1 is better than their allocation.
The “new” IPS terms are another example of the tail wagging the dog. Supply is set at your maximum sales over the past 2 issues plus 25%. Just not on with long shelf life titles.
So when do you get to bank some cash? Even if I sold the maximum history sale my margin is eaten up by their oversupply.
Given my return is not paid until it’s deducted from the next issue distribution it’s all a con to tie up our cash.
I have emailed their GM with the instruction if I do not have complete control over range and quantity I’m happy to close my account.
I am now on a no new titles list…and every time ant title is adjusted I send him an email to please fix it.
Bill I to WAS on a no new tittle list , BUt it never happened they still send new tittles
When IPS changed their supply rules to having 3 weeks for returns instead of 2 and giving us a massive 48 hours to adjust our supply of new titles (though not to zero apparently), they sent an email saying if you were on the no new titles list you were being taken off it.