Magazines in supermarkets are add-on purchases rather than destination purchases whereas in for many newsagents, magazines continue to be destination purchases.
As an add-on purchase a $2.95 magazine can work for a supermarket while the same magazine in a newsagency is likely to be loss making.
In my own business with a magazine pocket costing $1.15 per week for the space alone, I need to sell two of these magazines a week for the month-long on sale to cover the real estate costs and labour associated with the title. If I don’t achieve this I lose money.
Indeed, if you look at the financial performance of magazines in most newsagencies, no more than 20% of magazines are cash-flow positive.
While publishers like to promote low cover prices, they tend to not work for newsagents – especially those of us in shopping centres. We need higher cover prices, especially with unit sales falling.
The only option for a $2.95 magazine where I am selling less than two copies a week is to fit three such titles into two pockets or two titles into one pocket. This is not always possible because of the sick model supplying me two and three times what I will sell.
Unfortunately, magazine publishers and distributors are not having these types of discussions with thoughtful newsagents.
Off topic but why did Fairfax find it necessary to put The SMH Good Food Guide into Woolworths.
One supermarket got more than our total for distribution and subscription customers.
The supermarket next to my shop has a couple of boxes sitting on counter away from newspapers, no posters out, I don’t think the staff have a clue about this book where as ours and other local newsagents have been getting requests to hold a copy since last week.
A bad move in my opinion.
Our supply was 40 , woolworths got 90 !! More than double their smh supply . Crazy