It is a tough day for print media with the news that Fairfax is cutting 120 editorial jobs. Related, Coles has dramatically cut newspaper and magazine advertising. The mUmBRELLA report includes this:
Year-on-year, Nielsen estimates Coles Supermarkets has gone from spending around $100,000-$200,000 per week in January and February of 2015 to below $50,000 every week this year, except in the week leading up to Australia Day.
Smart newsagents are reducing space for magazines and newspapers – sometimes cutting titles other times fitting the same titles into less space to reduce operational overheads.
Without a doubt these are challenging times. Focussing on the cost base is important for if you don’t and the decline continues, the cost as a percentage of revenue increases at an alarming rate.
From a newsagent perspective, the biggest cost base is usually real estate. This is why magazine departments are moving, shrinking and being used more efficiently in well run businesses.
No sheet, perhaps if I was on another planet reading this it seems that newsagents should reduce ourselves to the size of a shoebox. What I can’t understand is why would fairfax keep allowing Coles supermarkets to sell their products when they reduce support. they should say, you can only buy our products at Newsagents,look at Aldi they stick at what they do best Coles just want to turn the paper into junk mail,,,get rid of them they don’t help.
Our local Coles is also drastically cutting the spread of mag titles they carry, so I’m told by a merchandiser today.
Fairfax announce sackings, share price rises. Surely they should sack everyone and the share price would be stratospheric. Who needs staff when all that matters is the share price? 🙂
If Fairfax pulled out of Coles (or supermarkets generally) all that would happen is more business going to News.