Space allocation for magazines in retail newsagencies today is vital to managing the return we receive from this challenges category. Cutting space allocated is almost the only management action we can take to reduce overheads. The risk, however, is cutting space and driving revenue and the return lower than it should be.
My advice on cutting magazine space is to do it with the right fixtures that allow you to display more in less space, fixtures that make use of previously dead space in the newsagency to thereby reduce the ‘cost’ to the business.
This photo shows the magazine department in one of my newsagencies.
On the back wall you can see the full face display. This works well because the sign above the display draws people in. It tells magazine destination shoppers to head here. Each title gets one pocket. The fixtures are deep enough to accomodate this.
The double-sided display in the foreground of the photo currently has higher volume titles. The fixture is in three parts and each pocket is deep. Pocket depth is important as it enables us to not waterfall and thereby fit more titles into less space and this is key to managing costs for the low-margin category. This fixture enables full face display of plenty of titles and half and third face display of others.
All of the fixtures we use are movable, re-configurable. This is also important as it allows changes to magazine space allocation and placement without having to bring in external resources.
Nowhere in our magazine space to we have old-school flat-stack fixtures. I think they waste space – however, given the volume some stores receive I understand they are essential to managing placement of floor stock.
The fixtures we are using are modern. This is important to me as it makes a pitch about the business and magazines themselves.
Newsagency shoplifters have a lot to answer for in that even today some are promoting purpose made old-school magazine fixtures. That should have stopped five years ago. My advice to newsagents on magazine fixtures: never have anything purpose built. Never.
Flexibility is key – flexibility in floor placement, space allocation and title placement in the fixtures. This is all part of managing magazines for success.