I am grateful to have seen comprehensive sales data for October 2020 compared to 2019 for a range of regional newsagencies. In this data, the impact of the loss of regional newspapers is laid bare.
In one case, the business lost several thousand transactions in a month. With more than half their local newspaper sales being a local newspaper and nothing else, the paper closure removes a reason for a chunk of shopper visits.
Remove enough of these reasons and you impact the broader health of the newsagency.
More traditional newsagencies rely on layered traffic courses, with regional / local newsapapers being one of these.
While the loss of a local newspaper is not easily addressed by newsagents, the businesses that fare best are those that pull shoppers for a diverse mix of purposes.
Net new traffic attraction remains a key business activity for all retailers in our channel. Our suppliers focus on their category, as they should. It is up to us to focus on traffic for our businesses.