Special interest magazines the growth opportunity for newsagents

Special interest magazine sales are strong in newsagency businesses for which I have seen sales data. And, by special interest magazines I mean fringe magazines, the titles we’d sell less than 10 copies each issue of. Magazines like Cigar Aficionado:

I mention Cigar Aficionado because this issue is easy for us to promote. Brian Cox features in Succession, a hit TV show that has connections to the media and Australia through cast and the broader subject matter.

In my shops we take care to notice covers, so we can leverage them if they present an opportunity. Sometimes, a full cover needs to be seen to gain traction. I think that;s the case with this issue of Cigar Aficionado.

And, yes, I hear some in the gallery complaining about magazine margin. I agree, it is appalling. but, these special interest customers are our most valuable magazine shoppers. They will buy more magazines and are more likely to add other items to their basket than the more regular shopper buying weekly magazines. We can make money by be8ing the specialist magazine retailer in the right retail setting with the right complimentary product from which to derive the value.

No, I am not all in on magazines, all gung-ho. Rather, I note that in some situations the category performs well, making a net positive contribution. Unfortunately, though, shifting the cream from weeklies and high volume monthlies to other retailers means there are now fewer magazine specialists. The ‘experts’ behind this shift, this deregulation, have gone on to other endeavours, leaving us to make what we can of their mess, which, in terms of special interest titles is plenty if done right and in a good situation.

Attitude is another special interest title that benefits from promotion., This latest issue with Josh Cavallo in the cover is timely.

It’s a magazine issue that could be bought for plenty of reasons and not by those who would usually buy this title. By shining a light on this Josh Cavallo issue of Attitude we can attract more shoppers to the shop, for the destination purchase. Social media posts about this could do more for us than pitching New Idea or Woman’s Day. Promoting Attitude would be a blue ocean activity while promoting those other titles is red ocean.

Again, the 25% is meagre, but when you’re doping close to $400K annual in magazine sales you want to take care of it. And, that’s what we are doing.