Sales of niche magazines are growing from what I can see in my biggest magazine business where we have around 1,100 titles.
While sales of weeklies and major monthlies are good, it’s the niche / special interest titles where we are seeing terrific year on year growth. These titles are attracting new shoppers, too. People are prepared to travel quite a distance to satisfy their interest in niche titles.
Scootering in the 1970s is a good example of niche, very niche even.
I don’t see this growth in my businesses with 300 titles. But in those shops the cost of retail space is considerably higher – so, naturally, we have reduced magazine space because of the low margin for that category.
We are not doing that is the main business as the cost of space is less and we have been able to adjust the business to sell more high margin gifts without harming the growing magazine sales.
We support the niche titles with social media posts, good, easy to access and easy to shop display and shop floor service for those keen for that.
Light Railways is another example of a niche title people will travel for.
I get that some newsagents are angry about magazines, the poor margin, the mediocre quality of the distribution model, but growth is growth, and for me in this shop, range is key to the growth.
I’m not suggesting newsagents expand their range. My purpose here today is to note good news. Hey, a 15% increase in magazine sales is good by any measure. That it is on the back of niche titles gives us a way to replicate the growth into 2023, which we plan to do while seeking ways to cut the overheads relating to magazines so we can make the meagre margin work.
In this business, the magazine relay we did earlier this year has played out well. Adjacency changes have helped to deepen the basket. these niche magazine shoppers are more likely to purchase multiple magazines at a time compared to the weekly and high-volume monthly magazine customers.