Hey, Happy New year.
I think 2024 will see change continue in our channel. It will impact our businesses and the businesses of our suppliers. The changes will be driven by a range of factors including but not limited to the continued rolling disruption of print media, growth in the use of social media, further decline in engagement with appointment TV and radio, AI, AI and AI, migration of more over the counter transactions to online, settling in of work from home for many and more suppliers going direct to consumers.
That’s my (incomplete) list of drivers of change. Now, to the changes I think we are likely to see in the channel.
- A significant increase in online sales. More newsagents will have websites. More revenue will be put through websites run by businesses in our channel. I expect 2024 to be the year of biggest online revenue growth for our channel that we have see.
- More newsagents selling products that have not been been traditionally associated with our channel. While this will be especially seen in businesses selling online, there will be some physical shops that pivot to niche specialty with the newsagency part of the business a smaller pert.
- Continued decline in print newspaper and magazine purchases.
- Somewhere between 100 and 200 newsagencies closed (for a variety of reasons).
- Greater growth in online lottery product purchase than over the counter.
- New suppliers entering our channel to replace revenue lost in other channels.
- More direct from manufacturer opportunities as general wholesaler models are challenged.
- More use of AI in content preparation, business performance assessment and customer contact assistance.
- More collaboration events to drive traffic spikes.
This list is irrelevant as it’s speculation. What matters is what you are doing in your business to make the most out of 2024. Only you can figure that out. Or, you can choose to do nothing and let the year happen as it happens. This would be a mistake I think. Given the changes we can see, I think it is vital to embrace change, to ride the wave, rather than be dumped by it. This is why thinking about what might be in 2024 is useful. It lets you think about what might be so you can be ahead of the wave.
I was to finish by mentioning AI again. I think its impact on newsagencies, business generally and society more broadly will be far greater in 2024 than anything we can possibly imagine today. Some impacts will be good, while some not so good. Those less negatively impacted will be those who engaged with AI early to be aware of the rapidly evolving tools, to know what to watch out for.
Hey, Happy New year.