Author: Mark Fletcher

Magazine publishers and distributors pushed their product outside the newsagency channel and into other outlets (petrol and convenience, major retailers) in the name of giving consumers the choice. They said that times had changed. Well, it suited them today that. Times have changed. Boxing Day is a massive retail day in some states. yet we received no magazines to support the opportunity. I guess the times have changed pitch drives only some decisions. I wish we had magazine deliveries in Victoria as some customers in my newsagencies for the first time would have purchased a magazine from us.

There is an interesting discussion going on in the UK about the cover price of newspapers and magazines. Some newsagents want no cover price printed on publications so they can set the prices themselves. The National Federation of Newsagents in the UK, recently decided to investigate the feasibility of removing cover prices.

An issue driving the UK discussion – who carries the cost of the supply chain – is relevant in Australia. While magazine publishers and distributors have made great strides in cutting costs out of their supply models in recent years, the refusal of some to transact efficiently with newsagents has denied us the opportunity to cut costs out of our businesses.

We have three aisle ends at our Frankston newsagency now for magazine displays: one for the ACP magazines’ Connections promotion of the week and the other two for titles we choose. We joined Connections a couple of weeks ago. The aisle ends work well when the publishers provide sufficient and appropriate material of use – as happened for Madison last week.

This display is the first ever done by Simon, manager of our Frankston store.

The challenge is when Connections promotes a low selling title or for which you do not have the stock to justify the real-estate investment.

Why do we need to have two issues of this British Homes and Gardens magazine on our shelves at the same time? I am sure the importer and distributor will have a reason but as a retailer funding their decision it makes no sense to me. This behaviour denies newsagents the opportunity to effectively retail and it sucks us of cash. It is yet another of a broken magazine supply chain where newsagents and their efficient distribution system are abused.

Universal Magazines held their Christmas party the Four Seasons in Sydney last night. No, I wasn’t a guest. Walking past I wondered how much of their long shelf life product helped them fund the event.

We received two copies of this Animal Songs book from a magazine distributor on September 12. It’s due for return next week. We have not sold either copy.

Magazine distributors ought not distribute books without permission. Titles with a shelf life longer than four weeks ought to be billed only after scanned sales data is provided. This title is another example of the abuse of the newsagency channel by a broken magazine supply chain.

The Melbourne Observer has a cover story this week about Andre Rieu – guaranteeing excellent sales this week before Christmas. We have put copies of the Observer on the counter, next to copies of Limelight, the ABC mag with the Rieu DVD sampler on the cover. I’d encourage Victorian newsagents to try this, Rieu is very popular with broad appeal.

The Observer continues to actively support newsagents with listings and other mentions in its pages – giving more space than any other publication to our channel.