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magazines

A newsagent without newspapers and magazines

This tweet by Harry Wallop is interesting to me in that it is happening here too – not in big or significant numbers, but it is happening. The challenge, of course, is the shingle and the expectations it carries.

Not that it’s my business but this shop in the photo appears focussed on convenience lines. To me, that would include newspapers at least.

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magazines

Magazine range a key factor in sales growth

While I get that many newsagents are reducing space commitment to magazines on the back of declining sales, at my Malvern store sales are growing. I think this is in part due to our out of store promotions like the video below that we released yesterday.

In one of my other newsagencies we have no magazines while in may third we have 250 pockets, which is under review.

This video shows part of the Malvern range.

This video is part of a weekly promotion outside the shop of magazines, designed to attract new shoppers – and it’s working for us.

It took me all of ten minutes to shoot the video on my phone, strip out shop sounds using iMovie, load it to promo.com, enter the text and lay a music track over iot. Now I have a video that I will use in several places several times over the next couple of weeks.

No other retailer anywhere near our malvern shop is promoting magazine range.

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The publishers of Artlink magazine show it’s not that hard to pitch local Aussie newsagents

This tweet from the folks behind Artlink magazine would have taken a minute or two and cost nothing. Here they are pitching to their community that the new issue of their magazine is out and available at newsagents.

I wish other Aussie magazine publishers would be this engaged.

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magazines

Here’s one way your local newsagency helps families save money on food

Food can be expensive, especially when we eat out. It is one of the first areas of the weekly spend that we pull back on when concerned about money, like may be the case in the current economy, especially with constant news about inflation, interest rates and flat wage growth.

In local Aussie newsagents there is wonderful help for handling the family food budget. Magazines can help you save money on your food budget. For sure!

Magazines provide helpful tips and tricks for making delicious meals at home, and for growing food for a low cost.

  • Recipes: Magazines are packed with delicious recipes, many of which are easy on the wallet, and easy to follow. From budget-friendly meal plans to tips on how to cook with leftovers, magazines can help you create healthy, delicious meals at home without breaking the bank.
  • Grow your own: Magazines offer advice and tips on growing vegetables in your backyard, making delicious food even easier and for a low cost.
  • Meal Prepping and Planning: Prepping and planning your meals in advance can help you save money by reducing food waste and preventing last-minute takeout orders. Magazines often offer meal planning guides and recipes that can help you plan your meals for the week. from school lunches to weeknight dinners to family cooking, Aussie newsagents have magazines that help.
  • DIY staples: Magazines can also provide tips on how to make your own food staples at home, such as bread, cheese, and even condiments. By making your own food, you can save money on pre-packaged items and also have fun experimenting in the kitchen.

These are just 4 of many ways magazines can help families save money on food. By using the tips and tricks provided in magazines, you can enjoy delicious meals at home and still have the occasional night out without breaking the bank.

If money matters to you and you like delicious food, a magazine from your local newsagent could be the answer, it could set you on a path of delicious discovery that saves money too.

And here’s a bonus tip – look beyond the food magazine titles that you may already know because local Aussie newsagents have many specialty magazine titles in the food space from magazines for diabetics and the gluten intolerant to magazines purely about leftovers to magazines from many different countries.

And, here’s a secret – many of us who work in Aussie newsagencies get our best recipes for our own home cooking from magazines we sell!

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Hey Aussie magazine publishers, it’s not that hard to pitch newsagents to those interested in your magazine

Here’s what I found on Twitter this morning in a few seconds. Nothing from Aussie publishers that tags newsagents.

I could go on.

These examples show publishers and journalists promoting magazines and newsagents. It’s easy to do, free and helps attract readers.

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magazines

Poynter: Where have all the magazines gone?

Where have all the magazines gone? is an article by Samir Husni published by Poynter about the decline in magazines on newsstands in the US.

Magazine publishers, folks who work in distribution and retail newsagents will find this article interesting even though it is a US perspective.

In 2014 I wrote an obit for traditional newsstands in America — stores that sold mainly tobacco products and magazines — and about the birth of a new newsstand in grocery stores and bookstores. Tremendous change is now taking place at those new newsstands, which already look nothing like they did just a few years ago.

Though the newsstand was the most visible sign of a magazine, newsstand sales were never a major factor in the circulation strategy of the larger audited circulation publications. The strategic importance of newstands has only shrunk. Newsstand sales fell from a high 35% in the late 1970s to less than 10% in the early 2000s to a mere 3% of the total circulation today. A magazine like Time, which sells almost two million copies, now has very little presence on the newsstands. Overall, the newsstand industry went from about $6.8 billion in revenue in 2006 to about $1 billion in 2022 in a major drop following many changes that can be summed in one word: consolidation.

Consolidation took place in every segment of the magazine media business: publishers, printers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. With no exception, and to various degrees of volume, each of those industries saw mergers and acquisitions resulting in fewer publishers, fewer printers, fewer distributors, fewer wholesalers and fewer retailers, which, in short, means fewer magazines available for the general public to pick up and buy at retail.

Magazine sales growth is there for the taking in Australia, especially in titles outside the top 200. I am confident that newsagents who want to specialise, those with 1,000+ titles on their shelves, could easily achieve double-digit growth is we had genuine and easy control over the range of titles we receive and the quantity.

That in 2023 we do not have this is a key factor in holding back magazine sales in the magazine specialist retail newsagencies.

Husni’s article is worth reading. It ends on a note relevant to us here in Australia.

My own stats show that the annual number of new magazines has shrunk, too, from a high of 535 in 1996 to a low of 74 in 2022.

But Linda Ruth, an industry consultant and founder and president of PSC Consulting, said that the “special quality, special interest vertical publications are actually growing.”

“The newsstand has become a niche category,” Kotok said, with the high titles selling less than 300,000 copies an issue, a far cry from the 12 million copies that TV Guide used to sell in the late 1970s.

I think it is relevant for newsagents who specialise in magazines and rely on range see ourselves as niche. This means focussing more attention on those specialty titles rather than on the mass titles that are available everywhere else … leave those to the supermarkets who only promote when paid to do so by the publishers.

Poynter is a excellent and trusted resource on news and journalism.

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It’s a pity Aussie magazine publishers do not use Twitter and other social media to generate interest in their titles

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Is the magazine range we can see at Barnes & Noble in the US what we will see in Australia as newsagents give less space to magazines

People will travel for specialty magazines, as we can see in the US where the range of magazines I found in this Barnes & Noble is common in that group.

I have been thinking about this for a while and wondering what it would look like in Australia with a few newsagencies with a bigger range. And, by a few, I mean maybe only 2 or 3 in a capital city.

I don’t care so much about the weeklies or high volume monthlies – the supermarkets cover them. I am thinking about the titles outside of, say, the top 50 sellers, as outside of that there are many hundreds of titles people wold travel for. I see this today in the newsagency I have that offers the range. It does much better than the shops with a couple of hundred titles.

Anyway, here’s what I saw at Barnes & Noble, front of store, in the front window, attracting plenty of late night shoppers.

And, for those tempted to comment about margin and control: yes, we deserve much more than 25%, and we should have complete control over what we carry. In many situations, this second point wold increase sales.

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Terrific promotion of newsagents by magazine publisher

This is a terrific promotion of newsagents by the publisher of Bird Watching magazine to their 71,000 Twitter followers.

My only issue is with the in all good newsagents bit. It’s cliche, lazy. Of course, we can’t choose what we carry.

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magazines

Ukulele magazine is a perfect example of where we shine

Ukulele magazine is a perfect example of a traffic driving opportunity we have in magazines. I suspect people interested would go out of their way to pick up a copy, and, people who know ukulele players or lovers would mention it to them – offering a word of mouth opportunity for us.

It’s in the fringe special interest space that most newsagents see magazine sales growth, a space where we have no competitors.

So, with this title, we have it placed with music magazines, and we pitch it on social media, in to hope of attracting new shoppers. This is what interests me about fringe, special interest, magazines. The right title can be that valuable traffic driver we want. And, we can build around the title other sale opportunities.

Yes, yes! I get that 25% GP is appalling. It really is. But that doesn’t stop me leveraging what I can from the category.

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January is a perfect time for a magazine relay in your newsagency and here’s why, and how

A magazine relay takes a few hours and you are sure to sell more magazines as a result. January is a good time to do a relay because your’re probably less busy than usual, unless you’re in a beach location.

In my experience doing relays for many years, the return for a few hours work is many times over in a short time, usually within a m month.

So, why do a magazine relay? because you will make more money.

Now, to the how:

Typically, a relay of 1,000 magazine pockets can be completed in 4 hours. If you have 250 titles, you should be don in under an hour.

DO IT YOURSELF, DO IT ALONE.

A magazine relay is a statement about the business, a marketing and management activity. It sets the tone and says this is who we are, what we do and what we stand for. Doing it yourself is a leadershipstatement. Doing it alone means less conflict, less noise. And remember, the relay is not a destination … because regular change in magazine layout is essential.

PLACEMENT.

Magazines are best located on a wall of the shop, and not in a centre fixture taking up premium retail space best allocated to higher margin and business differentiating products.

VISUAL NOISE.

Magazine covers are colourful. Adding more noise, such as product headers, detracts from the products. I say don’t use headers.

FULL FACING OR NOT.

Full facing is a term used in 2 ways: where 100% of the cover of a magazine is shown (true full facing) and where you have 1 magazine title per pocket in a tiered magazine fixture.

If you have the space on a wall and have less than 500 magazine titles, true full facing, showing 100% of the cover, can deliver best results.

In tiered fixtures, while full facing, one title per pocket works best, fitting 2 or 3 titles in a pocket can work with low volume special interest titles people will seek out.

BEACON BRANDING.

This is the process of using magazine mastheads to draw attention to a category of magazines. Use the top 2 or 3 pockets for a single title, allowing it to draw attention.

DOING THE RELAY.

Start at one end of a fixture. Take off all the titles for between 6 and 12 columns and rebuild, with purpose, to draw attention, tell a story and drive sales.

As you build up a column, take off magazines from another 4 to 8 columns, always keeping empty space between where you are working and the old layout.

Look ahead, read the categories on display and think about where you are at compared to where you are headed.

ADJACENCIES.

This is a bit of secret sauce. It is where you can make editorial decisions, business decisions to guide your shoppers. What works best with what. You don’t know, not for sure at least, how can you. Ok, there is basket data you could read … but that only tells you what is happening. What about what could happen? Who knows. Experiment!

For example, should you put model plane magazines next to flying magazines? Or, should model plane magazines be in a distinct section of all model titles?

Do puzzle shoppers shop by brand or puzzle type? Publishers want you to layout based on their brand whereas your shoppers are, in our opinion, more likely to shop by interest. For example, all sudoku titles could work better together, or all large print titles could work better together.

ADJACENCY SUGGESTIONS.

Here are some adjacency suggestions. They are not rules. They are shared here to help you think of your own.

  • Cricket, golf and swimming go well together. Wrestling, boxing and buff-type fitness go well together.
  • Soccer is not rugby or AFL. Don’t mix them together.
  • Train titles should no co-mingle with railway magazines.
  • Classic car titles need to be distinctly separated from regular car titles.
  • Car lovers do shop by brand. Place branded magazine titles together.
  • People interested in home renovation could be interested in any renovation title.
  • Creative arts go well together: painting, writing, craft.

EASE OF SHOPPING.

If you have a tall fixture, think of your customers. There is no point placing titles targeting older shoppers up high or down low as reaching or bending could be challenging for them.

HAND OVER.

Once you are done, walk the new layout with others working in the shop. Explain your decisions. Given them a response for customer comments. Make sure that everyone in the business is on your page.

WATCH AND MEASURE.

Next, watch shoppers and listen for feedback and, after a couple of weeks, look at the sales results. The results could guide adjustments, or not.

…

Footnotes:

This is an update to advice I have publishers here several times in the past. I share it again as it is an easy in.

And, yes, I get that we make too little from magazines. In my view, we either quit the category or make the most of it. I’m choosing to make the most of it because I know a relay helps me do that.

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Angler’s Almanac and Tide Guide from The Great Outdoors cease publication

The Angler’s Almanac and the SE Queensland Tide Guide will not be published for 2023 and beyond, which is a blow for keen anglers and for retailers who serve them.

These special interest titles were loved by those who bought and used them, and they’d always find them no matter where they were placed in the shop.

This is not an end of the world post. Rather, there are better, more efficient and accessible, ways through which to provide access to this information.

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magazines

The latest issue of Australian Traveller magazine is an easy social media pitch

Australian Traveller is a terrific magazine. It’s Aussie made and focussed. It’s perfect for travellers and people who love travel.

This latest issue is a social media opportunity for here’s why: pitch this issue as a gift to post to overseas family and friends as a passive aggressive pitch for them to visit Australia.

Here’s the test I used:

Now here’s a perfect gift to mail to overseas family members who don’t visit you in Australia as often as you like. This special issue of Australian Traveller showcases some wonderful destinations in our beautiful country. It’s a perfect passive aggressive gift for Christmas, a bit of fun … which could also get them booking tickets to visit you!

And here’s the photo I used to accompany it.

Now maybe my words are not perfect, but they are different to what one might expect for a magazine pitch. I’ve tried to make it funny as that’s what tends to get engagement on social media.

I mean it, though – this issue is a perfect gift to send to family and friends overseas. It’s a well produced and inspiring ad for Australia, in the format of an indie magazine.

I think it’s important that newsagents who value magazines pitch specialty titles outside of their businesses. This is what I do, primarily for our Malvern business where magazine revenue is close to $500,00 a year – and it’s in the specialty magazine segments where we are seeing wonderful growth.

I have evidence of quirky social media posts attracting shoppers to the business.

Now, there will be some who say that the 25% GP we make from magazines is too low. It is, for sure. But try as we might, those who control the percentage are unlikely to change it for us. So, we have to make from this what we can, which in my own case is a volume story that aggregates valuable margin dollars to bank for the business.

Back to this issue of Australian Traveller magazine, I really do think it is a good give to send overseas. It’s a postable gift, which is a bonus.

If you have the title, pitch it on social media. Play with your own words. have fun.

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magazines

Niche interest magazines the best performers in 2022 in the newsagency

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.

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Interest in the Queen has faded

If magazine sales are anything to go by, interest in the Queen has faded. While coin and higher-end collectible sales remain strong, in the magazine space, a cover of the Queen is not driving sales like it did a few weeks ago.

I expected some of the collector one-shots may have still been selling well today, but they are not based on data I have seen from a range of newsagency businesses, city and country. large and small.

I mention it because it was on my mind yesterday, considering space allocation in-store. For something like this, a one-off news story phenomenon, I think it’s better for us to call time on space allocation rather than waiting for suppliers to make that decision. We are paying for the space after all.

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Are media announces magazine publication plans for commemorating the life of the Queen

Are Media has provided this advice to newsagents re their current plans for commemorating the life of the Queen following her passing.

Monday 12th September on-sale:

  • Woman’s Day, New Idea, and TV Week to go on sale as normal

Thursday 15th September on sale:

  • New Idea and Woman’s Day, which were due to go on sale 19th September, will be brought forward and remain on sale for 10 days
  • Who will be on sale as normal
  • New Idea additional special commemorative one-shot will go on sale RRP $9.99=

Monday 19th September on sale:

  • The Australian Women’s Weekly commemorative issue one-shot RRP $12.99

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Two magazines worth pitching

Here are two magazines worth placing either with newspapers (next to your top seller) or at the counter. They are working well as impulse purchases for little effort. Both titles are worth pitching on social media too – easy wins.

The first is the AFL record for the 2022 AFLW Season 7.

The second is the Doctor Who magazine with the cover story of the new doctor.

I know there will be some who say there is no point in promoting magazines. There is, especially for what can be habit based purchase opportunities as well as for titles in the news – it shows us as being relevant.

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magazines

Visiting Iconic on Mulberry Street, New York

Iconic on Mulberry Street New York is an awesome magazine shop, and foods / convenience outlet. It is my first time getting here a couple of days ago. It’s better laid out than the other specialty magazine shop I saw here in New York a few years ago. Take a look:

What I love about the shop is how easy it is to get around the shop. It is shapable, accessible with magazine covers easily seen.

What’s interesting is that the major weekly and monthly titles are missing, which makes sense in a specialty magazine shop – it’s what attracts shoppers prepared to travel, the magazine destination shoppers.

I’m over here for 10 days looking at interesting and innovative retail in New York, upstate New York and in Los Angeles.

More soon …

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