In a world first, Relay, a French magazine distributor is offering customers download access to 400 digital magazines. The cost is just 17.90 Euros a month. Under indivdual pricing, this would usually only buy access to four or five titles.
This amazing all-you-can-read magazine subscription offer underscores the cost effectiveness for publishers and distributors of the digital magazine model. The news coverage (PC World, CIO to name two) will lure plenty of consumers to the world of digital magazines.
Consumers have access to mainstream titles as well as plenty of special interest titles. There is no lmit to how many titles they download in a month. The only restriction is two downloads per title in a month.
There’s no limit on how many different magazines subscribers can download, although they can only download two copies of any given issue.
The key pitch of the offer is the environment. This is underscored by the relationship relay has with World Wide Fund for Nature – they receive a donation for every monthly subscription and in return promote the offer as good for the environment.
Print magazine publishers who produce digital editions will tell us that the online subscriber is different to the over the counter subscriber. While I think that is true for some, it is not true for all. As digital grows we will lose print sales.
This needs to be on the minds of newsagents as they plan the next generation of magazine fixtures and newsagency floor layout.
From a publisher’s perspective, digital is attractive. With dramatically lower supply chain costs, no shrinkage and no return costs, the only real challenge for a digital only title is ho to find your consumers. What relay is doing is doing in France demonstrates to publishers the role a smart magazine distributor can play.
We need to watch and understand this space as it evolves.