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Monocle features magazines, media and newsagents

The latest issue of Monocle magazine to hit Australian shelves features a bunch of stories on media which regulars here are sure to find interesting.

There is a timely story about a newsagent in Denmark who responded to falling magazine sales by increasing range.  I say timely because many Australian newsagents are heading in the other direction, cutting range – or at least trying to given the constraints of our magazine distribution model.

Newsagents need to be careful in reducing magazine range for it is our magazine range which gives many of us the only point of difference we have.  It could be that an ill-considered or too large a reduction in magazine range results in a slide in sales – driving a self-fulfilling prophecy.

One of the reasons I am seeing a 44% increase in magazine sales year on year in one of my newsagencies is the increase in range.  This has been done slowly and carefully – by interest.  It then fed into our overall magazine relay which boosted sales.

Newsagents who try and manage magazine range by early returning without carefully checking sales history also feed a self-fulfilling prophecy and push sales down.

If we are to leverage the point of difference we have in magazine range we need to be professional in how we nurture and manage the range.  This means making fact based decisions.  Yes, I understand that magazine distributors challenge this approach.  We just have to work with the levers available to us at this time.

If you have the October issue of Monocle magazine on your shelves, check it out.  It will interest the thinking newsagent.

As the photo shows, we have placed Monocle in a good locations with the full cover is on show.

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