Newsagents need to develop a position on the issue of magazine subscriptions.
Of particular concern to me is subscriptions of fringe titles on which we rely to reflect our key point of difference and subscriptions at 40% or more off cover price.
Check out the latest promotion through Groupon to Australians earlier this week pitching magazine titles available through the Zinio digital platform.
Newsagents invest considerably in promoting mastheads and making magazines browsable by shoppers. This investment on our part helps make it possible for publishers to promote subscription offers and in particular digital subscription offers.
As the market changes, especially for titles with a strong digital subscription push, we need to consider our pricing model. I’d see this applying to titles offering steep (>40%) discounts for subscription and digital subscription commitments.
Our shelves and our labour are our resources to manage and price.
40% commission across the board. That SHOULD be the case. Publisher’s can afford it.
Stronger retail outlets with fewer members such as NewsLink get better deals than newsagents.
WHY?
Amanda , why ? because they can . where do you plan on buying your mags from if you are not happy with the % . we have no choice where to buy some stock from and it is those 3 suppliers that take advantage of that and give us a % to suit .They could cut us back to 20% tomorrow if they really wanted to and there is not a great deal we could do about it .
My concern is about the subscription offer itself and not the margin we make.
i think others concerns are more that they can afford to almost give away tittles but yet we have been stuck on a measly % for long now ?
Could someone tell me when was the time this % was changed ?
We are used to sell subscriptions for some titles, while probably not practical I’d love the subscriptions to go through us on a trailing commission basis. We earn it after all just like the Telco retail outlets do.
I like the trailing commissions idea.
At the end of the day we will all carry less mags because they are the least profitable and we will use other things to make better profits because we have to. Unless some publishers see the light they will only be able to sell mags on line or on subscription and lose the “free” ride they get in newsagents. You wont see them in Coles. For all these reasons mags will decline.
Wally Coles won’t give the mags up.If you look at the figures mags still sell.They might not sell well in your shop but they do mine and they do in supermarkets.
They might have slown down but hasn’t everything???
Shaun I have been working in newsagents for 15 yrs and we have always been on 25% maybe someone else who has been in longer can let us know if it has changed.
15years and no change . This is the problem
My post is about publisher subscriptions where the discount is excessive and trading off our promotion of the brand in-store.
I am okay with the 25% as long as I am treated with respect and not abuse.
Mark we do need to talk regarding how
Publishers use the Newsagency Channel to promote subscription offers and in particular digital subscription offers.
It must dishearten most retailers to see these areas evolve for publishers, as over time foot traffic also may get a discount. It confuses me how a publisher can offer anything over 35% for a Physical subscription, Electronic subscription, skys the limit.
The only constructive idea (I have plenty of destructive one’s) is Marketing groups such as yours working with Publishers which I assume you already are on various situations. I do not think even shamming them will do any good, working with them may result in a positive result for both parties.
How about this 25% for sales and 5% for advertising expenses for subscriptions . Eg rent for my shelves.
I push magazines for future sales , I knowif I get a magazine in for someone they will be a repeat customer . When there is a subscription offer inside trying to take this away from me (me being the person that made the investment into getting this magazine in)
So basically what I want is 25% for standard magazines and if they want to use my shop my stands for advertising subscriptions well these mags carry a 30% comission?
What erks me, that a week like this (with fathers day comming up) we have a few local & loyal customers who come in looking for fathers day subscriptions to mags like Outback & On The Road etc. but cant offer them any deals like the companys do. It just makes you look like a rip off merchant. It can put you and the “loyal” customer in a difficult position… and after all you don’t blame them for trying to save a buck!
Nice one Shaun.
Carl it does at times make us look like the “bad” doesn’t it at no fault of our own.
This mornings NSW Daily Telegraph an A4 flyer dropped out of one of them offering my customers a yearly subscription paying monthly with various deals including the current promotion of Cookbooks. Here I am asking for Tokens frustrating the customer & the line up behind them. Its a one way street with News Ltd. They abuse Newsagents.
same deal with papers . This is how i look at it do we sell a can of Coke with a big sign attached saying “HEY DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN BUY ME FROM WOOLIES FOR 55c”no we would not sell it would we .
Living Social today have WHO $99 for 12 months..Will buy few of these in friends names cheaper than what I can get it for..So wrong on so many levels.