69.5% of newsagents prefer Wednesday as the second magazine delivey day of the week according to my survey of newsagents receiving 407 responses in just four days.
Only 13.8% of those responding prefer Thursday, the day selected by the magazine distributors.
Click here for the survey results.
This result flies in the face of the claim by the distributors that they consulted prior to making the move. Consultation of newsagents would have shown that Thursday is not a good day. Indeed, the result articulates the concerns of newsagents about Thursday, that they may lose sales to supermarkets and other retail channels – indeed, 65.4% are concerned about this.
Magazine distributors and publishers need to take note of this live concern held by newsagents. It’s borne out of what we see on the high street and in shopping centres. If any party would know what could happen to shopper traffic it’s newsagents who live this battle every day.
Do magazine publishers want to participate in a decision that facilitates a shift in magazine purchases from newsagencies to supermarkets, petrol and conveniece? I bet not since that is a shift that would not play out for them in the long run. The problem for us is that some publishers may not understand the risk for them oof migrating sales from independents to mass groups.
Click here for more on my concerns about Thursday as the second day for magazines.
Okay, this worry about a Thursday on sale could be nothing, it could be us worrying unnecessarily. Is that a risk the magazine publishers are willing to take? A genuine consultation process would have thoroughly explored these issues.
The survey results show newsagents as understanding of the need to move from three days to two. I thought the response on this was quite reasonable.
My understanding is that Thursday was selected primarily because of Who magazine. Because of how key content is sourced, out of the US, an on sale earlier in the week than Thursday would not be possible. Indeed, I am told from within distributor ranks that being ready for Thursday will be a significant challenge. If that’s the case then why not deliver Who on a Friday through IPS and leave all other titles for a Wednesday delivery? Surely a deal could be struck between Pacific and Gotch to permit such a move.
I am sure there are many complex factors that fed into the decision. However, from where I sit, it feels like newsagents were not consulted and or listened to. The result is not good for us. The magazine distributors win. Some publishers win. The vast majority of newsagents are worse off.
It is not too late to throw the issue on the table for genuine consultation. That’s what I hope will happen given the weight of the survey results. Do I think it will happen? I’m not confident. Our suppliers have a track record of mouthing how important we are and how they value our opinion. The actions of too many suppliers tell a different story.
So, magazine publishers and distributors … are you prepared to reconsider the decision and actively consult with newsagents? We sell close to 50% of all magazines sold in Australia. We’d appreciate being part of the conversation on such a business critical move.
Footnote: while we can’t be certain all responses are from newsagents, we can be certain, thanks to the survey software, that only one response per computer was received. Given the readership of the blog, I’d say the vast majority of responds were newsagents.
The wet and cold winter weather in Melbourne was on our side this week as we put out a new line of heat packs at the front of the shop. As one of our team members started putting these funky products out we sold two. We were thrilled.
