I have published another video to help newsagents better manage magazines.  How to Better Manage Magazines in Your Newsagency looks at how to use a Non Performing Titles Report and a Magazine Sell Through Rates Report to better manage the quantity of magazines in your store. While designed for the 1,700+ newsagents using Tower Systems’ newsagency software, the video should be of interest to other newsagents as well.  Click here to play the video.

Magazines are vitally important to our businesses, for the short to medium term especially. However, newsagents need take steps to control their exposure if they are to be held responsible for paying the distributor bills on time.

Related videos: How to Drive Basket Efficiency in Your Newsagency and How Disruption of Print Media Will Affect Newsagents.

Yesterday was magazine account payment day for October. Newsagents who missed the cut will be getting calls, emails and letters from today.

One newsagency is facing a bill which is 80% higher this month than last month.  I have data from other newsagencies here magazine revenue for September was less than what they were charged for stock delivered in the month.

I am collecting this data for a submission to various parties on the magazine supply problem. Rather than write a long submission with a log of claims, which has fallen on deaf ears before, I plan to let the data speak for itself.

The evidence of a magazine supply model designed to maintain a certain level of indebtedness of newsagents to distributors is compelling.

Newsagents who want to share data to participate in this should email me.

Finally, magazine distributor Gordon and Gotch has seen the light and become more transparent with newsagents about the end of month cut off for submitting magazine returns data.  here is the email newsagents received today:

Please be advised that the final time and date for submission of returns to achieve a credit on this month’s statement is

3 PM – Sydney time on Thursday 28 Oct 2010.

Please adjust for your own time zone.

Returns submitted to us after this date and time will be processed in the next Calendar month.

I suspect that this change has been brought on by agitation by some newsagents in complaints to the ACCC. The rest of the channel ought to thank them for working on their behalf.

Last week, I wrote to the ACCC to outline my concerns regarding magazines from Express Publications and that their changing of barcodes and title codes could deny newsagents the opportunity of reasonably managing their financial exposure relating to the magazines affected.  Here is a copy of my letter for those interested.

RE:  EXPRESS PUBLICATIONS PTY LTD ACN 057 807 904

Tower Systems currently serves in excess of 1,700 newsagents by providing and supporting newsagency management software.

I also own two newsagencies: newsXpress Forest Hill and Quayside Newsagency and have a 50% share in newsXpress Knox and newsXpress Watergardens.

It is from these various perspectives from which I write to you today about a serious matter affecting newsagents around the country in relation to magazine supply.

Express Publications appears to have changed its handling of its magazines sent to newsagents in an effort to deny newsagents an opportunity to properly control supply of and cash flow relating to these titles.

Express has done this by changing the barcode and title code for all of their titles – a rare change for any magazine publisher and unprecedented for all titles from a publisher.

This change by Express means that their titles appear as new titles to newsagents. Unless newsagents are vigilant, they may miss the ‘new’ title and thereby not connect this with the existing title for which they have sales and other history.

A key way newsagents manage magazine supply is through early returns. Their computer systems, like the one from my Tower Systems company, identify at the time of arriving stock, quantities which could be returned early based on sales history.

The only reason I can see for Express undertaking their recent changes is to try and block newsagents from early returning their titles.

I write to ask the ACCC to investigate the actions by Express and specifically whether these changes have been undertaken to block newsagents from early returning their titles. Any such investigation ought to research the supply arrangements between Express and their magazine distributor and in particular the trading terms of such arrangements. This will help the ACCC understand the economic value to Express should they have taken this move to reduce early returns by newsagents and should such a move be successful for them.

A barrier to early returns by newsagents, such as that which they appear to have engineered, would not be an issue if Express supplied stock to newsagents at a quantity which was commercially viable for newsagents.

It is my experience that the Express titles perform poorly, delivering a sell-through rate of below the industry average of 50%. The company does not appear to adjust newsagent supplies on the basis of sales, I have seen sell through rates of Express titles of 20%. Many newsagents feel powerless to address this gross over supply situation.

I would be happy to provide the ACCC with magazine sell through evidence from my newsagencies as well as a range of newsagencies using Tower Systems software – with the permission of the newsagents involved. This data will verify my claims about the performance of Express titles.

Given that this matter is most current, occurring mainly in the last couple of weeks, urgent attention from the ACCC is sought to address harm to small business newsagents which appears to be happing right now.

Sincerely,

While there is a risk in being public about my letter to the ACCC, I wanted to be transparent about my communication with the ACCC.

I understand that Express has decided to not continue with the change process. While there are some magazines in production with new barcodes, Network will not change the title code (the bipad).