We are promoting the new issue of Girlfriend magazine, out today, at the front of our newsagency.  The Twilight features in the magazine make this issue appealing to a broader than usual demographic – hence promotion out the front of the shop rather than our usual location.

There appears to be no slowing of the appeal of Twilight based on interest in the calendar and Twilight covers on other magazines.

Newsagents often complain about subcription offers in magazines, saying they undermine retail sales. I see subscriptions as a necessary part of the magazine supply model – as long the offer is not agressively pitched against newsagents.

Over the weekend I compared subscription offers for several Australian titles with US titles.  While our average subscriber discount is between 25% and 28%, in the US publications I looked at it ranges between 35% and 45%.

The one local exception of which I am aware is The Week – their subs discount is 60% off cover price.  I’d be concerned if larger Australian publishers discounted at this level.

While I am on subscriptions – I’d like publishers to offer a hybrid subscription which newsagents could sell – based on an upfront commitmenet for an in-store collection.  Using our putaway services we get to benefit from locked-in traffic and sell an overall higher priced item.

Photography and camera magazines are performing better for us this year than I expected they would.  Our small range ticks over quite well.  It is also a very popular browser destination.

While there is some junk in the mix – not in the photo because I culled before I took this – overall performance is strong.  Our experience is that photography is one subject area where shoppers are more likely to purchase two titles at a time.

As the photo shows, we use mastheads to draw attention to the segment.  We also usually place digital photography titles next to digital camera titles.  This is a key factor in driving a better basket.

Memo to distributors reading this: don’t take this blog post as an invitation to supply more photography and camera titles.

We have moved Limelight magazine featuring Andre Rieu on the cover to the front of our shop as we needed the counter space for another display. While not big news, I am blogging about this to show how we are transition a title from one promotional location to another.  We only do this when we are certain that there are sales to be made from giving a title more time in the spotlight when space is tight.

Two issues ago, the front of Model Engineers’ Workshop announced a new low price – A$10.90.  The latest issue, out yesterday, is priced at A$13.50.  I can’t see any reason for this – the UK price for each issue is the same.  Why increase the price here?

The UK price on the latest issue is hidden under a barcode on the plastic bag.  Some customers will discover that the UK price has not changed and ask why.