Newspapers and magazines have been distributed in the same way since 1999, but that’s all about to change thanks to a proposed pilot program to test and refine the current magazine distribution model.
The Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) is currently looking at the proposed changes put forward by the Association of Magazine Publishers of Australia Inc, with the pilot program set to be rolled out to 20 selected newsagents on May 25.
The new model aims to optimise the supply of magazines to newsagencies and increase the sustainable return on investment for newsagents, publishers and distributors.
The pilot program requires distributors to:
“- cease distributing a title if the magazine title has experienced consecutive nil sales by the particular pilot participant for a period of time
- limit the number of copies of each magazine title to a certain percentage above the number of the title generally sold by the pilot participant
- in most cases not require pilot participants to provide returns of full copies of unsold magazines, but instead accept front covers, headers etc as evidence of unsold copies
- adhere to certain restrictions on the redistribution of issues which have already previously been distributed, to the distribution of new magazine titles, and to split deliveries of magazine issues during the period the issue is on sale
- restrict the period for which pilot participants are required to display magazine issues for sale to 12 weeks or less, except in certain circumstances.”
The Association of Magazine Publishers of Australia Inc is currently putting in a revised submission to the ACCC to cover gaps such as allowing newsagents to choose the titles that are the right fit for them - similar to supermarket practices.
“Supermarkets don’t have their own supply, they choose the range. In the pilot we will do that; we will make the stores work with the distributors and publishers to choose the right range for them. We are supporting that,” Association of Magazine Publishers of Australia Inc executive director Mary Ann Azer told Mumbrella.
The pilot program would run for between three and six months and would be tested on Bauer, NewsLifeMedia and Pacific Magazines publications.
