Magazine sales were down in May this year by 9.43% year-on-year, with newspapers sales in the same period falling 6.11% year-on-year, according to data from news wholesaler Smith News.
The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) members using NFRN Newspro, the federation’s news and magazine category management initiative, “fared much better with magazine sales ahead of the overall market and a full 2% higher than other independents”.
In newspapers, the sales fall experienced in NFRN Newspro members was well below the overall market figure at only 4.66% and, once again, members performed much better than other independents whose sales were down by 7.65%.
NFRN national president, Alan Smith, said: “It’s official, NFRN Newspro really does help members improve their magazine and newspaper sales.”
NFRN Newspro helps members to identify the correct range of magazines for their stores and locks the range into wholesalers systems for three months. Over 1,000 members are now using the scheme and NFRN data shows average sales increases of 5% above the market. Cash flow is also improved and on average £550 is released back into the business.
Source: NFRN
