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Retail bestsellers: niche titles now rule the magazine market, offering an array of cross-merchandising opportunities for retailers with a keen eye for content.

Article Excerpt
A major shift has occurred in the range and mix of publications available today. There are more than twice as many titles than a decade ago, and smaller, niche publications have eased out larger titles, with the top 25 titles being squeezed the most.

Ten years ago 54 percent of volume came from the 25 largest titles. Today this is dramatically reversed: Almost 60 percent of volume comes from several thousand smaller titles.

Yet there has been no corresponding change in the industry's physical infrastructure to support this shift. Mainline and front end merchandising for most retailers hasn't been adapted to the new trends in magazine consumption, and information and logistics infrastructure have a way to go in terms of producing optimal sales, store by store.

"We need to migrate from the industry's traditional, one-size-fits-all, single copy mindset to models that fit a greater variety of retailing approaches," says John Loughlin, president of TV Guide Publishing Group in Tulsa, Okla.

Loughlin and Peter Kreisky, chairman of Boston-based Kreisky Media Consultancy, Inc., uncovered these trends as part of New York-based Magazine Publishers of America's (MPA) Retail Growth Initiative, which began last year as program aimed at bringing new life to magazine sales in the retail industry.

Some retailers, both inside and outside the supermarket world, have embraced this shift toward smaller niche titles and have experienced dramatic results. Not surprisingly, bookseller Barnes & Noble is one of them, employing a strategy that supermarket operators could find quite adaptable.

"B&N has designed its magazine section as a major in-store destination to enhance customers' in-store experience," says Kreisk, who spoke at MPA's Retail Marketing Conference in March. "The magazine section is strategically located, almost always to the right of the front door, close to the cafe--a location that encourages browsing and lingering. It has proprietary; high-quality fixtures, and offers a broad and deep selection tailored to each store."

Cross-merchandising

B&N also aggressively cross-merchandises, according to Kreisky: Computer magazines are located next to computer books, cooking magazines are next to cookbooks, and so on. It also uses highly visible promotion fixtures. The results are impressive. "Magazine sales at B&N have marginally outpaced overall growth," says Kreisky. "Out-of-stocks are extraordinarily low; sell-through levels are the highest in the industry, at levels to make you salivate."

Even some supermarkets have adjusted to the new publishing paradigm. "Wegmans has embraced magazines' vitality as a competitive differentiator," notes Kreisky. "Magazines am part of Wegmans' 'Street of Shops,' a concept designed to engage customers and provide a one-of-a-kind shopping experience. You'll see...

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