WHY SELLING OUT IS NOT A GOOD THING
I guess very few publishers will complain when an issue of one of their magazines sells out. That's exactly what has happened to me this week, and I'm not entirely happy about it.
Magazine distribution in Thailand is rather hit-and-miss, mirroring the unpredictable nature of sales. One key Bangkok bookshop old its allocation of 25 copies of one of our magazines by 22nd of the month - almost two weeks before the next edition will be on sale. And there's no system in place to get more copies to that particular store.
I've written before about how some magazine publishers seem not to care about sales. It's crazy I know, but having bundles of copies on the shelves is often seen as glorified branding. Indeed I'm aware of one media monitoring company that will rate magazines based on the number of copies it sees on sale. And the fact that just one of the many hundreds of magazines has an independent circulation audit means you can sell 1 or 100, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.So, for around two week anyone trying to buy a copy of our magazine at this particular store will be disappointed - and will not be told the truth. A simple "don't have" will be the best they can hope for.
Ahh, the frustrations of being a publisher in Thailand!
2 comments:
I don't want to over-simplify a process that might be logistically complex, but...
If selling-out of an issue is truly rare, and unpredictable, then you probably don't need a formalized system for replenishment.
As it's important to have your magazine "on display," couldn't your regular delivery personnel make a special trip [assuming you have the stock on hand]? Even if you had to pay overtime wages, the rewards would seem to justify the expense.
Thanks for your comments Harold.
My view is the sell-outs are so rare that there is no system in place to cope. Every month the publisher is given the 'order' by the distribution company, and there is no mechanism in place for either sales to be monitored live throughout the month, nor to replenish low stocks mid-month. I'm only aware of one publisher with specific merchandising staff. Some, such as in our case, reply on eye-witness reports from staff and readers to see what's happening.
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