Question 1  
Why do I get more copies of a magazine than I can sell?

Answer 1 
Our experience has shown that you cannot bank on a magazine to sell the same amount each issue. Sales are influenced by factors such as the cover, content or season and can change significantly from issue to issue. Special issues, hot covers, and major news stories can create a surge in sales and leave you without product to sell if you aren’t prepared for it. That is why we believe that by buffering your order we can reduce the chances of you losing out on sales if a particular issue sells well.

Question 2 
I consistently sell out of a title, how do I get more of it?

Answer 2
The first thing you should do if you find that you are consistently selling out of a title is to call customer service to see if you can increase the quantities you receive. Unfortunately for some titles we are limited by the quantities we receive from the publisher, our suppliers. To be fair we try to distribute the best selling titles equally amongst all our customers. Above all else whenever you find that you are selling down on an issue, call customer service immediately to order more copies before you sell out.

Question 3 
How is the number of magazines I get determined?

Answer 3 
There are many factors that influence the size of your magazine order, the most significant being the actual sales history for your store. We take the last three to eight issues of every magazine you sell and determine the average sales for that title. Extra copies are added as a buffer, based on a formula, in case sales exceed the average amount. This figure is known as your base. The quantity you eventually receive is called your draw. The two numbers differ for many reasons. Special issues, seasonal best sellers, hot covers or major news events can push your draw higher than your base in anticipation of stronger sales. Smaller draws could be due to increased demand or the publishers may suddenly reduce the amount of copies they print for an issue. In a perfect world the two numbers would be equal and that is what we try to achieve with every delivery we produce.

Question 4 
I used to get this title, how come I don’t get it anymore?

Answer 4  
A title may drop off your distribution for one of two reasons. Firstly, you may not be selling enough copies of that title to make it worth your while for you to continue to receive it. Secondly, the publisher may have stopped printing the magazine. When we get news of a title that will cease publication we communicate this information to the stores affected, but frequently we’re not aware of the change. Our goal is to ensure that you are maximizing your sales so we are constantly looking to replace poor sellers with more productive magazines.

Question 5 
I get way too many magazines or I want to cut out a certain category so I don’t have to spend as much time straightening out the section, who do I call?

Answer 5 
Remember every title you receive has demonstrated by its own sales or by your category sales that it belongs in your store. Cutting titles arbitrarily is likely not the solution to your problem, and to make matters worse what you end up doing is losing out on sales.

What you need is HELP!

Give our Customer Service Department a call. They have many resources at hand to help you effectively manage your magazine section; Sales Reports to measure performance, Merchandising Techniques to boost sales. There is a wealth of information they can pass on to help you with whatever difficulty you may have.

Question 6  
I called customer service and asked for the quantity of a title to be changed but I got the same amount again this week!

Answer 6 
Your magazine order is generated up to two weeks in advance to ensure that it is always delivered on time. Therefore your change will take place for the next invoiced issue.

Question 7
A customer came in and asked for a title I don’t carry, how can I get it?

Answer 7 
If ever you are interested in getting a title added to your distribution, give customer service a call. If it is one of the over 3000 titles we distribute then we will work to add it to your distribution. We make money when you make money, so it is in our best interest to help you to sell as many magazines as you can.

Question 8
How do I know that I am getting the new titles that are coming out all the time?

Answer 8
New title distribution is done in three ways:

• we copy distributions from titles with comparable content
• we match new titles with the right stores based on category sales patterns
• or, we look for a complementary customer base

By using these three procedures we are effectively targeting new titles to the right stores and maximizing the potential for sales.

Question 9
Can I limit the value of my weekly order to, say, $300 per week?

Answer 9
The size of your order fluctuates each week based on which magazines are being invoiced. Some weeks are large because major titles are being released that have either significant quantities or a high retail price.