MagNet has just released their compiled stats for the first half of 2012 newsstand sales. These stats represent actual sales from the vast majority of wholesalers in North America…not estimates, not forecasts, but actual sales data.
The top line data is, without a doubt, not great news.
- In the U.S., unit sales were down 9.9%, and dollars were down 9.1%
- In Canada, unit sales were down 6.2%, and dollars were down 6.1%
- Sell-through efficiency remained more-or-less flat at 32.4% overall, and smidge better at 32.7% in Canada
So, using this as a benchmark, any publisher in Canada that is seeing growth, or is even holding firm, should be thrilled. At the 8th Annual PBAA event, held this past Wednesday, Glenn Morgan, of Coast to Coast, pointed out that many consumer goods are down by much much more, given the challenging economic times, particularly in the U.S. More on this in a post coming soon.
Some interesting foot notes provided by MagNet include:
- 63% of the sales decline in the Top 100 titles in North America was attributable to the top 10 titles, 9 of which are weekly
- 93% of the overall decline from the Top 100 titles was caused by just 22 titles
- Titles ranked #51–#100 actually posted a 6% sales increase in retail dollars
- 74 of the Top 200 titles posted positive sales gains over the same period last year.
Click on Chart to Enlarge
