On Wal-Mart Dropping 1,000 Magazine Titles

I think the story of Wal-Mart cutting a thousand magazine titles off its list is probably more complicated than it seems on the surface. Wal-Mart is driven by operational efficiency. Part of that means carrying products that really move. News stand sales are often the opposite of efficiency - think 70 to 85 percent or more being returned because no one buys them. Plus, the article talks about the list having magazines that hadn't existed in a significant period of time.

It sounds to me like they are purging lists of things they haven't/didn't want to carry for a while, even with some major titles being taken off. I'd also wonder if this is a step toward something else that would be pretty significant: taking control of their own magazine distribution, rather than doing the "usual" thing of allowing distributors to populate the shelves as they please.

Finally, dropping 1,000 magazines? That alone is a clue, to me, at least, that something is odd. I've been in some large Wal-Marts, and there's simply not enough shelf room to drop 1,000 magazines and have anything left. Maybe a lot of the titles were distributed regionally, or had been brought in and one time and then not a second. In fact, I just saw something from a publishing consultant (sorry, no free online link) that suggests a) the magazines left in Wal-Marts will easily account for over 95% of their sales, and b) the number of magazines actually on display at a Wal-Mart at any one time is closer to 300. Many of the cut titles are only sold in certain geographic areas or during particular times of the year. Finally, some of the magazines - like the Economist or the New Yorker - are aimed at a different demographic than Wal-Mart's customers.

So, when Wal-Mart trims magazine list, it's significant news for the publishing industry. But the real significance - taking more control over distribution - is yet to be seen.