Friday, October 12, 2007
How about this: get rid of National Distributors!
How about this dear Diogenes: let's get rid of the national distributors. What are they doing anyway, just collecting 10% to send out invoices. I know there is a bit more, but the truth, is that the industry needs to find a solution where publishers talk and deal directly with wholesalers and/or retailers. I tried to develop such a web based system in the past, but the mountain of entrenched positions was too high to climb. Surely, in this day and age, with online markets that function efficiently for all kinds of perishable and non-perishable goods, we can find a workable solution for printed magazine distribution.
Here's my cheeky prediction: those national distributors that do not own wholesalers are going to see their livelihood threatened, and those that do not proactively try to find constructive and forward-looking solutions may not be around after 10 more years of this newsstand sales decline.
