The NFRN says: “According to NI’s verbal message: “we see this as a cost to NI to provide a delivery and returns collection service”. DTR retailers, however, view this as a rip off since they are now only being delivered just a fraction of the supply on a Sunday both in terms of volume and value.
In reality, NI has dug a hole for itself. Had it not created its Direct to Retail (DTR) scheme, DTR retailers would have been receiving NI titles from a news wholesaler whose carriage charge templates (between minimum and maximum limits) are based on the retailer’s average weekly news sheet value. A substantial reduction in value, resulting from the demise of the News of the World (NOTW) would, therefore, have resulted in a carriage charge reduction when the wholesaler next carried out a review of the average weekly news sheet value.
What NI has done, is to turn its DTR arrangements into a discriminatory scheme, whereby most retailers who are supplied NI titles via a wholesaler are likely to see a reduction in carriage charges, whereas those that receive them via DTR, will not.
NI has also put itself in a very vulnerable position in respect of those retailers who receive a relatively small quantity of the Sunday Times, since they will now be trading at a loss unless they sell a minimum of four copies in the capital where the carriage charge is £1.85 per day, or five copies in the provinces where the carriage charge is £2.35. Taking overheads and other factors into account, any retailer selling less than 10 copies a day is now being forced to do his sums to work out whether he should stock this title or not.
We presume that NI has calculated these sums too and is prepared to accept that a number of retailers will de-list the Sunday Times as they can no longer afford to sell it. Perhaps that explains NI’s policy on carriage charges if its intent is to eliminate as many small drops as possible…. but this is hardly likely to boost NI’s already poor sales performance against its Sunday competitors.
If this is not true, then the only conceivable alternative is that this is nothing new, and just another example of what NI does best, kicking small retailers in the teeth.
The NFRN expects that NI’s DTR retailers will have their own views and opinions about NI’s decision regarding the Sunday carriage charge. The telephone number in Wapping to voice your thoughts is 0207 782 5000."
