Christmas 2020: How did the disruption to the AU, NZ & UK Print markets affect sales
After a tumultuous year in print magazine markets, magazine subscription sales surged in 2020 with Christmas producing growth year on year (YoY) in subscription sales of 20% and up to 100% for some individual titles. Below is a list of the top 10 selling titles across isubscribe in Australia, New Zealand and UK with a brief commentary on the results, and what trends we’re observing that we expect to continue in 2021.
Table 1.1
|
2020 Christmas Sales AU |
||
|
Title |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Gardening Australia |
1 |
3 |
|
National Geographic Kids |
2 |
1 |
|
Better Homes and Gardens |
3 |
2 |
|
National Geographic |
4 |
4 |
|
Australian Women's Weekly |
5 |
n/a |
|
delicious. |
6 |
5 |
|
Wheels |
7 |
n/a |
|
Teen Breathe |
8 |
14 |
|
Street Machine |
9 |
n/a |
|
Taste.com.au |
10 |
12 |
n/a title was not listed on isubscribe.com.au in 2019
Table 1.2
|
2020 Christmas Sales NZ |
||
|
Title |
2020 |
2019 |
|
National Geographic Kids |
1 |
1 |
|
Dish |
2 |
4 |
|
Nadia: A Seasonal Journal |
3 |
n/a |
|
MiNDFOOD |
4 |
2 |
|
NZ Life & Leisure |
5 |
5 |
|
North & South |
6 |
10 |
|
The Australian Women's Weekly (NZ) |
7 |
6 |
|
NZ House & Garden |
8 |
3 |
|
New Zealand Listener |
9 |
23 |
|
Woman |
10 |
n/a |
Table 1.3
|
2020 Christmas Sales UK |
||
|
Title |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Vogue |
1 |
2 |
|
House & Garden |
2 |
11 |
|
The Spectator |
3 |
4 |
|
Kitchen Garden |
4 |
3 |
|
Good Housekeeping |
5 |
1 |
|
National Geographic |
6 |
6 |
|
The Railway Magazine |
7 |
30 |
|
Sainsbury’s Magazine |
8 |
17 |
|
The World of Interiors |
9 |
18 |
|
Prima |
10 |
7 |
Observations
Australia
- Kids magazines continue to grow
Newcomer Australian Geographic Explorers magazine bolstered the kids magazine range and helped drive growth in total subscription sales for the category by 16% YoY. Other big brands driving increasing kids magazine sales include National Geographic KiDS, CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine, K-Zone and Teen Breathe. National Geographic KiDS was the second most popular magazine subscription overall on isubscribe.com.au for Christmas 2020 and Teen Breathe jumped 6 places YoY achieving 8th topselling title overall.
The digital age is creating a burgeoning market for print magazines for kids and teens. The demand for entertainment and engagement activities that are ‘offline’ and encourage and develop skills, has created the opportunity for trusted brands to create engaging content through print.
- Home is where the engine is
The home and garden magazine category continues to be the engine room for magazine subscriptions. The volume of subscriptions sold over Christmas increased by 23% YoY in Australia and the category finished the year up 50% YoY for 2020. Table 1.4 below shows the top 10 bestselling home and garden titles for 2020.
Table 1.4
|
2020 Christmas AU |
||
|
Title |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Gardening Australia |
1 |
2 |
|
Better Homes and Gardens |
2 |
1 |
|
Country Style |
3 |
3 |
|
Australian home beautiful |
4 |
4 |
|
ABC Organic Gardener |
5 |
5 |
|
The Australasian Beekeeper |
6 |
6 |
|
Australian House & Garden |
7 |
n/a |
|
Grand Designs Australia |
8 |
7 |
|
Vogue Living |
9 |
8 |
|
Inside Out |
10 |
9 |
- Niche, special interest magazines
Niche magazines connected to special interests and hobbies continue to grow their readership. While hallmark brands dominate the top 10 bestseller lists, the niche magazines are continually building their audiences and sales. See table 1.5 for some of the best performing niche titles in 2020.
Table 1.5
|
2020 Magazine Subscription Sales AU - |
||
|
Title |
% change |
Category |
|
Better Homes and Gardens Puzzle Book |
450% |
Hobbies & Puzzles |
|
That's Life Mega Monthly |
210% |
Hobbies & Puzzles |
|
The Diggers Club |
142% |
Home & Garden |
|
Grass Roots |
114% |
Home & Garden |
|
The Australasian Beekeeper |
107% |
Home & Garden |
|
New Scientist |
74% |
Science & Nature |
|
Australian Sky & Telescope |
67% |
Science & Nature |
|
Australian Homespun |
58% |
Craft |
|
Good Organic Gardening |
57% |
Home & Garden |
|
Nourish |
48% |
Food & Drink |
|
Science Illustrated |
33% |
Science & Nature |
|
Australian Woodsmith |
28% |
Hobbies & Puzzles |
|
Cosmos Magazine |
28% |
Science & Nature |
|
Australian Gluten-Free Life |
26% |
Food & Drink |
|
EatWell Magazine |
19% |
Food & Drink |
Observations
New Zealand
- Local is loved
The closure, sale and disruption to many New Zealand magazine brands in 2020 resulted in significant losses and upheaval in the industry. It also spurred renewal with new publishing company School Road Publishing launching 4 brand new titles, WOMAN, Thrive, Haven and Scout that all emphasise a New Zealand point of view first. Newly launched WOMAN and reinvented Nadia: A Seasonal Journal encouraged a 46% uplift in lifestyle magazine subscription sales for Christmas 2020.
The re-launch of North & South magazine and NZ Listener magazines at the end of the year strongly resonated within the community and sales spiked over the Christmas period. North & South jumped from 10th to 6th bestselling title in New Zealand over Christmas on isubscribe.co.nz and NZ Listener jumped from 23rd to 9th bestselling title overall. The latter also had a more competitive pricing strategy, which helped boost sales.
Observations
UK
1. Home and hobbies rule
Similarly to Australia, home and garden titles topped the bestselling magazine subscriptions for Christmas 2020 with growth for the big brands as well as smaller, niche brands such as Permaculture magazine.
Niche interest magazines were also particularly popular with two rail magazines, The Railway Magazine and Railway Modeller, in the top 15 selling titles overall together with Minecraft World magazine.
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Data in this communication is sourced from isubscribe websites sales in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.