Abstract:

Five countries will be compared. This selection is influenced by random and does not mean, that other countries and their distribution systems are unimportant or not worth describing. We only looked at the systems for consumer (mass) magazines. Distribution of magazines can be described as a management task to deliver the right quantity of copies at the right time to the right number and quality of outlets to sell an optimal circulation figure, whatever that means, as part of the magazine objectives. In this sense, we like to describe and compare the keywords of the five different distribution systems in order to reach the named target. The comparison must stay on the surface. Every reader of one of the described countries will find his country described wrong and incomplete. But perhaps the comparison even on this base makes some sense. Because of the heavy proportion of single copy sales in four out of those five countries, the comparison is mainly describing the relevant channel publisher -> wholesaler -> retailer.