According to the Newspaper Association of America, single-copy sales have dropped by about 5% in the six-month period ending September 2006.

"Single copy has been more of an issue than home delivery," says Prudential Equity Research analyst Steven Barlow.

While home-delivery subscriptions count for nearly 76% of circulation in the US, boosting single-copy sales is still an important focus for newspaper companies.

"The days of throwing a box out on the street and selling papers out of that box are gone. We have to adjust to retailers and use our space wisely and promote our product," says Hugh McGarry, chair of the NAA's single-copy committee and senior vice president of circulation at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

So how do newspapers readjust and improve their single-copy sales?

One solution, based on the Sacramento Bee’s approach, is to make the newspaper available in more locations.

Consumers “will not go out of their way to find your product. … If they go to Starbucks, you have to be inside Starbucks and be in their pattern. They won't turn the corner to find you," says Dan Schaub, the Bee's senior vice president of circulation.

The Bee also offered sales clerks a $10 or $20 on the spot bonus, if these advised their customers to buy the paper. To enable this, Bee staffers randomly visited shops and, if they were encouraged to buy the newspaper, rewarded the sales clerk.

The Bee also approached new companies and chains, such as Jamba Juice, to start offering the newspaper within the shops.

The Bonner County Daily Bee in Idaho (6,000 copy circulation) did a similar experiment on a bigger scale, and struck a deal with Wal-Mart. The negotiations were long and draining, but the Bee now has 22 displays within its local superstore. Sales soared by 200% after the displays went up in 2002 and single-copy circulation is still growing by 20% a year.

While Wal-Mart has not become a major advertiser in the paper, the superstore is now a regular sponsor for events organized by the paper.

The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press relied on a local factor to increase their single-copy sales: sports. Last year, as several Detroit sports teams performed well, both newspapers improved their sales. Of course, these sales dwindle once the teams don’t do as well.

The papers also ran several promotions, although only some were effective. Again, a good relationship with and incentives for sales clerks can make the difference in publicizing a newspaper’s special offers.

Simple and practical innovations (the E&P mentions the “insertion of rack cards by using a plastic adhesive strip” that quickens the job of newspaper truck drivers) can also improve a newspaper’s delivery process – and even affect circulation?

Nowadays, most circulation managers are fighting against a downhill slope. In any case, implementing a few of these tips or exploring new ways to distribute the paper can, if not improve single-copy sales, put an end to their decline.

"Our goal is to be flat -- which will be a great success story," says Jeff Gibson, single-copy sales manager at the Detroit Newspaper Partnership (an alliance between both Detroit papers).

Source: Editor & Publisher