ThreePM, who run www.magazine-group.co.uk as well as sites for W H Smith’s and Blackwell’s, claims to have generated over £1.5 million worth of subscription revenue for publishers in November and December, from nearly 50,000 individual subscriptions. This, the company says, is a 60% increase on the same period in 2008.
Given the extremely challenging market that magazines experienced last year these sales indicate that subscriptions remain as popular as ever as gifts, and that more customers feel comfortable with subscribing online.
“This is a significant milestone for UK magazines,” says Don Brown (pictured), the Business Director of ThreePM, “No third party website has ever sold £1.5 million of subscriptions for Christmas before, and the indications are that similar success has been achieved by publishers’ own activity. The magazines we are talking to have generally had bumper sales and are feeling much more optimistic about circulation prospects in 2010.”
About ThreePM
ThreePM says: “ThreePM is the UK’s largest independent online retailer of magazine subscriptions. It sells over 900 titles from more than 140 publishers. As well as its main site – www.magazine-group.co.uk – the company runs over a dozen white label sites for companies such as W H Smith, Blackwell’s, Books Direct and others. ThreePM is owned by Felix Dennis and has been operating since 2003.”
