Portfolio matching competitors with newsstand sales

Irin Carmon and Stephanie Smith of Women’s Wear Daily write Tuesday that new business magaizne Conde Nast Portfolio appears to be matching its competitors in terms of newsstand sales.

Carmon and Smith wrote, “Sources close to the magazine with access to its closely guarded circulation data say the title since the beginning of the year has sold around 30,000 copies an issue on newsstands, with a sell-through rate in the upper teens. Executives both within and outside of Condé had put the magazine’s sell-through rate as high as 18 percent to as low as 8 percent. Meanwhile, Portfolio’s subscriptions are said to total over 300,000 to date.

“Portfolio’s newsstand sales are within the range of its competitors’. For example, the biweekly Fortune sold an average of 32,000 copies per issue last year, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures.

“A new magazine’s sell-through, the percentage of copies put on the newsstand that are actually sold, starts low because publishers will flood newsstands with issues for maximum visibility. As a title matures, the percentage usually increases as publishers adjust their distribution efficiency. Generally, a mature title will have a sell-through rate above 30 percent, while a successful new title averages more than 20 percent.

“The current number is said to be below the expectations of executives at Condé Nast, who hope to increase sales by about 10,000 a month and boost sell-through into the mid-20s.”

Read more here.