Women's press, leisure/relaxation and economic news: this is the podium of the best-selling magazine categories in the Press Houses and their sister brands in 2023, according to figures from their owner, the NAP group.
The women's press represents almost a quarter (22%) of the Top 100 magazines sold last year in these stores (Maisons de la presse, Point Plus and Mag Presse).
Behind, we find leisure and relaxation magazines (16%), those dealing with economic news (12%) and educational and/or historical publications (12%).
Monthlies (37%) and bimonthly magazines (23%) are the most represented in the Top 100. These figures come from an Observatory of local cultural businesses launched by NAP.
Read alsoBayard separates from the magazines of its “Nature and territories” division
Decrease of sales
With 1,200 points of sale across the country, its Maisons de la presse, Point Plus and Mag Presse brands represent, according to him, 17% of press turnover in France.
The Observatory shows a drop of 3.3% in press sales in value in the network's brands.
Last year, they represented 11,100 euros per month on average per store, compared to 11,700 in 2022 and 13,400 in 2019.
“This downward trend is not new and affects the entire market
,” the group underlined in a press release. .
On the book side, the best sales were achieved by the latest Asterix,
“
The White Iris
”
, the memoirs of Prince Harry,
“
The Substitute
”
, and
“
A Beautiful Life
”
, a novel by Virginie Grimaldi.
In value terms, book sales are down slightly (-0.9% compared to 2022, at 2,500 euros on average per month and per store).
But they are significantly higher than their level 5 years ago (1950 euros).
Hope for new legislation
Faced with internet giants like Amazon, the group hopes to benefit from the new law which imposes a minimum threshold of 3 euros in delivery costs for any online book order below 35 euros.
To cope with falling press sales, the group's brands have diversified their activities.
They have therefore partnered with service platforms such as DHL or Vinted to install deposit and shipment lockers for goods.
This diversification pays off.
In 2023, sales of services increased by 3.1% in value (26,000 euros per month per store on average).
The same goes for the food offer (fresh foods, drinks), which represents 19,700 euros (+13.6%), gifts (11,200 euros, +4.1%) or toys (5,500 euros, +13.6%).