New research reveals that Irish newspaper purchasers contribute €1.9 billion annually to the retail sector

28^th November 2019. New consumer research from Behaviours & Attitudes reveals that newspaper purchasers spend an average of €14 per trip, including the price of their newspaper, which generates an estimated €1.9 billion in direct and indirect salesto the retail sector.

The quantitative study, commissioned by NewsBrands Ireland, took place in October 2019 and was conducted amongst a sample of 510 respondents nationwide.

The findings were unveiled at the Shelflife C-Store Awards which took place on Wednesday, 27^th November and were sponsored by NewsBrands Ireland.

As well as the above, the additional findings are as follows:

• The Irish newspaper buyer is a frequent and committed one – with a majority of them (54%) buying a paper 3 to 7 days a week. The average newspaper purchaser picks up 1.2 papers per trip – rising to 1.4 papers on Sundays

• 95% of those who had just purchased a newspaper that day had planned to do so before entering the store

• Just over half of all newspaper purchasers will travel to another shop to buy their preferred title, if it is not in stock

• Newspaper impulse purchasing is highest amongst all 16-34-year-old buyers, one in six of whom only decided to pick up a newspaper while in the outlet

• There are three triggers of equal importance for impulse newspaper buyers – headline impact, adjacency to other products planned to purchase, and positioning of the newspaper display as encountered in-store

• The most commonly purchased non-paper categories linked to newspaper purchasing are milk and bread, with reasonably high proportions also opting for something from the deli counter, and/or fresh produce.

Speaking about the research, Vincent Crowley, Chairman of NewsBrands Ireland, said:

“This research proves that newspapers remain a highly profitable retail product category. Consumer behaviour and reading habits continues to shift and evolve but the fact is that 3 million newspapers are still sold every week.  Our publishers are committed to working with retailers to help them maximize sales and drive valuable footfall into their stores.”