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Don't overdo the doom

While the magazine and newspaper industry is fearful that its current distribution model, dependent on sales through corner shops, is at risk from the rise of the internet, the people who will make the decision are your shoppers not your suppliers.

Free is the big selling point of the internet on the basis that access to the internet is cheap and easy and the advance of technology means vast amounts of data can be stored cheaply and easily.

In the film industry, there is a widespread view that DVDs will disappear as people take to buying movies over the internet. However, a report from leading US media research group Screen Digest says that hopes for the rise of digital media have taken a hit - with it downgrading its forecasts following lower than expected sales last year.

"The level of interest in digital downloads just isn't there," analyst Arash Amel told the Financial Times.

Why? Becaue people don't like the restrictions that come with digital downloads, he suggests.

Corner shops have been living with reports of their demise since the 1950s. There will be no let up as new electronic platforms for entertainment and work are launched. However, the people who decide are your shoppers so focus on them and not the doomsayers.
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