Following last week’s rumors, Diamond Distributors today confirmed that comic stores in North America and the UK will have “the option of ‘day-early’ delivery of weekly product shipments” as of January 11th next year. The move follows a survey of comic retailers, Diamond says, wherein they were offered the options of Tuesday deliveries for Wednesday release, Monday deliveries for Tuesday release, or either one as long as there was day-early delivery. The company’s VP of sales and marketing, Roger Fletcher, explained more in a press release:
Of more than 1,000 retailers who responded to the survey, 75% believe day-early delivery will benefit their business, while 72% believe it will benefit the entire Direct Market… The number of respondents who selected Tuesday delivery for Wednesday on-sale and the ‘Either’ option totaled 63%, while those selecting the Monday-for-Tuesday alternative and the ‘Either’ option totaled 38%. This encouraging consensus has convinced us that moving forward with day-early delivery for Wednesday on-sale holds considerable advantages for vendors, retailers, and the industry.
Diamond will also institute a “mystery shopper” program in January, to ensure that retailers do not break street date release for any products.
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