A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Month: May 2010

Why the iPad is not an ideal home delivery device

The Apple iPad in its current form is not ideal for assisting with newspaper home deliveries.  The GPS is not accurate enough nor the update speed fast enough for what would be needed in a suburban newspaper distribution situation.

Also, the only sat nav facilities in the iPad are for Google maps, not Melway or other maps.

The other barrier is cost.  Would newsagents be prepared to put around $1,000 of technology in a vehicle for deliveries?

I think the iPad has many applications of interest to newsagents and other business operators – just not in the home delivery area at this stage.

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newsagent software

Why would you buy a newsagency today?

I am often asked by people looking at buying a newsagency why they should given the issues and challenges discussed here and elsewhere.

In my view, a newsagency represents a good investment and offers good opportunities, plenty of upside – despite some challenges presented by out of date practices.  The value in theupside is why I have expanded my own involvement.

There is plenty about a newsagency business you can control.

There are excellent new traffic opportunities: ink, books, gifts, services and some other new products areas I am not prepared to name here just yet.  These are brining new customers in.

There are excellent sales efficiency opportunities – selling more to existing customers. This is achieved by cleverly leveraging high traffic products such as newspapers, lotteries and major magazine titles to drive impulse purchases.

There are good margin opportunities. For example, ditching magazine company calendars in favour of dealing with calendar specialists – newsagents more than double their margin.

Proactive newsagents can transform the business. This is where the biggest opportunity lies. By respecting existing key traffic generators and evolving the business offer in other categories, smart retailers can significantly increase sales and profit. Yes the traditional newsagency is old and tired. The new newsagency is vibrant and profitable.

Change. Yes technologies like the iPad will impact our businesses. This will be more in a good way than a bad way. Entrepreneurial newsagents are seizing the opportunity of change and using this to motivate internal change.  There are newsagents making good money from cafe services, online businesses and expanded distribution businesses.

So, why would I buy a newsagency today? The opportunity!

The only caveat I would apply is that you need to buy at the right price.

I will be covering the themes in this blog post in detail at the Newsagency of the Future workshop next month.

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buying a newsagency

Check your Master Chef allocation

With issue #2 of Master Chef magazine just around the corner, newsagents who expect to sell plenty of copies should check with Gordon and Gotch on the planned allocation.  Given that many newsagents did not get addditional stock and that allocations will be based on actual sales, getting now for additional stock would make sense.

I expect issue #2 to be strong since the TV show is still running and there will be plenty of customers who missed out on issue #1.

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magazines

Better Homes and Gardens sells well at the counter

bhg-counter-jun10.JPGIn addition to our in-location display we promoted the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens at our main counter over the weekend with tremendous success.

Weekend shoppers dropping for a newspaper or lottery ticket were our target and it worked.  It was terrific seeing this in action first-hand.  We restocked the display Saturday afternoon it had done so well for us.

Better Homes is one of those titles which responds very well to promotion at the counter.

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magazines

Woolworths / Safeway decline to support World Cup promo

Woolworths ( and Safeway) supermarkets will not be participating in the World Cup Soccer Flag promotion with The Sunday Age (and the Sun Herald?) today.

I am not sure of the reason for Woolworths not participating and don’t really care.  This provides another opportunity to reinforce the difference between a newsagency and a supermarket for circulation product.  If only the publishers would get this and leverage the opportunity of the service newsagents provide.

While there will be some grumpy customers today who are frustrated at having to walk to us to get their flag, there will be others who check us out and even buy something as a result.

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Newsagency opportunities

Still no sign of my iPad

sad-ipad.JPGIt is frustrating hearing from and reading about people who bought iPads from Apple stores on Friday and yesterday.  My desk has several iPad attachments, as the photo shows, but it lacks the device.  The Apple website still says my iPad will ship by June 7.    My frustration is heightened by reports that TNT has had the devices ready to ship for more than a week.  This is not good treatment of someone who committed to the device well in advance of the release date.

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Media disruption

News coverage on the Modern Award

I have done a couple of media interviews over the last week on the Modern Award – one for background material to help the journalist understand where newsagents sit in the mix of the changes.  Some of what I have written here has been picked up.  We have a long way to go to sort out the challenges the award changes have delivered to newsagents and plenty of other businesses.  The frustration is that the process of negotiating exceptions and regulatory changes is time consuming and expensive.

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Newsagency challenges

British magazine display drives sales

The British magazine display which we ran at the front of our newsXpress Forest Hill store for a week delivered an excellent sales lift – making the space and time allocation well worth the effort.  My sense is that it also drew browsers into the store since we were showing ourselves as carrying more than only the top selling magazines.

A key point of difference as newsagents is the depth of our magazine range.  We ought to embrace and promote this more.  By only promoting top selling titles, as many of us do today, promote that we are me-too retailers, competing in a crowded market.  The british magazine display and other specialinterest displays we do push against this.

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magazines

Promoting free coffee with New Idea

new-idea-coffee.JPGWe gave over a couple of pockets to promote the free coffee available to readers with New Idea this week.  The simple display with an A4 poster worked well for us, delivering strong sales.

Given that some customers will choose between a few titles, promoting a value proposition like the free coffees can help guide the choice.

I’d much rather promote a value add than discount a title to get the sale – especially in a shopping centre where rents are high and every cent is valued.

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magazines

Puzzler Arrowords sales collapse for us

puzzler-arrowwords.JPGThe latest issue of Arrowords from Puzzler has not performed at all.  Yesterday morning, I returned everything we had received after leaving the title on the shelves for six weeks to achieve at least something.

We also supported title with a co-location promotion in with our women’s weeklies titles for a week.

This is where the magazine distribution system is flawed.  I have given over my space, my labour and my cash to support Arrowords and I get nothing in return.  The magazine distributor is paid regardless.  We price our assets too cheap.

As I have written here many times previously, there needs to be a non performance fee which applies where a title does not perform to minimum standards.  Given the little control newsagents have over what they receive from two of the distributors such a safety net for our investment is fair.

I think the folks at Puzzler need to work on their titles.  Lovatts are creaming them and while that is good for Lovatts it is not good for healthy competition on our shelves.

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magazine distribution

Lying to get your business

Some sales representatives who call on newsagents will do anything to get you to buy their products or service.  Newsagents would know who I mean – they are the sales people who try and win business by lying about the competitors.  It’s their point of difference.  I am talking here about outright lies and not just tough competitive positioning.  It speaks volumes for their belief in their own product that they focus on the competitors more than themselves. Thankfully, business won this way often bites them sometime down the track.

There is a bit of lying going on right now and, no, I am not about to name names or companies.

If a supplier representative says anything to you about a competitor of theirs, ask them to prove it.  This will soon shut them up.  Better still, go to the company or person they are speaking about and let them know – it is what you would want if it was you they were talking about after all.

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Ethics

Newsagency of the Future workshop – Cairns date added

I have scheduled a Newsagency of the Future workshop for Cairns on July 1, 2010 @ 10am following contact from Cairns area newsagents.  Bookings can be made here.

At all of these sessions we will discuss how new technology like the iPad will impact on newsagencies, how newsagents are reinventing their businesses and attracting new traffic and driving better margin.  There are some exciting stories to share.

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newsagency of the future

MediaWeek podcast: magazines

I was fortunate to participate in a podcast for mediaweek magazine yesterday.  Hosted by Brendan Wood and James Manning (Publisher of mediaweek), I appeared along with Erica Bartle of the Girl With a Satchel blog.

The hour long podcast was a terrific discussion about magazines.  We covered the Master Chef launch, the bundling of magazines as appears to be happening more, the latest magazine audit numbers and the challenge of the iPad.  Click here to listen to the podcast.  Let me know what you think.

It is good that newsagent voice is represented in a discussion like this about magazines which will be listened to many of our suppliers.

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magazines

Where is my iPad?

It sucks that I preordered and prepaid for my iPad but now have to wait another week.  Apple has teased me by shipping all extra bits but not the iPad itself.  Ugh!

I could have stood in line overnight but I figured I’d trust their online process.  I’m not happy that people who bought after me get served first.

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Media disruption

Promoting Better Homes and the chook cookbook

fhn_bhg_jun10.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens at the counter this week as well as with this in-location display.  It gets the prime counter location thanks to the chook cookbook of the cover.  We decided on the in-location display to maximise sales in the first week of the on-sale.

We plan additional activity for the weekend, when we sell most copies of this title.

We do all of this because we are rewarded with sales.   This is one title which newsagents should get behind, especially Fridays through Sundays, as it responds very well to promotion.

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magazines

Catching customers as they leave

fhn_aww_jun10_2.JPGThis photo shows the rear of the display promoting the latest issue of the Australian Woman’s Weekly.  Click here to see the front.  Promoting the title on both sides works for us as we get shoppers as they enter and leave the main women’s magazine aisle.

One thing ACP does well is provide good marketing collateral.  For this issue of AWW we received the A1 poster, plenty of cover run-ons, plenty of A2 posters two of the large banners.  This collateral kit provides us with options for these displays I have posted here as well as material for the location we will move the title to next.

Sales for this issue of AWW have been strong.

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magazines

ABC launches iPad app

The ABC has launched it’s iPad app today.  The Age has a good wrap up of what is on offer.  It all looks pretty exciting – the various screen shots show that the app coveras a variety of ABC offers.  That it’s free will see good early adoption.

While we will see plenty more announcements of local iPad apps with the product going on sale tomorrow, the ABC offer brings credibility to the decive as an alternative news, information and entertainment channel.

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Media disruption

How to create your Newsagency of the Future

future-newsagency.jpgI am speaking at a series of workshops next month on How to create your Newsagency of the Future.  After months of planning I am pleased to be finally able to announce the details of this important workshop series for newsagents.

The announcement is timely with the launch of the Apple iPad tomorrow since part of the workshop content will look at the likely impact of the iPad and similar technologies on the newsagency channel.

It is time for newsagents to look more carefully at the implications significant changes to the distribution channel which will affect newspapers and magazines.

The time is also right to discuss online strategies and how these may work for newsagents.  Some newsagents are having tremendous success while others are wondering why they bothered.

I will share details from the latest newsagent benchmark study which tests the health of the newsagency channel as we currently know it.

I will also share case studies of newsagents who are transforming their businesses, attracting new traffic and selling better margin product.  This will include sharing some secrets on how to get good knowledge on good margin product trends.

I promise a practical business-building session which will leave participants with change opportunities which can be implemented in almost any situation and with a better understanding of what the future may hold.

Access to the workshop is FREE and open to all newsagents.  To book, please book online here or download the booking form here and fax this to the number noted.

While the workshop is funded by my software company, Tower Systems, it is NOT a sales pitch. I’m not out to sell you anything. What I want is a healthier and stronger newsagency channel, a channel with a bright future for newsagents, their employees, their suppliers and all of the families which rely on the newsagency channel for income.

I am happy to consider dates beyond those listed.  Make contact with me direct if you and a group of newsagent colleagues would like a workshop hosted closer to your location.

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newsagency of the future

Damn those Uncle Tobys’ Oats!

aww_stock.JPGThe free pack of Uncle Tobys’ Oats in every copy of the latest issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly makes the magzines lop-sided and bent.  The product does not look as good as it usually does as result.  We had to hide some stock at the bottom of the stack it looked that bad.  The other challenge is that we cannot create the usual high stack because they fall over.  So, the usual display is not as impressive and we now have back room stock to manage.

While I am sure that the advertiser prefers the giveawar to be in the magazine, the magazine itself is suffering from the sample product.

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magazines

Promoting the Australian Women’s Weekly everywhere

fhn_aww_jun10_1.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly on one of our ACP basket builder stands at the entrance to our main women’s magazine aisle.

This display is also seen by everyone entering the shop and shoppers as they move from the newspaper stand to the counter. We are also promoting AWW on the rear of the stand – to shoppers as they leave the aisle. The magazine can be bought from both sides of the stand.

While it may not be obvious from the photo, we have invested a bit of time in the display, slicing up some of the posters to enable us to include the social responsibility pitch on each shelf of the display.  We did this for visual effect as much as anything.  The amount of blue in the display finishes it off well.

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magazines

That’s Life and the $30,000 in prizes

fhn_thatslife_jun10.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of That’s Life magazine out the front of the newsagency in the mall.  The Deal or No Deal tie-in promotion is strong – we know this from past experience with similar promotions.

We have located the stand promoting That’s Life next to the entrance to our main lottery counter – both products should feed well off of each other.

We will leave this display up for the rest of this week.  depending on sales we may use the stand for Better Homes & Gardens on the weekend.

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magazines

Melbourne’s ethnic press

Upstart (a magazine for emerging journalists) published a terrific profile on Melbourne’s ethnic press two weeks ago.

Regulars here would know I’m a fan of ethnic newspapers because of growing sales and their tremendously loyal customers.  You can’t ignore double digit growth.  I’d happily extend the raneg of ethnic titles in any oy my newsagencies.

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Newspapers

Newsagency software on the iPad

ipad_photo.jpgQuietly, over the last few days one of team from Tower Systems has been playing, like a kid in a candy shop, with our Point of Sale software on the yet to launch Apple iPad.  Using some smart technology we have been able to gain a good feel for the iPad as a management tool for newsagents in their businesses as well as when they are on the road away from their businesses.

We have found the iPad very easy to learn and navigate and the 10″ screen very easy on the eye.

So, outside of application for newspapers, maagzines, books and other digital content, the iPad has good uses in business.  It’sa terrific tax deduction for newsagents who like gadgets with a good business use.

Disclosure: I am the owner of Tower Systems – serving more than 1,700 newsagents with newsagency management software.

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Media disruption

Closer to uderstanding Bill Express cash merry-go-round

Banking Day has a couple of excellent reports from yesterday and last week on the latest from the investigation into the collapse of the company being held in the Supreme Court of Victoria.  Each day of the hearing has shown that newsagents were just a small part of a major financial scam.

Bill Express funded the entrepreneurial visions and dreams of its chief executive, Ian Christiansen and his late brother Hal Chistiansen, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard yesterday.

Profit results were created and funding was also provided to Australian Private Networks (a private company that now trades as Activ8Me, Australia’s largest satellite broadband provider) in a convoluted funding arrangement relying on cash from the “Arabian Highway”.

Click here for  a free trial to Banking Day to get the rest of the article.

Once can’t help but wonder whether independent due diligence into Bill Express before it was promoted to newsagents would have uncovered the now obvious flaws in the business model.  We will never know.  No such due diligence was undertaken on behalf of newsagents.

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Bill Express