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

Month: October 2016

New uses for magazine space in the newsagency

We further trimmed magazine space without cutting titles and introduced John Deere toys where we previously had magazines. The result is a terrific uplift on John Deere purchases and no impact on magazines.

IMG_0588

We are perpetually changing product locations, space allocation and product adjacencies. Standing still is not option in any retail business today.

This move, taking out a whole fixture of magazines, was risky as we had to find a way to maintain magazine range without hurting sales. Thankfully, it has worked.

9 likes
magazines

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: how to pitch magazines on Facebook

Too often newsagents include a photo of a cover of a magazine say say something like out now or the new issue of xxx is out now. This is the type of post many retailers do.

To me, the best posts about magazines either focus on an image on a cover or some other aspect of an issue of a magazine that lets you personally endorse it.

Take the current issue of Yours. We do love Denise Drysdale – who does’t?

Screen Shot 2016-10-30 at 7.28.04 AM

This posts is a perfect opportunity to give something of ourselves and pitch a magazine without being too loud from a sales perspective.

Here is an example of a food related post, a close up of the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

Screen Shot 2016-10-30 at 7.30.18 AM

What is interesting is the shares and where they took the post. Looking at comments with shares, most were about how delicious the Christmas pay looked.

These are two examples of Facebook posts newsagents can do with magazines that work and look different to what others do with magazines. I am sharing insights with newsagents on how to use social media at a social media masterclass workshop series over the next few weeks. This is a newsXpress run workshop and is based on newsXpress training.  Access is free and any newsagent can attend.

  • ADELAIDE. November 9 @ 10am. Rydges South Terrace. Book now.
  • GOLD COAST. November 10 @ 12 noon. Sofitel. Book now.
  • MELBOURNE. November 15 @ 10am. Hawthorn Arts Centre. Book now.
  • SYDNEY. November 16 @ 10am. The Lakes Golf Club. Book now.
  • BRISBANE. Nov. 17 @ 10am. The River View Hotel Kingsford Smith Drive. Book now.

I will add Perth as well. The sessions will be interactive with plenty of time for questions. Spaces are limited as we want to ensure everyone can engage.

9 likes
marketing

News Corp. are undercutting newsagents, again

IGA supermarkets say support local businesses. Then, they team up with News Corp to give away newspapers, undercutting local small business newsagents.

News Corp. says it supports and respects newsagents. Then, they team with IGA and other supermarket chains to educate people to stop buying newspapers at newsagents and, instead, but from supermarkets. Thanks News Corp.

Here is a one sent to some newsagents in Queensland about the latest campaign.

Screen Shot 2016-10-29 at 9.34.26 AM

If their actions are true to form, associations representing newsagents will ignore this issue. Me? I care more about newsagents than offending News. This is an offensive campaign from News Corp. It demonstrates actions as not matching words. It is, in my opinion, socially irresponsible.

9 likes
Ethics

The importance of being mobile engaged

Mediaweek yesterday carried a link to a terrific report from Zenith forecasting that 75% of internet use in 2017 will be via mobile devices.

Mobile devices will account for 75% of global internet use next year, according to Zenith’s new Mobile Advertising Forecasts, published today. The mobile proportion of internet use has increased rapidly, from 40% in 2012 to 68% in 2016, and we forecast it to reach 79% by 2018.

If you have a website, it must be mobile friendly.

Your Facebook business page posts need to reflect that they will more likely be seen on mobile devices.

The growing level of internet access on mobile devices means we have to change how we communicate through our various online platforms.

I look at website platform access data for a range of websites and there is no doubt about the growth of mobile and the importance of being mobile friendly.

Being mobile friendly with newsagents starts with being able to be found by people using their mobile phones. Do a search for you business. If you cannot be found, fix that. How do you fix that? Talk to your =marketing group, ask them for their mobile marketing training.

0 likes
Management tip

Are your customers referencing the Lottoland ad?

A newsagent told me yesterday two customers had referenced the Lottoland ad to them at the counter in the last week. One made the fun of the ad while another said they tried Lottoland as a result and liked it. In each case, the customer initiated the discussion about Lottoland.

Until the comment at the counter, Lottoland was not on the radar of the newsagent. Now, they are concerned as it brought the competitor to their attention.

What is interesting is their view since this happened. The newsagent has realised the vulnerability for their lottery business from online and the lack of engagement by Tatts on the Lottoland competitive challenge. The lotto land comments across the counter were like a light being turned on in a dark room.

I would be interested to hear from others as to whether Lottoland is being mentioned in the newsagency.

3 likes
confectionary

Hiring for the newsagency

I love the sign created by the manager of one of my stores seeking new staff. Like everything about the business, this does not read or feel like a traditional newsagency.

14650326_1125100550930652_2402472450861783233_n

It is important we embrace every opportunity to pitch our businesses as our businesses and not what people think they might be. This applies as much to what we do in-store as it does to putting u0p signs of vacancies.

Doing this is even more true today in the continued running of the Lottoland TVC that denigrates newsagents and their businesses.

9 likes
Newsagency management

Who is liable if a product you sell to the customer is faulty?

I have seen several situations recently of suppliers refusing to assist retailers in dealing with goods that have been found to be faulty after their purchase from the retailer.

The law is clear on this, the supplier is responsible. Each state refers to this under their consumer law. Click here to see the Victorian rules. Click here to see the South Australian rules. Click here to see the NSW rules. Other states are similar.

Suppliers / manufacturers have the ultimate obligation for the goods they supply to retailers to sell. If a retailer contacts them on behalf of a shopper, they have an obligation to address the issues. If they do not, the retailer and shopper have other courses they can follow, against the supplier.

I am not going to name suppliers here. They know who they are. Their recalcitrance is wasting retailer time and damaging their reputation with the affected shoppers.

6 likes
Ethics

Inspiring marketing from Moleskin

It is one thing to market products and another entirely to inspire people so they love your products. This sign on a wall in a Moleskin outlet can be seen from outside the shop. I stopped when I saw it. I saw other people notice it, stop and smile. I say the sign is inspiring because of what we can learn from it.

IMG_0474

Any of us selling items that rely on a love on handwriting would love this sign.

5 likes
newsagency marketing

The unfair fairwork regime

Consider this, a full time  employee who does the bare minimum to keep their job, has been on performance review twice and is  regularly ill so as to maintain accrued sick leave at close to zero takes two days sick leave, is paid the next day and resigns late that night by text message effective immediately, saying they have taken a job elsewhere and will not return to the business.

While I agree with the rules employers must follow to ensure fair employment conditions, for genuine fairness rules should be in place to ensure fairness from the employee to the employer.

There should be tougher consequences for full time employees who leave a job without a notice period. In the scenario outlined above the employee had two days accrued annual leave and no accused sick leave. This left the employer with little capacity to deal with the lack of notice as allowed for in the Award:

If an employee fails to give the required notice the employer may withhold from any monies due to the employee on termination under this award or the NES, an amount not exceeding the amount the employee would have been paid under this award in respect of the period of notice required by this clause less any period of notice actually given by the employee.

It is situations like the one above that encourage small business retailers to hire casuals rather than full time employees.

This also reinforces the importance of previous employment checking, beyond reference checking.

10 likes
Newsagency management

Great to catch up with engaged NT newsagents today

I was in Darwin today for the last of the current series I have been running on social media and website engagement for small business retailers.

Most at the session today were from newsagencies. We had a terrific discussion – it went over time.

What thrilled me was the interest by these newsagents in the opportunities of social media platforms and other online tools for finding new customers. The interest here in the NT among newsagents is greater than I have seen in larger cities.

The session takes a road of its own based on attendee questions and discussions – this made today’s session a treat thanks to the higher level of engagement by NT newsagents.

7 likes
Newsagency management

How I see masking tape in the newsagency has changed forever

14691308_1782072638715162_5187235907114334199_oIt was a thrill to see the Masking Tape Exhibition in Hong Kong this week. It really has changed how I see masking tape forever.

On show are extraordinary works of art from many different people, representing many different interests and techniques.

Here is this humble stationery item we have in our businesses that in some countries is used by artists to create inspiring works.

Okay, plenty of the masking tape they use is different to the packaging tape we sell. However, it is called the same thing.

Here is an example of masking tape in one retail business I visited. This display faces you in one of the entrances of the business.

IMG_0469

And the range you can see in the photo is around a quarter of the masking tape range they carry.

While some businesses in Australia sell tape like this, not many do from what I understand. It is a specialty interest, one that could be served by enterprising newsagents who source a broader mix of tape and cater to the interests of the maker movement and local artists who make for fun and pleasure.

What struck me about the Masking Tape Exhibition in Hong Kong was the passion for this craft and how logical it is for some in our channel to be connected to this hobby.

Our future is all about seeing things differently, very differently in fact. There is no future in the traditional for any of the product categories for which newsagency businesses are known. We have to seek out different products and opportunities and we have to do this in a way that is related to but then quite different to what has been traditional for us.

One way to get into this head space of seeing opportunities beyond the traditional is to put ourselves into situations where we see possibilities like I have seen this week with masking tape.

No, I am not saying everyone should jump on the masking tape craze. There is no one-size fits all for our channel any more in any category. I am saying – be open to unexpected opportunities that may work in your neck of the woods.

8 likes
newsagency of the future

Displaying cards when space is tight

Rent here in Hong Kong is high. Retailers need to make the most of the little space they have. hence these compact displays for cards, holding more stock per pocket than we see in Australia. Here is how cards look:

IMG_0530

Here is a close up of a couple of pockets.

IMG_0531

It has been fascinating looking at card retail here and learning from some innovative retailers – not so much the retailer where I took these photos though.

4 likes
Greeting Cards

Looking for products to attract Gen Y and Millennial stationery shoppers

IMG_0459I have been at the Mega Show in Hong Kong this week looking at products with which to attract the stationery shoppers we see in Tyro, Kikki.k and similar stores that target Millennial and Gen Y shoppers.

This show and the follow-up next week and coupled shows in Guangzhou this month and earlier this year are the go to events for retail groups wanting to be ahead of the trend for it is at events like this that you can see what Australian wholesalers don’t pick up. You also get to see new product being previewed ahead of release in the new year.

One supplier showed me a range five times the size of the range chosen by their Australian distributor to bring into the country. I think the product failed in Australia because the importer did not bring enough to enable retailers to tell a story. Seeing this first hand helps me to encourage importers.

It has been a crazy two days with more than 12km of walking each day as I worked my way around the aisles of the massive Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition centre.

There are two types of suppliers at these events – those that focus on cheap products where prize is what matters above all else and those that focus on design and quality believing that they matter more than price.

When you are looking for a specific design aesthetic, the second type of supplier is more important. The right relationship will last a lot more than a few products. The right relationship will be long term as you go on a journey together. So over the last two days I have been looking more at overall suppliers and their focus on design and quality more so than specific products.

I have already shared information with a couple of suppliers back in Australia. I would prefer to support an existing good and respected Australian importer to expand their range than take on a direct import relationship that competes with existing importers.

It has been good to see more design-centred manufacturers. While they are in the minority, there are enough to present opportunities for an exciting 2017.

12 likes
Stationery

The cost to small business newsagents of returning magazine covers from unsold product

DSC_0580This photo is from a colleague newsagent. It shows just some of the magazine covers they have to return as part of the arcane unsold magazine returns process that applies to newsagents and not their key competitors. I am writing about this today because of the discussion from my recent post: What happens to magazines newsagents don’t sell and why are newsagents treated differently to supermarkets?

The stack of magazine covers have been ripped off magazines that failed to sell in the newsagency. This newsagent is permitted to return covers for some titles. For other titles they have to return the full product.

Some publishers see the sending of covers as a benefit for newsagents. Hell no! It is a cost our big competitors do not have.

Besides taking the title off the shelf and removing the cover, we have to post the covers to the distributor. This can often involve more than one envelope. Distributor processes being what they are, many newsagents send them in expensive Express Post envelopes.

  • All of this for products that failed to sell.
  • All of this for products over which the newsagents funding the work have no control re the supply volume.

These points are some of the reasons newsagents remain angry about the out of date magazine supply model. They are also points about which some magazine publishers are ignorant.

While publishers have benefited from deregulation, newsagents have received no benefit whatsoever. Indeed, the model we are forced to endure disadvantages us when compared with our big competitors.

Small Australian magazine publishers take note – this is why more newsagents are significantly cutting magazine space.

Returns ought to be eliminated immediately, unless publishers, distributors and newsagents agree to a model where newsagents are the exclusive retailer of magazines.

As newsagency businesses change, new traffic is found from new products categories and overall business GP % increases from selling higher margin products, it is only natural we look more carefully at the operating costs of low margin products over which we have little or no control. This is a consequence of deregulation – but it has been slow in coming for the channel.

13 likes
Uncategorized

Inspiring Christmas displays

This Christmas display is what greets shoppers as they enter the bed bath and Table shop in Hobart. It is terrific, in your face, easy to shop and timely.

IMG_0310 (1)

I mention this today because there are newsagents who are yet to put out Christmas.

Bed Bath and Table is a terrific retailer. When it comes to major seasons, they are the best of the best – out at the right time, in the right place in-store and with the right mix of products.

That they have these Christmas items out now is enough of a reason to say to newsagents: get Christmas out, now.

3 likes
visual merchandising

Sunday newsagency challenge: why stick with a category that generates under $30 a week

I was talking with a newsagent last week about a product category that generates less than $30.00 a week in gross profit. The category is not paying for the space, labour or the inventory investment. Yet the owner wants to stick with it as a service. There  is no evidence in basket data of the product serving a purpose. 60% of purchases are single item purchases.

Look at the numbers and be guided by the evidence and not your gut.

8 likes
Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: calendars help you find new shoppers

IMG_0362This Star Trek calendar is beautiful. Star Trek fans with a passion for the original TV series will love it for sure. The challenge is, many will not know newsagents have the Star Trek calendar. So, we are hitting social media to promote it. I expect this targeted marketing will bring new traffic to the newsagency business. It has in the past.

We will run a series of social medial posts using calendars to attract new traffic. There are some excellent calendars in the 2017 range and the time is right to call these out in a way that is sensitive to the niche interest each calendar represents.

This is my marketing tip today – use selected calendars to attract new shoppers.

10 likes
Calendars

Sunday newsagency management tip: custom stock take regularly

The days of the annual, end of financial year, stock take in retail are long over. That old-school approach is not needed by the tax office or your accountant. It does not serve your business needs.

My advice is newsagents do a custom stock take, targeting parts of the business by supplier, department, category or product tag.

Some parts of the business will benefit from this being done as regularly as fortnightly while other parts will benefit from monthly through to six monthly.

A regular custom stock take will absolutely help you reduce employee theft and customer theft as it will show you what is happening and that will change your behaviour.

The parts of the business where I’d custom stock more regularly are tobacco products and high moving sought-after items.

9 likes
Management tip

The value of working together as a group is important for newsagents who want stronger businesses

newsXpress stores across Australia this weekend are running a nationally co-ordinated and promoted sale that is gaining terrific attention. This is the second such promotion in the last month that leverages the national footprint of 230 stores and an online and social media presence reaching deep into the community.

What is interesting is that technology has been the key to link the businesses together, to get them to act as on with a common purpose and single national message around a single national offer.

What is even better is that the promotion is for a product category that newsagents are not known for, a product category attracting more males than females and an age group appeal of between 18 and 34, a highly sought after group for the newsagency channel where at least 60% of shoppers are female and 70% of shoppers are 35+.

While you could see this post as marketing for newsXpress, my objective in writing about this is to share an example of how a group of newsagents can work together on a national campaign with a single national purpose.  As all the stores in the group share common suppliers, common pricing and websites that connect them, making such a pitch is easier.

The campaign is different to the old-school mid year sale, Christmas sale and back to school sale our channel has been known for. Personally, I think those sales serve little purpose today because they are in crowded marketplaces with big business competitors who attract far more attention.

To me, the best sales are when others are not running sales and where you can structure the sale to maximise the GP opportunity as well as the margin dollars result. That has been the focus of the latest two campaigns.

The latest campaign kicked off with a tease on Facebook, on several different Facebook pages, on Wednesday this week. That tease post reached 50,000 people in a few hours. In-store, the result was people calling asking about sale items. Over Thursday and Friday I heard from retailers saying they have seen new customers as a result of the promotion.

While magazines, newspapers, stationery and cards remain important categories, it is new categories through which we can attract new shoppers – as long as we work together in such a way as to leverage the national footprint.

20 likes
Newsagency management
Trending Articles

Fairfax changes approach to TV Guide, disrespects newsagents

Published on April 20, 2011

What do you think of the Powerball changes?

Published on February 16, 2018

IPS releases new magazine contracts

Published on June 21, 2011