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

Month: May 2008

How we do business

I have been in communication with a business in India and considering purchasing some products from them. It is interesting to experience different business customs in emails and on the phone. A good example of this is an email I received from this supplier yesterday. It was a reminder to consider their products. However, before they got down to business they had a Mother’s day message:

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers, to be wired to his mother who lived 200 miles away. As he got out of his car, he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied , I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have 75 cents and a rose costs 2 dollars. The man smiled and said, bœcome in with me, I’ll buy you a rose.

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother flowers. As they were leaving , he offered her ride home. She said, yes please, you can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the 200 miles to his mother’s house.

There is a sensitivity in how business is conducted in some countries which makes me pause some days. Sure, I’ve been sent similar emails to the one copied above, but not by someone I am discussing business with…

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Uncategorized

Two approaches to promoting Good Health

mag_card.JPGIn our Frankston store we have displayed Good Health magazine next to one of the Mother’s Day card displays we have in store. We co-locate Mother’s Day cards to drive sales and we wanted a non-traditional add on gift. hence the decision to display Good Health. We know from the demographic buying the magazine that it is a good fit. We have a promotional table with Mother’s Day gifts nearer to our main card display – the display in the photo is right to the front of the store and is designed for rushed shoppers.

At our Forest Hill store we have Good Health displayed at our counter, in the position reserved for titles with what we consider to be good free gifts. The display in the photo was put up yesterday.

good_health_may08.JPG

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magazines

Powerball almost sweet

pb_may08.JPGSince my posts here about the $40 million oZlotto jckpot several newsagents have reviewed their numbers and have contacted mt to agree that a jackpot above $20 million is when significant traffic and sales growth starts. The Powerball jackpot this coming week, while good, is one we hope does not go off.

If it does not go off the jackpot will reach $30 million next and then we retailers in for a good time. that said, we’re pushing the $20 million jackpot hard.

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Lotteries

Bill Express’ BOPO platform down

A customer loaded their BOPO card here in Australia with cash. Their friend overseas tried to withdraw cash from the BOPO account, as they have done previously, without success. Several calls later, the customer has been told by BOPO representatives that the platform is down. This is just another challenge for Bill Express – the BOPO operation is a subsidiary of the company – in what is a very difficult time for the company.

UPDATE: The withdrawal has now worked. So, the customers remain nervous but are happy they could access their cash once again.

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Bill Express

Running out of instant lottery tickets

In the Sunday Age on the weekend there was some poor reporting about the arrival of Intralot and their take over of some soft gambling products in newsagencies and other businesses.  Change can be difficult to navigate.  The key is to remain focused on the longer term goal.  Worrying now about short term situations will waste too much time.

We, newsagents, Intralot and Tattersalls are navigating moving from a supplier who has owned the space for more than 10 years to someone who is just setting up in Victoria.  All sides need to be accommodating.  All sides are progressing the issues involved.  More complete reporting by the Sunday Age would have uncovered this.

If you’re a regular here and are surprised by me saying I am looking forward to Intralot, I genuinely am.  I’m a pragmatist.  I was against them getting approval from the Government because of the threat to moving lottery sales outside the newsagency and small business channels.  Once the decision was made it was time to move on.  Now, I am excited by the opportunity the change affords us.

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Lotteries

Who TV campaign

It’s great to see Pacific Magazines getting behind Who magazine with a major TV campaign. This gives us something to play in-store to draw attention to the title and connect with what consumers will have seen on TV.

Who is an important title not only for the product itself but also its Friday release. This drives additional weekend traffic.

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magazines

Great counter up-sell

cheap_upsell.JPGDogs and cats can sell anything. Take these tiny pads we have at the counter. At $1.00 each they are more valuable than any candy and they sell like candy – great stock turn, great GP. While bigger ticket items can be more interesting, these loose-change items can provide a better return.  While it may seem odd to take time to write about small cheap pads in a newsagency, the reality is that the return achieved makes them valuable and the success worth sharing.

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retail

Green office products

OfficeMax in the US has announced that they will carry a range of “green” office products from Terra Cycle. Made from recycled materials, these products are as good for the OfficeMax image as they are for the environment. The story of getting good media attention in the US.

In Hong Kong last week I noticed several stationery products suppliers offering green ranges. These products are available to us.

This is a space in which newsagents should be playing – not only carrying green stationery and home office products but talking about it in the media as OfficeMax in the US has done this mast week. We should lead on this in Australia.

Plastic bags are not the only environment related issue for retailers, it’s about the products we sell. We can demonstrate leadership fropm our shop floor through the choices we provide consumers.

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Environment

Covering the magazine

famous_cover.JPGFamous magazine this week has a good give away – a free tube of face mask cream.  The offer is in association with Kmart.  The problem is that the tube is stuck on a card which is placed in the magazine – on the page of the ad for Kmart.  When put in traditional magazine fixturing, the masthead is obscured.  The only easy alternative is to have the free product at the counter for a give away.  One good aspect is that the tube is well attached.

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magazines

Mother’s Day promotion

local_florist.JPGWe have an arrangement with The Flower Hut, a florist in Frankston.  They have provided a nice display for our counter as a prize for a lucky customer.  In return we promote their business in a good location in-store.   A prize like a bunch of flowers for Mother’s Day is great.  It’s practical.  Also, being local, there is a greater sense that one could win.  It shows that you don;t need to go over the top with a seasonal promotion.

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marketing

Magazines 2008 coverage

The Guardian has good coverage of the Magazines 2008 conference held this week in the UK. I especially like the quote from Lindsay Nicholson, editorial director of The National Magazine Company:

“The biggest change is the number of magazines on the newsstands – it is just horrific out there. You really have to be quite remarkable – it is no longer good enough to be quite a nice magazine.”

The same can be said for newsagents. We have to become remarkable in today’s retail landscape. We came out of a protected ‘system’ and continue to struggle to realise that this protection is gone, territories don’t exist and our success is up to us and not up to the system.

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magazines

The future of journalism

Further to my post about the lack of media coverage of the Future of Journalism conference in Sydney last week, here is a small sampler of places of conversations online about this topic:

Where are the Australian voices in this conversation?  yes, there are one or two, but the scale of our voices does not match our size.  It makes me wonder why.

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Media disruption

Landlords!

It is eleven months and one week since water poured into our shop because of a construction mishap caused by builders renovating Forest Hill Chase shopping centre. For eleven months we have been waiting to be paid for the $20,000 worth of stock trashed by this damage. Yesterday, they made an offer which is insulting. Some days you just want to scream…so I blog instead.

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Newsagency challenges

New approach to managing magazine supply

Newsagents Direct Distribution and Tower Systems are proud to announce the most significant development for newsagents in the magazine supply model in decades.

Thanks to new software and back office processes developed over eight months through a joint project with NDD, Tower Newsagents will soon have access to a supply model which more closely matches their specific needs.

The Tower software provides NDD with category level data which enables NDD to benchmark at the store level and regionally.

Mark Darton, General Manager of NDD said “Until now, like the other distributors, we haven’t had the tools to assess total market trends on such a timely basis. This initiative provides visibility and will assist retailer, distributor and publisher decisions.”

Mark Fletcher, Managing Director of Tower Systems said “No one profits from unsold magazines. For the first time, the allocations team in a magazine distribution business will have visibility of the data they need to drive more beneficial allocations for Australian newsagents.”

The NDD/Tower initiative has been running in two newsagencies for several months. Next week, the trial will be extended to fifty newsagencies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mark Fletcher (Tower Systems) 0418 321 338; Martyn Alberry (NDD) 02 9381 3102.

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magazine distribution

More on the future of journalism

Media Watch on the ABC last night presented excellent coverage of the future of journalism conference in Sydney last week. You can catch the show online here. Every newsagent in Australia ought to watch this as the discussion goes to the core of our model. If ever we needed a a push to break out from our complacency and belief that our existing suppliers will guide us to a bright future this is it.

I despair some days at the ignorance of some newsagents about the future of the core products of newspapers and magazines – and when I say future, I mean longer term. We cannot ignore the trend in the US and UK. While our model is different, Australia is not that different to permit us to ignore the trends overseas.

When I talk about disruption impacting traditional print media some tell me to stop talking it down, they want me to stop.  My words will not alter what will happen.  However, I hope they alter now newsagents embrace change.

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Media disruption

Victorian budget cover-up

afr_may07.JPGThe front page of today’s Australian Financial Review newspaper has a garish post-it type ad stuck over the photo of Victorian Treasurer John Lenders demonstrating again that the advertising department in Fairfax has more clout than editorial.

This demonstrates little respect for the story, the photographer or for the newspaper itself.

The AFR is better than the damage on today’s front cover demonstrates.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Supanews mediation in Tuggerah dispute

I’ve maintained contact with Corie and Tammy Schwarzl, the former Supanews franchisees from Tuggerah in NSW who found themselves in dispute with the company a year ago.   They head to mediation tomorrow in their Supreme Court case against the old and new Supanews structures.  If this does not resolve the situation then they are off to court again on May 15.  My understanding is that a defence is yet to be filed in the matter, making Corie and Tammy’s preparation for the case challenging.

Court is difficult for anyone, even more so for individuals taking on a big business.  Newsagents may want to wish Corie and Tammy all the best.

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Newsagency challenges

Coles makes a pharmacy push

pharma_direct.JPGWith a Coles Online grocery delivery at the office this morning we received this catalogue for Pharmacy Direct, the online pharmacy business purchased by Coles a while back. Maybe Coles is finally leveraging the online pharmacy business through their broader business. The catalogue is a reminder to local pharmacists that the supermarket giant is committed to playing on their patch. It is also a lesson in how to leverage one part of the business for another – how many distribution newsagents leverage home delivery customers for other business?

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newsagency marketing

Artline, the pen more people pinch

artline.JPGGraffiti artists love Artline markers. Theft is a problem. I wonder if they steal them because of the tag on the Artline TV commercial and website:

Artline, the pen more people pinch.

While it may sound churlish, this tag line is nuts. It’s attempt at humor is lost on me. Yes, Artline pens are stolen – especially the thicker markers. Graffiti artists love them and prefer not to have to pay for them. Why promote that they are stolen? It is offensive.

The theft of Artline pens is such a problem that we have moved them several times and they now reside behind the counter. I’m a newsagent carrying the cost of theft of Artline product in my shops. While theft is my problem, I don’t need people being encouraged, no matter how indirect that encouragement may be. The Artline folks ought to review their advertising strategy and think of their retail partners.

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Stationery

The next challenge for Bill Express

Newsagents angry at their treatment by Bill Express are closing bank accounts in order to stop the company sweeping their account for the lease payment on the Bill Express equipment. Newsagents I have spoken with tell me they are taking this drastic step because of the lack of a response from the company to their request to terminate the lease agreement on the basis of a breach by Bill Express.

Bill Express was already losing revenue through newsagents leaving their network for ePay terminals or the PC based eziPass (established by me). The loss of equipment lease revenue will hit harder.

The company is also losing revenue because of network downtime. Around 500 newsagencies were down for most of this last weekend. Calls to the Help Desk went unanswered.

Yesterday, the company emailed newsagents with what can only be described as a big stick communication about various contractual issues. Here is an excerpt:

Q. This is illegal and unfair!

A. At Bill Express we gave very careful thought to the changes before making them. In the end, we simply couldn’t continue to run a sustainable business without them.

When the subsidies and rebates were put in place five years ago, they were only ever intended to be temporary.

The agreement terms have been in place for five years. They are well understood by the ANF who have consistently reviewed the agreements. The facts here are simple: you entered into Rental and Merchant Agreement with TBI and Bill Express respectively for a period up to five years. This is much like a mobile phone contract. If you wish to prematurely terminate the contract, there is obviously a cost associated with doing so.

Our legal advice is that we are acting within the terms of the Merchant and Rental Agreement(s).

You are welcome, of course to get independent legal advice.

Today’s Australian Financial Review has a story which does not add to knowledge of the situation as it primarily regurgitates the Bill Express ASX announcement. FN Arena, a financial news outlet has more in their online report yesterday.

With most newsagents losing money from Bill Express, it is no wonder they are angry at the company, those who recommended the service and themselves. Their actions as a result of this anger are a story the media ought to look at.

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Bill Express

Seeing three Real Living incarnations

real_living_three.JPGSeeing double early in the morning is not unusual but seeing triple? I really thought something was wrong. Three different versions of Real Living, who odd is that?

One is the regular copy, another is the value pack and the third is the same as the first but with a free set of notepads.

I’ve see the value pack before from ACP magazines for other titles. I’m not a fan. I think having two versions of a title on the shelf is confusing for the consumer. Also, how should we merchandise this to leverage the offer – and if we did this would it hurt traditional sales.

I don’t know what the deal is with three versions. We figured it deserved a display at the counter so that’s what the team did. I’m not sure if this achieves what ACP would like – looking at the display as a consumer it is confusing.

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magazines

Magazine robs newsagents

gg.JPGGuerrilla Guide Recording and Production has an on sale period of eight months. How ridiculous is that. Okay, it might sell out before them but I suspect not. This segment of the magazine department is not known for strong sales in most newsagencies. If a magazine publisher or distributor wants to take my shelf space for eight months they ought to pay rent. And while I am on this title – the $19.95 cover price is a problem. The risk of theft being what it is all I need is one copy stolen and the title is a waste of time. The terms for Guerrilla Guide Recording and Production – long shelf life and high cover price – are a good example of an abuse of newsagents. I’ll be returning unsold stock this month, it’s not worth the risk.

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magazines
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