7-Eleven has sent a fax to newsagents today suggesting that they do not commit to any long-term contracts with alternative suppliers should they wish to have the option of resuming the Bill Express service. The letter advises that they expect to know if it is possible for them to take on the business and resume operations within weeks and that they would try and get the network operating shortly thereafter.
I suspect that this communication is reaching newsagents and other merchants too late.
Too late she cried!
Are they prepared to take on the outstanding finance contracts also?Newsagents have been left so badly burnt by the experience of Bill Payment that i feel, regardless of any offer put on the table, newsos will shy away from anything else.
As new owners of bill express will they pay us back the money that is owed i think not, so there will be no bill express in my shop anytime in the near future .
This is a positive move for all newsagents.
does anyone really want 7-11 to have access to data from their stores, I wonder how long before they come up with an intergrated platform that gives them a way to access to your data?
Does this mean also that BX is admitting ownership of the equipment, and that they are looking at on-selling it, if so, how are we stuck in some dodgey contract with others that can handball it around as they like, or who are going to be the actual owners of the equipment. None the less i dont think there would be tomany newsagents that have not locked into a new contract with another entity. Good luck to 7-Eleven, they wont be signing me!
Wayne, at this stage 7-Eleven is investigaing. My understanding is that the Administrators have made it clear they do not control the network. mark
wayne i got a letter last week from capital finance claiming that they own the equipment if that helps you in any way. I have been out of contract for a while so luckily have not been affected by equipment rental woes. the leter basically stated that capital own the quipment and you are not allowed to do anything with it unless they say so, and are assesing what will be done with it.
Am I dump enough as a newsagent to support 7-11?
Am I dumb enough as a newsagent to support 7-11?
yes eric – you are dumb enough
It’s not a bad idea, look in your shop and you will see we share a lot of the same services phone ,cigs,sweets etc We even have a slushie machine in our store.
Paul, more the reason not to use 7-11 for phone recharge
People, look at the 7-Eleven purchase as oppertunity and possibly a saving grace. Rather then being left with paying a rental of 495 per month, you may actually be able to re-sustain not only a Payment network (competition against Aus Post) which would have gone on the wayside but also your prepaid supply. With the Epay / Ezipass association (http://www.epayaust.com.au/About/NewsArchive/tabid/122/mid/443/newsid443/18/Default.aspx) there is no other competition in the marketplace for prepaid (http://www.epayaust.com.au/About/NewsArchive/tabid/122/mid/443/newsid443/10/Default.aspx.) What does that mean, your margins will go down. Dont just jump, because of the old BXP Management. Wait, see what happens with 7-Eleven and make a educted decision because in the end it might hurt you more.
Simon, The best way to compete with Australia Post is to send people to them to pay bills and tie them up doing that all day. Who want’s to wait behind a huge que of people paying bills to buy copy paper when they can go to a newsagent and get faster service there?
I’m sure everyone’s demographics are a bit different, and it might help you to continue bill payment processing, but I think for the majority of us, processing a bill at fifty cents to a dollar is not worth the hassle. Let Australia Post deal with it and us on making more cash out of what they can’t supply.
We’ll wait and see though, I’ve been burned so unless I get a percentile of the bill paid I won’t easily swing towards them.
I think we are at the start of the Newsagency Renaisance.
Simon/Michael
We have a post office and we had BX in the other side of our shop with the rest of the store,
You both are correct, the commission in bill payments is very low, I clear $3.35 in the sale of a coffee but it requires the commission off seven bills to equal that.
The other items to take into account are in a mixed business atmosphere a profit of $3.00 in the sales say of $1500.00 increases the turnover but reduces the net margin of the business, sometimes the time taken to process some bills would be better put to use in selling other items of higher margins
After the BX experience, I would be hesitant in restarting the bill processing through BX.
Michael, thanks for your comment. The problem with what you are saying is that is that if you are sending people to Australia Post, eventually they will stop coming to your store at all. Australia Post will continue to find ways to expend its empire and it will take as much business as possible, from the traditional Newsagency market.
Look at the Pharmacy industry, Priceline / Chemist Warehouse have blurred the line between Pharmacies and Supermarkets. What did the Pharmacy industry do? Move into new area’s, offer more value added services. Weight loss programs, Quit smoking programs, Makeup / Vitamin consultancy & Patient medication profiles, all being very successful.
The only way to continue the viability of Newsagents is to diversify? Offer as much services to customers as possible so they will come back and discover other value added services you might have and not go to the competition at all. Yes some of the fees might be small but they all add up, if you offer Bill payment, stationary, Coffee, Sandwiches, Internet Café, Tatts / Intralot, and Australia post supplies. Why would they bother going to Aust Post let alone anywhere else? As you said “Who want’s to wait behind a huge queue?”
A further example is Tatts / Intralot. With the number of Intralot reps at less than half that of Tatts reps, Intralot will seek alternatives, they are here to make money. Who will put up their hand to establish a greater network for them? Coles, Wesfarmers, Metcash, Australia Post?
I agree BXP did the wrong thing by many people (including its employees), but don’t make future decision on the failures of BXP Management. If other opportunities arise, look at each one, conduct due diligence and make an educated decision. Newsagents need to stand together, and be united as one. Strength and pulling power will be in numbers.
Simon, Thanks for a great contribution to this discussion. We do need to diversify and quickly. Those who are have growing businesses. All it takes is for newsagents to decide to be business people and not agents. Mark
post office in my shopping centre is 1 of the busiest in australia and they have queue all day long to the front of the store. Alot of customers complaining of the long queue and they come to my store to purchase stamps and reflex paper. Customers won’t buy anything at post office as long as they are long queue.
Simon/Mark, Yes I do believe we have to diversify, but into what? I don’t want to buy a stamp from the post office and sell it at the same price to appease a customer that can’t walk across the road to buy a stamp from the post office.
This happened in a shopping centre near me and the newsagent boasted that he was turning over $1000 per week in stamps, he went broke months later.
We need to make money for us, by us and be more distinguished to the consumer. It’s ok to sell a stamp with the purchase of a card, but I’ve had people confuse me with a post office and abuse me because I don’t sell stamps to England or don’t know how much a 2kg parcel to China costs.
Rather than counter act businesses like Australia Post we need to find our own footing, and exploit it.
Just how to do it I don’t know, but I do know that we need to change, I’m willing to do it, but I’m not willing to turn into a second class post office or convience store. Newsagents are better than that.
try the root and branch approach.
If you want to be taken seriously as a professional business person running a streamlined commercial enterprise then look at how you present yourself, your staff and most importantly your business premises to the consumer. That is a consumer who is so fickle that the slightest upset can cause them to shop elsewhere.
I have seen so many newsagencies that are dirty, untidy and have no real plan in place to stock and market their wares.
Staff (including owners) who seem to hold onto the old corner shop mentality that the newsagency is just a convenience and so present themselves accordingly.
It is not difficult to dress neatly and even in uniform; train staff to be pleasant and approachable and to know and understand what and where their stock is located.
Once you start at the root of the problem and show the consumer that the newsagent is a professionally run outfit then you can begin the marathon run
anon, done that.
Where is the marathon run going?
That is my question.
The managment of BX are much to blame but even if 7 Eleven can take over with better managment, there will never be success until they have Telstra on board. People want to pay all there bills in the one shop.
Danny, the problem with Telstra is they have an exclusive agreement with Australia Post. BXP took this to the highest Govt. level in the country, to get action with no result. However, the agreement is due to expire soon, with Telstra being more a public company I can see the possibility of a renewed effort to take on Aust Post.
the marathon run is the long and arduous hall of working hard to keep old customers and attract new customers – keep doing the same old thing and you will get the same old return
change the shop around – change stock holdings – change staff – change your shirt – change anything that will result in consumers commenting positively on the “professionally run” newsagency – it ain’t easy brother but you have to keep on going hard
anon, that’s an easy-give, we’re talking about the big picture, not how people run their shops.
you’ve missed the point
anon, I have already done what you have said, and more.
What do you do after you’ve done all that?
Michael;
Anon’s point is a valid one and if you have tried all of the above maybe you need to speak to a business mentor; not another newsagent though.
I have several i speak to regularly and we ping ideas and strategies around. It’s always good to get advice from someone that sees things differently to you.
change the things you can change and have control of but dont fret on the things in life you have no control of otherwise the demons will drive you to distraction – australia post and the multi nationals are examples of the demons that you have no control of.
vaughan is correct in that, seeking advice and guidance is best sought from successful people who are not necessarily newsagents otherwise advice can be tainted
Hi,
When my wife and I bought our store the 3 main items that were purhased are Bread, Milk, Newspapers.
All of these items were within 3m of the counter and all on the direct route from the front door to the cash register, therfore the customer could escape without actually seeing what else was for sale.
Our shop area is 12m x 12m, to buy a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk and a newspaper now is is a tour around the entire store of about 49m. although all items are nice clean and bright there are very few direct route between all of these items.
Some rows are dead ends to make the customer stop and turn around so as they see more than they intended to, at that point placew a discounted item to attract attention.
At the cash register the same appllies, if a customer is in the long Que, give them a bargin to look at, pick up and maybe buy.
place an obsticle about 2m high in a wide walkway to make the customer stop and turn to avoid it ETC.
Don’t be afraid to stock something “out of the ordinary” that is not normally available at your store.
Having signs and items marked is good, but make customers ask questions on the location of goods that are advertised and then in the reply ” next to the such & such” This tells the customer that there is more to offer.
There is more and more to involve customers and idle chit chat whilst serving is the perfect way of passing on a message to a then captive ordience
regards.
anon/Vaughan,
I understand what you are saying, I’m really just asking what will we be evolving into in the future. I’m not in dire need of advice for my business, but I’m talking about more or less the meaning of what a Newsagent is in this era.
I know how to sell and market items and services to customers, I’m just wondering what we are going to sell in the future, newsagents seem to be selling little bits of this and that with no control over price setting and margin, and not something more wholesome.
if you strip away your core business, then exactly what is your point of difference – gambling and customer service.
There is not one product your newsagency sells that is not replicated in other mainstream retail outlets unless you have the luxury of direct import product.
Given time, gambling opportunities will become available to other retail outlets depending upon the (labour) government of the day.
The only constant is the loyalty of customers to whom you must be subservient to and attempt to go that extra mile to keep. Good customer service combined with a sharp professional retail outlet is, I believe anyway, to be a good point of difference to the multi-nationals that will continue to treat everyday mums and dads with contempt’ – they are simply data.
Be mindful of your competition but dont let it eat away at you. You have no control over the economy or things that impact on the economy so concentrate on the things in your shop, not the newsagent down the road, to increase your bottom line.
(this is not a paid advertisement)
Reading the FR today it suggests 7-Eleven have decided not to proceed with BXP….all too hard and probably little return given the messy structure of service and assetts…..
anon, where is your newsagency situated?
There are a lot of differences in services provided and stock held in different areas.
near yours Michael
Griffith?