What do scooters and food have in common? Lots accouding to News Magazines, the publisher of Two Wheels Scooter magazine. The latest issue which came in today is bagged with Super Food Ideas – although, you have to turn the bag on the side to see what the free title is.
Scooter is one of those titles which needs to be browsed to sell – the bag stops that.
From the front window to the sales counter, there is no missing the promotion of Tattersalls products at 7-eleven stores in Victoria. The pitch is aggressive, multi-faceted and co-branded. It demonstrates the importance 7-Eleven and Tattersalls place on their new relationship.
At the front of 7-Eleven stores are generic as well as game based window posters. In store, there are promotional flyers above the counter and a counter mat pitching the various ticket offers for each game. All co-branded Tattersalls and 7-Eleven.
You cannot shop in a 7-Eleven store and miss the Tattersalls pitch – even where there is a full-service Tattersalls outlet next door.
When Tattersalls told us they were making this move they said it would not impact existing outlets because 7-Eleven stores attract a different market. 7-Eleven is using the arrival of Tattersalls product to lure new customers, newsagency customers. Newsagents next to 7-Eleven outlets would often remain open late on a Saturday to service Tattersalls customers. If the 7-Eleven pitch works they will lose customers and money and probably end up closing earlier.
Tattersalls co-branding with 7-Eleven rubs salt into the wound of existing outlets given that Tattersalls refused to permit co-branding with newsagent marketing groups in the past.
While I am all for competition, it must be fair. The relationship Tattersalls has agreed with 7-Eleven is unfair to newsagents and other existing Tattersalls outlets. From what I saw yesterday, it provides 7-Eleven with an unfair competitive advantage. It does this while Tattersalls continues to hold us back and shackle us with loss generating overheads such as the scratch ticket bays.
We are threatened with losing Tattersalls products if we put non Tattersalls products in these scratch ticket bays. This prime counter space sits idle, losing revenue while Tattersalls bends the rules for 7-Eleven. Tattersalls some months ago represented that they expected to win the right to sell instant scratch tickets again and that this is why the scratch ticket bay real estate ought to be preserved. They did not win yet the prime real-estate sits idle, not earning what it could for us. And in the meantime Tattersalls is energetically developing a new retail network.
Of course, through all of this, the Victorian Government remains silent. They created this problem and have refused to accept any responsibility for the cost of their poor policy decision to hundreds of Victorian family businesses. They will say they have asked Tattersalls to treat their retailers fairly in terms of the scratch ticket bays but have not gone beyond asking.
Our November newsagent sales benchmark Study shows that conditions are tough for newsagents. Greeting card unit sales fell, on average, 9%. It also shows that some newsagents are doing well in this environment. Rather than focus on reporting falling sales for cards, magazines and newspapers, the report highlights growth opportunities. The keys appear to be that newsagents assert more control over their business and embrace change. The benchmark data set shows newsagents having success in doing these things.
We are seeing excellent diary sales this year compared to last, from the beginning of the diary season, almost two months ago, we have been ahead in sales on last year. We have kept promotion of diaries on the move, most recently promoting the category in the window which was home to our Christmas display. While this year’s success builds on previous years of growth, the numbers we are seeing already make it a stand-out. This has a lot to do with good in-store management of the range, display and customer service.
Diaries are a category in which newsagents can excel as they permit us to demonstrate our commitment to customer service compared to Officeworks, Big W and others playing in this space. They muck it up by offering house brands and poor customer service. House brands don;t work in the diary space – not for the majority of customers.
People who rely on getting the right diary are more likely to be let down by these bigger competitors.
Sensis has reported that Yellow Pages’ print revenue was up 5.3% in the financail year to June 30 2008. The Australian yesterday had a good story which compares this to declines in print directories elsewhere in the world. It is appropriate I mention Sensis’ success given othere posts I publish on the shift from print to online.
Lottery sales in the US declined 2% in the third quarter of 2008 on a same store year on year comparison according to La Fleur’s magazine, which tracks the lottery business. This is significant because historically lottery sales in the US have been recession-proof.
The Wall Street Journal has the original story but you need a password to access that so go to Recent Poker for a report you can access without a password.
Magazine sales are strong for many newsagents this time of year with new customers in town for the holidays. It surpriuses me therefore that publishers do not sieze this opportunity. Instead, they shutdown and stop providing marketing collateral with which we could more easily promote titles which could appeal to holiday makers. Smart publishers would promote right now because no one else is. Instead, we are left to create our own promotions. While this is okay, it would be easier if we were provided good collateral with which to work.
Even in the post Christmas sales, a charity connection matters when it comes to selling boxed Christmas cards.
I saw one customer today purchase three boxes from us because we had cards which raised funds for the Peter Mac Cancer Centre. This customer came in to buy a newspaper and struck up a conversation when waiting to meet a friend at the front of the shop. The charity connection drove the purchase.
We are actively promoting the charity connection with our Boxed Christmas Cards through the current sale.
A digital version of the USA Today newspaper has just been launched for the Amazon Kindle reading device. For US$11.99 a month you can get the latest US Today on your Kindle in the US – the Kindle reader is not avaiolable in Australia. A monthly home delivery subscription of the print version of USA Today costs US$16.00.
A digital version of the New York Times is available for the Kindle Reader for US$13.99 a month. A home delivery subscription of the print version of the New York Times costs US$21.20 for the same period.
A customer complained at one of our stores yesterday that because of us, their son now knows that Santa Clause is not real. Their son saw a Letter From Santa at our counter and when they got home he asked them about it. The customer returned to the store and complained face to face and then asked for the number of the store manager to take the complaint to a higher level.
When I heard the story I initially thought it was a joke. For a child to see and read the Letter from Santa on our counter he or she would have to be at least six or seven. Further, there are many indicators in many retail businesses, on TV and online that Santa is not real.
I would be shocked if ours was the only store where this boy’s belief in santa was challenged. If there was a risk of this why take him shopping at all? But this is not a conversation to have with the mother, she is too angry at us.
I did some research online this morning and there are mixed views about when to let your children know that Santa is not real. The consensus appears to be between seven and nine – certainly before they hear about it from other children … and shops, maybe.
The stories one hears across the counter some days are truly amazing.
For newsagents wanting to break into calendars, I can recomment Bartel. Their range of Australian calendars sells well in each of my newsagencies. We go out early (September) and achieve good sales from people sending calendars as gifts overseas. I especailly like that they offer regional calendars – Mornington Peninsular for example for our Frankston newsagency. Newsagents can deal direct with bartel. They offer end of season deals to their regular customers.
In my own experience, the Bartel range has performed better than Steve Parish.
The time to plan for calendars is February and no later than March.
The gift of jam from the folks at Better Homes and Gardens is a nice treat in our kitchen. Small things like this count in a channel flooded with products. It also gives our team another reference point to the title – this is important because it is easy to suggest products to people who are browsing.
Gift cards branded to other retailers need to be considered carefully by newsagents. On the plus side is the thought that making a commission off a sale we would not have got. On the downside is the promotion of other retailers in our businesses and thereby pulling focus from items we may have which could satisfy the gift occasion.
While my newsagencies sell the Visa prepaid products (Canvas, V Card and Just 4), I am yet to commit to the retail branded store-specific gift cards. If someone has asked for a store specific gift card, we have pitched the Visa product – saying it can be used anywhere.
Before newsagents jump into these gift card offers careful thought is needed about the impact on existing and future sales, the revenue opportunity from the cards, floorspace requirements and how the offer reinforces your point of difference … given that Australia Post has these in their corporate stores.
That said, I know of newsagents who are thrilled to have the store branded cards for companies like Sportsgirl, JB HiFi and others available.
We put a lot of thought into our Boxing Day Sale strategy this year. We bought product especially, dressed the stores boldly and staffed so we could achieve. The day went well for us. We achieved excellent sales of boxed cards, calendars, Christmas items and diaries. Some other departments (magazines, counter cards) benefited from the increased traffic. Our plan is to run the sale for two weeks. We are prepared for further discounting late in the last week to give any remaining product a push.
With Back To School needing space along with Velentine’s Day we need to be firm on when this post Christmas sale ends.
Dan Farber, writing at Cnet.com, says print is fading thanks to competition to online. He quotes the latest Pew study which shows that 40% of people in the United States surveyed get their news online compared to 24% a year earlier.
Michelle Meyers, also writing at Cnet.com, writes about the Pew study and includes data showing that the Internet has taken over newspapers as the primary news source.
Now take a look at ten way Edward Roussel suggests newspaper organisations make the transition to digital. I like point ten – Experiment. This applies equally to newsagents.
Smart newsagents will experiment individually and through marketing groups.
I spent five hours behind the counter working in one of my shops this afternoon. While I am in my shops regularly and invariably serve customers, I rarely put in more than a hour at the coounter in any one stint. The experience today reminded me…
I would love our suppliers to spend time behind the counter on a day like today. They would learn why we get frustrated at out of date practices they force us to use, the supply of product on uncompetitive terms and lack of control in our businesses thanks to restrictions they impose. But those are points for another time.
Beyond working with a couple of exceptional team members today and learning from the joy they showed in serving customers, is the happiness of our customers themselves – Christmas kicked in for me thanks to them.
In between handling a busy Christmas Eve our newsagencies have been preparing for our Boxing Day sales. We have two posters prepared – the one on the photo and another pitching details of our specials. We have purchased product (cards, calendars, journals and some gift lines) for this two-week event to supplement existing prduct we want to quit. Tonight, before we close, we will dress the stores ready for an easly start on Boxing Day.
The Puzzler Brain Trainer is a drain on newsagent cash. The new issue came out today and is to be returned week five next year – the same time as the issue this new issue replaced. We do not need two issues on the shelf at the same time. Most newsagents would not have the space. All this delayed return achieves is a delay in refunding newsagents for unsold stock. Grabbing cash from small business newsagents like this is unfair.
It is actions like this which make newsagents want to pull back on magazines. One day, magazine distributors will wonder what they did to cause newsagents to focus more attention on other product catgeories.
Christine Lovatt was sent this note from a reader who saw our ad promoting newsagencies in Cluewords recently:
On reading the back of the December issue (77) of my favourite crossword magazine, Cluewords, I must agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed about the local newsagents right around Australia. Our newsagent in Springwood, NSW are David, Vicki and Chris and they are extremely helpful. They deliver my four crossword magazines, Mega, BIG, Colossus and Cluewords along with my Sydney Morning Herald. I am amazed that they will do that as it means remembering to roll the magazine with the paper and also remembering in which paper it has been rolled so I get the correct one thrown into my front yard.
This is great kudos for Springwood newsagency (NSW) and for newsagents generally. That a customer takes time to provide such positive feedback is wonderful.
Thanks to Lovatts for running the ad promoting newsagents for no cost in Cluewords.
I was surprised to receive a Christmas gift from Intralot yesterday. I thought it might have been sent to a few but it seems that many newsagents received the same gift.
It is rare that newsagents receive a Christmas gift like this from a supplier.
The folks at Intralot have been thoughtful as the gift contained a range of items to share with the team.
Jeff Jarvis has an interesting post at his Buzz Machine blog which says, in part, that the LA Times can cover its editorial staff costs from online revenue. This is a significant milestone and presents the publisher with options, as Jeff speculates – when to turn off the presses?
The question of shutting print and going with a pure online model is complex. That the LA Times has reached sufficient revenue to permit such a discussion is, of itself, ground breaking.
This is another reason our shopfits need to be flexible and why we need to be thinking about the kind of future we want for our businesses.
Sales for calendars, diaries, gifts and books are the stand out success in newsagencies I am connected with this Christmas. Each is showing excellent (double digit) year on year growth. At Forest Hill, this has been achieved without the real-estate and labour cost of an outpost which we had last year. Sometimes I think those of us in shopping centres think that an outpost is essential when smart retailing within the lease line can deliver a better bottom line result.
We are still not discounting – except for Advent Calendars. Boxing Day is when our SALE starts.
