The Herald and Weekly Times has written to newsagents today exploring options for improving the supply of gifts with newspapers.
HWT is also reviewing its approach to assessing stock quantities for future promotions. Where we have historical data to use as a basis for our ordering, we have been able to accurately predict demand. For first time promotions however, we have been less successful predicting demand than we would have hoped. Certainly the Australia Day Hat promotion falls into this latter category.
In an effort to minimize the potential for undersupply of product for future promotions, we will naturally look to increasing the amount of stock we order. We will however, also consider extending the promotion to other retail channels i.e. supermarkets, convenience chains in order to minimize the impact of customers wishing to redeem the promotional item from newsagents, having purchased their newspaper elsewhere. For particular promotions we will also consider applying a small charge per item instead of it being free.
I hope they don’t go to other retail channels. With some work on the publisher supply and the distributing newsagent – retail newsagent connection we ought to be better off than today. This is where I would like to see work.
I’d also welcome a small charge for each item. This would help balance demand.
It is good to see a publisher opening a conversation like this with newsagents.
I would like to see a charity box on the counter for these free gifts.
Plus one, David.
We have Cancer Council & Animal Welfare donation boxes at our counter.
Mark,
I am OS at present on other business, and wonder if News also wrote to QLD Newsagents… We appear to have been the ones who got hammered (again) with gross under supply, more so than your good self in Victoria.
Also, I hope they start to accept full responsibility for the undersupply… We had a regular who called QLD Newspapers and the response provided to the customer as conveyed to me was something along the lines of “it was the newsagents responsibility to ensure they had sufficient stock… we gave them adequate notice to request additional stock…”
Cheers
Peter
Once again the standard response from News….throw the blame back on the Newsagents. Nothing changes.
Sounds to me more like HWT is saying cry about the rubbish we have to put up with and they’ll send the freebies to supermarkets so newsagents lose sales. So shut up and get over it. In other words they couldn’t care less. After all who in their right mind would not think a free hat would be popular.
We ran out early and we had one customer who not only hurled abuse at our staff member but they also threw the paper!!!
Seems like they should try to do their calculations with a better formula.
Cassandra, I’m with you.
I don’t think for a second that News is extending an olive branch at all.
It certainly reads like a thinly veiled caution to be careful what we whining newsagents wish for.
And they seemingly have already, by virtue of having already so publicly hinted at it, made some solid plans for this to happen.
Then again, if I were a servo/711 et al, I wouldn’t know whether to be wringing my hands with glee, or quaking in my thongs.
We do not give out the freebies unless the paper is purchased through us, and when the freebies run out we take the rest of the papers of the shelf and only offfer them for sale after telling the customer we have no free stock left. If the publisher does not give me enough stock then why should I help them out, and if customers want to buy the paper from someone else then let them supply the free stock.
We have been selling papers for 20yrs and have yet to see any lasting effects from freebies, sure the sales increase while the promo is on but they soon come back to normal once it finishes, and we are never supplied enough stock to cover our own supply yet alone other peoples customers.
Hi Luke,
Must be a small shop… we do 1500 papers on a sunday… Now that would a lot of verification…
Cheers
Peter
Mark;
I don’t see it as open discussion at all; the letter from Stephen Kaye is another example of HWT prpeparing to screw us over once more.
We have become the destination for these promotions, increased HWT’s circulation figures, and as a result of the incompetence logistically from HWT they decide they are going to move the promotions to more convenience locations. How the hell does that work??
HWT have made us look like idiots the last few promotions and as thanks they move the distribution of the promotions to other outlets.
There is no point aplogising to newsagents for the stuff up, how about an open letter to our customers explaining we are not to blame???
Yer peter, it is small we only do about 250 of each publication per day so if the tele is doing the freebie it means we take off about the last 150. Most customer see the empty spot and choose something else or leave.
luke, are you saying that you pull the most profitable newspaper off the shelf about 6 days a year?
is that because you are scared of customers reactions or because your making a stand against new ltd?
peter
Why should I promote a paper for news ltd that does not deliver what is advertised on the cover ie free hats, when I can sell other titles that do not rely on false advertising.
I may be the odd on out but papers only make up about 5% of my overall sales so I cant be bothered arguing with customers that as soon as the promo ends will not continue to buy the paper. By removing the papers from the shelf when the free stuff runs out I can talk to customers and explain who is at fault. I feel this is better customer service then explaining why I have no free stuff after they get to the counter expecting free stuff and find out we have no freebies left.
Regular news readers come to my shop because they know I will have papers available whether or not there is a promo running.
I like the freebies, as I have already noted, as long as they fix the supply chain.
I have made representations to publishers on this. I see the H&WT letter as an opportunity for newsagents to do this. Yes it reads as a threat, we can either get sidetracked by that or try and fix the issue.
I’ve still got 100 hats left.
We’re still getting customers coming in with coiupons but have already give away lots to kindies, nippers, rest homes, etc.
Our News rep supplied us with extras to make sure that we wouldn’t run out.