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

Month: December 2010

Fairfax and News talking about newspaper distribution

Fairfax and News Limited revealed yesterday that they have met to discuss newspaper distribution at a high level.   It makes sense that in the rapidly changing situation for print newspaper publishers look at ways they can optimise their distribution businesses.  They have an obligation to their shareholders ahead of any other stakeholder.  While newsagents will not like that last statement, it is a fact of corporation law.

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Newspapers

Why more Football+ stock?

footballplus.JPGWe have sold one copy of Football+.  When we first received this issue we early returned a couple of copies as we had no room and would never sell them based on our sales data.  Network Services or ACP, one of those two certainly, decided to send us more stock of this title yesterday.  There is no justification in our sales or returns data for this move.  We are early returning this additional stock.

We, like most newsagents, have invested good money in technology and processes to ensure that Network and ACP are fully informed of our sales and returns data, so that they can make informed and fair magazine distribution decisions.  The supply of additional stock to us of Football+ yesterday was not an informed or fair move.

Just as the accounts people at Network Services take a zero tolerance approach when it comes to payment of the account, newsagents are right to take a zero tolerance approach to unjustified supply.  The problem is that we are the weak party in the transaction.  Network can stop supply to force us to act.  Newsagents do not have any punitive action option.  Early returning is not punitive – we even pay for the privilege.

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magazine distribution

Dog and Lemon Guide a lemon

dogandlemon.JPGThe Dog and Lemon Guide is no longer a print product.  Instead, yesterday we received a single sheet with a code for accessing their website.  I am not about to put this in the shelf priced at $19.95.  The risk of theft is too great – especially for a car title.  It would be easy to slip this into a bag unnoticed.  While I appreciate that the publisher is continuing an association with newsagents for the online product, there has to be a better way than this theft inviting approach.

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magazines

Why the increase in Wallpaper?

wallpaper.JPGWe sell one copy of Wallpaper magazine if we are lucky.  Yesterday, we experienced a 100% increase in supply.  Like happens so often when I write about this here, there is no justification in our sales or returns data for such a move.  I looked through the magazine and could not see any reason for the increase in supply.

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magazine distribution

Wellbeing Detox – six months on-sale

wellbeingdetox.JPGWellbeing Detox which went on sale yesterday has a six month on-sale period.  This is too long.  I will give the title a month.  It it is not paying its way in that time it can go back.  To expect newsagents to give up valuable retail space for six months is nonsense.  As for the title itself, it looks good.  It certainly taps into a popular niche.  If only the supply model worked better for newsagents.

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magazines

ANF training course price change aggravates

I have been contacted by a newsagent who feels let down by the ANF over a pricing change for their Certificate IV Training Course.  I’ll let them explain the situation in their own words:

I registered to do the course from ANF, Certificate IV in retail management. They charged me $1,995 for the course advertised on their site on Friday, 17/12/10.  On Monday, 20/12/10 I received a promotion from ANF said that to register for the course from 20/12/10 the cost is only $975.

I called the ANF and asked if I can get the refund for the course as there is only 1 day different from the day I registered and the promotion day.

They said they will not give refunded in my case as the I registered the course before the promotion started.

My concern is, yes I registered the course before the promotion started, but only 1 days different, and I am sure that at the time I registered, they should have known that there is a promotion running and if they act professionally as they are there for, they should advised me on that.

We work so hard to make one thousand dollars. We have to sell few thousands of papers to get one thousand and in only one days different and the Body, who proudly said to act on the interest of newsagency. But in this case not at all as they only act on their interest.

Given that the ANF would have (should have) known on the Friday of the price change on the Monday, I would have expected them to readily agree to the $1,000 refund.  It’s what a business which cares about customer service would do.

What do newsagents think about this?

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Newsagency challenges

No more Simpsons thanks

simpsons-comics.JPGWe are not making any money from the various Simpsons comic products.  There are too many copies of too many titles.  We are not even covering the cost of the retail space. Despite providing accurate sales data showing the sub 40% sell through rate for the various Simpsons titles, we continue to be grossly oversupplied – as I suspect are most other newsagents.  I am writing to Gordon and Gotch to advise that I will no longer carry this brand.  Since they cannot deliver fair allocation, there is no point in me continue to waste time and money on this. The constant shuffling of space, processing of returns and trying to resolve the oversupply issue is just not worth it.

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magazine distribution

Bulky Men’s Health a challenge to display

fat-womhealth.JPGThe latest issue of Men’s Health, out yesterday, is a challenge to display thanks to the free sachet of coffee stuck in the middle of the magazine. We can only fit two copies per pocket and flat stacking is out off the question.  While the publisher is satisfying the advertiser, they are damaging their product by making it difficult to professionally merchandise.  In newsagencies where space is short, less stock will be on display because of the much fatter magazine.

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magazines

Darrell Lea Rocklea Road rocky Christmas sales

dl-rockr.JPGThe new recipe Darrell Lea Rocklea Road cake is not selling so well this Christmas.  All other Darrell Lea items have performed well.  This Christmas cake is usually a winner.  But not this year.

I suspect that the sales drop off this year is due to the new packaging, you can no longer see the cake, and the promoted new recipe – why change what was loved.

The drop off is not only in our stores, I have heard from others that sales are down.

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confectionary

Imported magazines to suffer from lower cost iPad subscriptions

The revolution started by the release of the iPad earlier this year and which has been aided by a growing range of tablet devices is set to impact on sales of imported magazines.

Through the Amazon store, I can access thousands of magazine titles for a fraction of the newsagent price.  Take Forbes magazine.  At US$2.49 a month,why would I wait for my newsagent print copy when I can access a copy for the iPad immediately?

I expect to see an impact on retail sales of some international titles ahead of local magazines and newspapers.

I wouldn’t want to stop access to international titles through Amazon as such regulation would only delay us and magazine distributors dealing with the new paradigm.

The challenge for newsagents is whether magazine distributors adjust supply in sync with any decline in print edition sales.

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Media disruption

Study predicts iPad to hurt newspaper print subscriptions

A survey conducted by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri indicates that more than half of print newspaper subscribers who use their iPad at least an hour a day for news are very likely to cancel their print subscriptions within six months.  Click here for more on this study.  While factors such as price could impact the decision, the study indicates why some newspaper publishers are keen to push this new distribution platform.

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Media disruption

Promoting magazines to Christmas shoppers

mags-receipt.JPGDistribution issues aside, magazines remain an important part of any newsagency business.  We are promoting them to our Christmas shoppers with this coupon on all receipts.

I created our Magazine Club Card in August 2004.  It is an important and valuable point of difference for us over the supermarkets and other retailers selling magazines nearby.

We have found the coupon on receipts to be an effective way to communicate this point of difference to customers buying greeting cards and other items.  We use the same coupon approach to promote non magazine opportunities to magazine customers.

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magazine distribution

Promoting The Outdoor Room

outdoor-dec10.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of The Outdoor Room with this aisle end display. It’s a timely display because Jamie Durie has been getting media cooverage – including on ABC radio – for the latest issue over the last couple of days.

The other reason for the display is that this magazine makes for a nice Christmas gift for someone interested in outdoor living areas.

We have had the display up for a week and plan to leave it in place until after Christmas.

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magazines

Toilet gift set to sell out for Christmas

pottyputter.JPGMy doubts about this Potty Putter as a Christmas gift were unfounded. We have one left.  Amazing. Once again I am reminded that I am not my customer.  This was a challenging product to display – we relied on our Christmas catalogue to do the trick … and it did.  The variety of gifts sold this year is extraordinary, from traditional to weird to fun. A very broad Christmas in terms of gifts.

Click on the image to see the detail of the Potty Putter.

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Gifts

Courier Mail newspaper uses print to kill print

courier-mail.jpgThe front page of the Courier Mail newspaper today is a huge ad for their new iPad app.

Newsagents, and I bet other retailers, are not happy at being used so blatantly to push people away from what they sell.  One can only wonder at how else News will use its successful print products to lure and push readers of those online.

While migration online is inevitable, it is frustrating that the company which is pushing / pulling people online continues to pressure newsagents to invest in supporting the print product.

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Media disruption

How Network Services prints money

We stopped receiving The Economist in January, almost twelve months ago. We never sold any copies and were finally successful in stopping this title.  This morning, we received the Economist from Network once again.  There is no sales history whatsoever to support the reintroduction of the title to our newsagency.  The only reason I can see is that it helps Network reach its revenue budget based on how full the trucks are.

I am not alone.  This sort of thing happens every magazine delivery day to newsagents around the country.

Network is the first company to aggressively pursue newsagents for payment of accounts yet refuses to accept any accountability for the supply of titles without justification.  They create the accounts problem yet accept no responsibility.

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magazine distribution

Unfair shopping centre landlord behaviour

I was in a major shopping centre on the weekend and noticed a temporary outpost located just outside the newsagency selling several cheap no name brand Chinese import versions brand name products in the newsagency.

This is typical of some landlords. They demand premium rent for what they say is a premium shopping centre and then cheapen the experience with junk product outposts, especially at Christmas. It is appalling that they permit outpost traders to compete with long term and loyal tenants in this way.

Of course, the landlords will have their excuses, they always do.

This instance I saw was one of the worst because of the specific nature of the products being offered by the opportunist outpost operator.

Now before any of my landlords reach for the phone or keyboard to contact me thinking that I am writing about them, as is their want, I’d note that I do visit other centres.

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retail leases

Australia Post closing outlets

I was interested to read that Australia Post could close 27 government owned retail outlets by the end of this year.  If I owned a newsagency nearby one of the closing outlets I’d be quietly cheering.

Given the challenges facing Australia Post and the disruption occuring in our channel, dialogue between the two retail channels would make sense.  There is an opportunity here.

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Australia Post

What are you going to do about Wellbeing Beauty?

The distribution for the third time of the one shot title, Wellbeing Beauty, on Friday to many newsagents has caused a stir.  Many who contacted me did not realise it was the third go around for this under-performing title until they read my blog post.

As I have said to those who have called me, what are you going to do about it? Complaining may provide some satisfaction, it does not move you forward on fixing the problem.

Newsagency associations are somewhat neutered on this issue as they want and need funding from publishers and distributors for awards, conferences and the like.

This matter of reissue of a poorly performing title and requesting, again, full copy return ought to receive urgent attention from associations in addition to individual newsagents.  It is a test case.

One newsagent said they would pose the question I posed in another blog post about whether newsagents are obligated to return full copies of titles to their solicitor. I think this does need legal investigation.  My understanding is that there is no contractual obligation.  But I am not a lawyer and am not in a position to provide legal advice.

With returns costing between 1% and 2% of magazine sales we need to take action.  It is too easy for publishers like Universal to send out a twice failed title with little risk – instead, expecting newsagents to carry the risk of theft, retail space, labour and return freight for them.

Newsagents not acting in the past is what enables Universal and others to continue their behaviour.

So, what are you going to do about this?

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magazine distribution

frankie magazine selling out

frankie-dec15.JPGThe latest issue of frankie has been on the shelves less than a week and already a couple of my newsagencies have sold out.  We are urgently chasing more stock.  What a hit this magazine is!

We place frankie at the edge of our weeklies, away from the major weeklies since it attracts a different customer.  This is why we like it at the edge of a section.  We give the title half a waterfall.  The brilliant covers make it easy to spot amidst all the colour of other covers.

It is odd, give the oversupply of non performing titles, that here we have a magazine title which continues to sell well and we have to continue to chase stock.

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magazines

Leveraging the Herald Sun ashes promotion

untitled.jpgAt one of my stores yesterday the creative team promoted the Herald Sun Ashes giveaway with this simple display sitting right above the newspaper.  This worked better than just handling the flat plastic thing to customers – they got to see what it looking like.  It also promoted it to kids who could point it out to their parents.  I liked this promotion because the giveaway connected with stories in the newspaper.

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Newspapers

Retail inquiry opportunity for newsagents

The federal government is to commence an inquiry into the performance off retail.  The Productivity Commission inquiry will present opportunities for newsagents, and other retailers, to be heard on the state of retail.  While a focus will be on the impact of online transactions from overseas which avoid GST, there will be opportunities for newsagents to present on the state of retail in our channel. Check out this from the press release yesterday:

The Commission will examine the current structure, performance and efficiency of the retail sector and the drivers of structural change in the industry, including globalisation, increasing household and business access to the digital economy, changing cost structures, employment issues and the exchange rate.

The Commission will also consider the broader issues posed by an increase in online purchasing by Australian consumers and the role online purchasing plays in providing consumers with greater choice, access and convenience. The sustainability and appropriateness of the current indirect tax arrangements in this environment will also be considered.

Newsagents ought to seize the opportunity to participate in this inquiry.

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Newsagency opportunities

Rubber wrist bands are magazines?

pebs.JPGLike many newsagents I am sure, I received these rubber wrist bands yesterday as part of our magazine distribution.  Ridiculous!  I am not going to put this product at the counter when I can have items which deliver double and triple the margin.  I never asked for the product.  It is not magazine stock.  It should never have been distributed to newsagents. When are we going to have the strength, commitment and unity to teach the magazine distributors a lesson over this behaviour?  We are our own worst enemy.

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magazine distribution

Ho hum, more proof of magazine oversupply by Gordon and Gotch

16up.JPGA year ago we cancelled this porn title, 16 UP, with Gordon and Gotch.  It wasn’t selling.  Gotch, contrary to our advice and request, has decided to start sending the title again.  So here I am forced to spend time processing a title which will not sell and which I don’t want.  It is further proof of appalling behaviour by a magazine distributor.  And the ACCC says they are not breaching the Trade Practices Act.  Yes, I have early returned the title.  I should not have to do this. The title should never have made it back into my store without my express permission.

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magazine distribution