Kudos to ACP magazines for donating ten cents from every copy of their weekly magazines sold over the next week to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. Participating titles include Woman’s Day, Take 5, NW, TV Week, ZOO Weekly, OK!, The Picture, People and Grazia. Staring with OK! which went on sale yesterday.
The total circulation of these magazines is in excess of 1 million copies each week.
Well done NANA for assembling a flood crisis team. Here is a copy of the announcement:
“Become part of the NANA “Crisis Crew”.
The recent Floods have again highlighted the need for a register of qualified and experienced newsagents to assist where and when a catastrophe hits our industry be it a singular event or the current floods.
Some might remember many years ago the Newcastle Earthquake. NANA was quick to respond with help running shops allowing those agents affected to be able to clear damage from their homes. There have been several instances since including in recent times the Epping Newsagency tragedy.
NANA is therefore appealing to any newsagent working or retired who would be prepared to be a part of our “Crisis Crew” and with the current disaster, be prepared to travel to flood affected areas assisting the local agent by relieving in the shop thereby giving the owner the opportunity to clean up at home or assist a neighbour. NANA would cover travel and accommodation costs to a reasonable level.
• If you personally or you know of an Newsagent who needs help or,
• If you would be prepared to be part of the “Crisis Crew” ,
Please call NANA Services on 02 9744 0400 or email gary@nana.com.au.”
The latest issue of Who magazine which went on sale yesterday is the first out with pictures from Queensland’s floods. We have not done a flashy display to push sales. Rather, we have the magazine placed with newspapers so that the full cover can be seen and the issue easily browsed by those who may not usually purchase Who.
Tower Systems published the following advice earlier today for newsagents using its newsagency software and getting back into their businesses following time away because of the recent floods.
Magazines
With truck routes dramatically affected, a lot of newsagents have missed their usual magazine deliveries. This advice outlines what to do when the stock does arrive in-store.1. Arrive magazines via EDI.
You may find that not all of your magazine bundles have been delivered, so it is best to print a Pending Invoices report (by selecting the invoices to arrive, then clicking the ‘View’ button at the bottom and printing that report) before you arrive the invoices. This will give you a list of what you should have received, which you can compare to the delivery labels showing what you actually received. You will then have a list of magazines to process shortages for.
2. Process multiple returns in order.
You may have received several returns forms from magazine suppliers but not yet been able to process any returns through Retailer yet. The best process for this situation is to scan all of your returns into Returns Scanning as normal, then process the oldest returns form first. Don’t change any of the Early Returns, Retailer will work them out correctly to ensure you receive credits on time. (Don’t press the ALL button in the Early Returns screen.) Print the forms and create the EDI returns file as usual, then process the next returns form the same way for that supplier. Ensure you always process the oldest form first.
When you return Network stock, make sure you print all of the forms from NetOnline, and include all of the appropriate barcoded labels on each box.
Newspapers
To ensure that customers are not charged for newspapers that were not delivered, a Non Arrival should be added.1. From the Main Screen of Retailer, go to Stock Maintenance Receipt of Stock Non Arrivals.
2. Click ‘Add Non Arrival’.
3. Type the PLU for an item that didn’t arrive, select the date that it didn’t arrive, then click ‘Save Non Arrival’.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all other items and dates necessary.
Customers
If you didn’t print Customer Statements on December 31/January 1, our recommendation is to do the weekly billing as normal (make sure you’ve done the Non Arrivals first!), then print statements at the end of January and print a two month statement (covering Dec and Jan). Any payments made during the period will still appear, so the only difference will be a higher than normal total balance.Subagents
To ensure that subagents are charged correctly, it is best to go into the All Orders grid for each subagent and change the Number Delivered to zero for any items that the subagent did not receive.Non Arrivals will only affect subagent orders if the orders had not yet been generated when the Non Arrival was added.
Write-Off stock
If you have any water-damaged stock, use the Write-Off Stock function to ensure your stock holding figure is kept up to date. You could also print the Write-Off Report for a list of the damaged products. Refer to Advice Sheet G08.Other recommendations
1. Take photographs of water-damaged stock before throwing it away.2. Take photographs of water-damage to the store’s fixtures and fittings.
If water entered the store, even if it didn’t touch any equipment, have a professional technician check all of the equipment. There may be an issue further down the track with moisture build up.
In addition to emailing this advice, it was provided RSS feed directly into our software in each user location.
I am posting it here given that some newsagents are yet to get back into their businesses and collect emails.
The French edition of Elle magazine sells in France for €2.50. This exact same magazine is priced here in Australia at $30.60. While the Australian dollar has risen, the local price has not fallen.
A quick check with a couple of banks indicates that €2.50 should convert to around $3.30 Australian right now. So, what is the remaining $27.30 made up of. Freight would take a portion of that, but not $27.30.
The continuing high price of international magazines, those brought in by air freight and those not, is impacting on sales and feeding the perception that newsagencies are expensive. Customers are finding sources elsewhere.
It is reasonable that newsagents and consumers ask: who is profiting from the exorbitant prices being charged for many international magazines in Australia?
I originally prepared this advice for members of the newsXpress newsagency marketing group and share it in this forum as it may be of value to other newsagents.
Back to School time is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with existing customers and to attract new customers to your store.
Back to School is also an excellent season in which newsagents can demonstrate their point of difference over big players like supermarkets, Big W, Officeworks and the like in the back to School and general stationery stakes. This is the time for the newsagency channel to shine folks!
Here are some free marketing suggestions (some mainstream and some left field) designed to help you attract customers and get them shopping your Back to School range. Most of these marketing tips can be tried without spending too much money:
Tell a visual story in-store. Get an old school desk and create a display showing your back to School supplies being used.
No matter how big or small Back to School is in your store, it is an opportunity to have some fun and strengthen your connection with the local community.
Today’s edition of the Weekend Sportsman includes the night racing special and will have a cover price of $7. Check your newsagency software to ensure that it is charging the right price.
From PaidContent yesterday:
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, claimed today he was in possession of “insurance” files on Rupert Murdoch and his global media company, News Corporation (NSDQ: NWS). Assange also claimed that WikiLeaks holds more than 500 confidential US diplomatic cables on one broadcasting organisation. Speaking to journalist John Pilger for an interview to be published tomorrow in the latest edition of the New Statesman, Assange said: “There are 504 US embassy cables on one broadcasting organisation and there are cables on Murdoch and News Corp.”
Fascinating to any News Corp. watcher … as many newsagents are.
Network Services issued the following advice this afternoon to Queensland newsagents:
Metro Customers:
Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast areas – We will deliver where possible to these areas as close as possible to the normal schedule.
Brisbane – Due to road access and driver safety, deliveries will be progressively made, where possible, throughout the day on Friday.Country Customers:
There continues to be significant road closures to the north and west of Brisbane, not to mention local access issues. We are expecting this to remain the case for the next 5-7 days. As a result we are not expecting deliveries for Friday the 14th of January to made. NOTE – while there may be some exceptions to this, we expect this to apply to the vast majority of agents in this area.Far North Queensland Customers:
We don’t expect any deliveries to be made on Friday the 14th due to our inability to get stock to that region safely. .We do apologise for any delays in the supply lines caused by these recent events. We understand how important supply is to all businesses at this time, it is for this reason we wish to reinforce that supply has not been preferential. All supplies have been and will continue to be shipped to all businesses (regardless of type, size, sales volume) as soon as safe passage is available, the only factors influencing supply at this stage are the availability of drivers and safe access.
NOTE – We will be in touch as information comes to hand about Monday’s on-sales.
We are currently attempting to contact all retailers and agents whose business’ or towns have been inundated by flood waters. This is order to discuss how we can best assist you during this difficult time. If you have not yet been contacted we ask that you call our Flood Assistance Hotline on 1300 131 169 and select Option 1.
With the road between Sydney and Brisbane cut, it appears unlikely that there will be magazine deliveries next week. The volume of weekly titles especially is too great to justify using air freight to get the stock from the printers to the distribution centre.. That said, publishers and distributors are working on options at the moment and the situation is expected to change.
Related – Kudos to the magazine distributors for acting quickly to put accounts on stop when newsagents request this based on the impact of the floods on their businesses.
Newsagent stationery wholesaler GNS has advised that their Brisbane warehouse is open and operating. The big issue is the challenge with distribution from the warehouse. Here is their latest update:
Because of flood waters blocking road, transport is unable to get through in a northerly ,southerly or westerly direction.
As the flood waters recede and if more rain does not happen we are advised that freight will hopefully once again begin to move starting next week.
Tower Systems has donated $5,000 to the Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. The company is also providing a range of practical and financial support to individual newsagents impacted by the floods. Tower employees are also donating through a collection.
I encourage other newsagent suppliers to support the Premier’s Appeal.
All newsXpress stores across Australia have been provided with collateral for supporting the collection of cash donations from customers for depositing into the Premier’s Flood Appeal account. Click on the image to see a larger version of the poster which has been created. In support of transparency, newsXpress outlets will display receipts, showing the total amount of money raised in-store for the appeal. The same approach was used successfully to raise considerable funds for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
The NT News is donating 50 cents from every copy of the newspaper sold this Saturday to the Queensland Premier’s flood appeal. Good stuff.
The new Google magazine I blogged about a few days ago is from a company with a connection to Derwent Howard, the magazine publisher which collapsed in November 2009 owing a ton of money including, according to The Australian at the time and covered at this blog, around $780,000 to Network Services. A Deed of Company Arrangement was entered into with creditors – providing them with five cents in the dollar.
The link is James (Jim) Flynn. He was a Director of Derwent Howard at the time of the collapse. He is the Director of Media Factory Pty Ltd, the publisher of the Google magazine.
Why would Network Services do business with someone who was a Director of a company which collapsed owing them such a considerable sum?
What does this matter to newsagents? If you look carefully at the Google magazine you will see why. With respect to the journalists who have invested time in creating or Australianising content, this is not a great publication. It looks like they have purchased content from a content factory (such places do exist), attracted some ads and shipped the title out to newsagents to hope for the best.
Jim Flynn is also behind Citrus Media, a publisher of photographic and technology one shots with long shelf lives.
The magazine distribution model is the key element here. Newsagents have been sent stock with no say in receiving a new title or the volume. Many newsagents will carry the titles for the full three months. Depending on the arrangement between network services and media factory, these newsagents could unlock a chunk of cash for media factory.
We received the title last week. We will pay for the stock by February 20. Returns go in the first week of April with the credit not showing on our statement until May. That is three months of cash provided to media factory (depending on their arrangement with Network Services) at no cost to them.
We received 15 copies in one of my stores. If I do what the publisher and distributor want, I would be paying $168.19 by February 20. While not a challenging loan to provide, multiply that by a few thousand newsagents and you can see that as a channel we could be sending several hundred thousand dollars, interest free, to Media Factory. Nice (interest free) cash flow with which they can build their business or do other things.
Of course, my numbers do not account for revenue from sales of the title and it is entirely possible that we will sell copies. I don’t expect any more than one or two copies sold but I could be wrong. My figures also do not account for labour, real estate and theft.
Is the Media Factory / Citrus Media model one where they pump out low cost content knowing that the newsagency magazine distribution model will provide them with cash flow regardless of sales? I don’t have the answer for that. After reading the Google magazine I have my suspicions but I cannot be sure.
Newsagents rely on magazine distributors to manage access to the channel. Whether we like it or not, they are the gatekeepers. Having read the Google magazine I think it is time they reviewed how they discharge their role. Of course I am kidding, they serve their shareholders ahead of newsagents.
Kudos to The Age today for pointing out that the current issue of Dolly and Girlfriend each features a young indigenous girls on their covers. Not sure how we promote this without being disrespectful. Just knowing is a start.
News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch and Apple’s Steve Jobs are said to be launching The Daily from News, an iPad newspaper, later this month. Source: Yahoo News. This will be an announcement to watch and analyse.
UPDATE (16/01): The joint announcement has been delayed while the work out some kinks with the app.
Check out the story online about a temporary restaurant installation in New York. The idea of the team is to transform the restaurant every thirty days. What caught my eye about this story is how those involved are collaborating and embracing change through the course of the nine month project. Fascinating.
I wonder what sort of newsagency we would come up with in this situation – low budget, built by a passionate team and with the knowledge that it is temporary. I wonder what innovation we would see every thirty days if those involved committed to the same level of change as those behind the New York restaurant idea.
The following advice was issued by Network Services this afternoon:
QLD FLOOD UPDATE ONSALE WED 12.01.11
Please note Followmont in QLD have had to cease operations today. This is in order to allow staff to get home safely before metro roads shut down.
Due to extensive road closures in Bris area & beyond, including all key line-haul routes, we don’t expect any deliveries to be made in QLD tomorrow.
We will attempt to make all deliveries as quickly as possible. For stock due out tomorrow we expect to deliver to all accessible areas on Thursday or Friday. Please note at this point, regardless of store inundation, we expect large portions of Central Nth, Central West & SW QLD to be mostly inaccessible for the next 5-7 days.
We will update as more information comes to hand.
The flooding in Queensland is the only story in Australia today. Plenty of customers visiting newsagencies have comments, others are interested in updates. It’s at times like this that having live in-store radio playing works well. We are kept up to date with news on the developing situation and receive information relevant to newsagents.
A review at Know Your Mobile for the just released Empire magazine iPad app is worth a read. It reinforces my view that special interest title sales are most at risk at the moment from iPad app launches. As the reviewer says, the price, £1.79, is a very fair and affordable price indeed.
While talking about magazine iPad apps, the app for evo magazine from Dennis Publishing in the UK is drawing good interest.
A customer in one of my newsagencies complained on the weekend about the price of marie claire. They had been told to buy this issue by a friend and questioned why our price was higher than in the supermarket where their friend purchases a copy. The price difference relates to the sunglasses which are packaged with the magazine in some newsagencies. This is not a new phenomenon – increasing the cover price when there is a premium gift with the magazine. Indeed, I like that newsagents get access to differentiating offers like this since supermarkets get access to their own offers from time to time.
But back to the customer. We explained the sunglasses but they didn’t accept that. They didn’t want the glasses and suggested we keep them and they get the magazine for $1.00 less. Showing them the price printed on the cover did not budge them.
With price being such an important factor in today’s retail environment, publishers will need to think carefully about moved which result in different prices in different retail channels. It doesn’t take much to get a customer on their high horse and causing a scene at the counter.
Regulars here will know that I am ot a fan of these ‘value’ packs from ACP. I think they are educating shoppers to not pay full price for magazines. There are plenty of examples in retail where regular discounting and sales has led to more or less permanent discount offers. I have not seen evidence of them generating incremental sales. That said, I ensure that we support them in my stores when they come out – like the latest one yesterday: Woman’s Day, NW and OK! all in one bundle for $9.95. we are promoting the title away from our weeklies display as we do not want to detract from regular sales. We figured that the packaging of the offer warrants it being treated differently.
I guess the other issue with this offer is that it is a very different pack to the packs which contain old and even damaged magazines behind a current issue. Is that what our shoppers think of when they pick this Woman’s Day pack?