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

Month: May 2011

Loving the cold weather

It is freezing and wet in Melbourne today and the two shopping malls I visited were packed as a result.  Both centres felt like Christmas without the music – they were that packed with people.  There was a great buzz.

This is half the battle, getting people into centres.  Sometimes the weather is the retailers best friend.

The next step is having shops with displays and offers which lure them from the mall into the store.  We focus on this by changing our front of house story at least weekly and checking daily that it is fully stocked and appealing.

I’d love more Saturdays like today.

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retail

Osama, the face everyone knows

osama.JPGWe are promoting the Osama Bin Laden edition of Time magazine with this simple display at the front of our newsagency, facing into the mall.

It was interesting at the shop today hearing people pointing to the poster, recognising the image, young kids even.

While the display will not drive huge sales, it does pitch relevance.  No other magazine outlet in our centre is featuring this title. This is the type of point of difference we go for.  It is one of the factors driving magazine sales growth for us.

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magazines

Late notice on price change from Fairfax

Newsagents in South east Queensland, far north New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern territory received late notice this morning of a price increase for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald.

Smart publishers provide newsagents with good warning.  They also let the newsagency software companies know a few days in advance so that instructions can be sent to newsagent customers.  This late notice costs newsagents and software companies time.  On a weekend the impact is more severe with some casual weekend staff needing help to make the necessary changes.

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Newsagency challenges

Free One Day Newsagent Conference Series

Newsagency marketing group newsXpress is hosting a series of one day business-building newsagent conferences starting this Tuesday in Brisbane.  Attendance is free for newsagents considering joining a newsagency marketing group.

Here are some of the topics being covered along with great deals from suppliers at an accompanying trade show:

  • No Excuses, Why Some Newsagents Will Fail and Others Succeed
  • Using Social Media to Grow Your Business, Facebook, Twitter, Email Local Area Marketing
  • Engaging in Telco / Store in Store Opportunities
  • Strategic Greeting Card Review and Opportunities
  • In the Lab, Experimenting for Newsagencies
  • Everyday Merchandising of your Newsagency

The dates and locations are as follows:

  • Brisbane Tuesday 17h May 2011– Brisbane Technology Park, Cnr Logan & Miles Plating Rds Eight Mile Plains, QLD, 4113
  • Melbourne Thursday 19th May 2011 – Hemisphere Conference Centre, 488 South Rd Moorabbin VIC 3189
  • Sydney Thursday 26th May 2011 – Bonnie Doon Golf Club, Banks Ave, Pagewood, NSW, 2035
  • Perth Tuesday 31st May 2011 – Crowne Plaza Hotel, 54 Terrace Rd Perth WA.

Speak with newsXpress General Manager Ben Kay on 0419 678 754 to arrange to attend for free.

Disclosure: I am a Director of newsXpress

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newsagency marketing

Fascinating late Mother’s Day card sales

latemothersday.JPGI am always fascinated by people buying Mother’s Day cards well into the week after the day.  I saw it just a couple of days ago. This time, a couple of guys buying cards, relieved that we still had a small display up.  We could have charged twice they price and they would have been happy.  While the single stand of Mother’s Day cards is down now, it served us well for a few days after Sunday.

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Greeting Cards

US DVD sales plunge 40 percent

In line with expectations based on what has happened with other content platforms – tape, vinyl, CD – DVD sales plunged 40% in the US last year according to Paid Content.

Any newsagent building a shop fit using fixtures build specifically for print based product is nuts.  Shop fits need to be flexible so they can change as our businesses evolve, as they will evolve (or die).

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Media disruption

Morrison Media helps newsagents

Morrison media, publisher of frankie and other titles, has just issued a press release outlining the launch of a new resource hub for retailers like newsagents.  here are some key points from the press release:

The hub provides a platform for magazine retailers such as newsagencies to access helpful hints, free ‘point of sale’ material and timely information on the Morrison Media product range, which includes magazines, photo annuals, recipe books and photography books.

Morrison Media’s Circulation Manager, Alf Santomingo said “Morrison News is an open forum which will help create an open dialogue between our publishers and retailers to share relevant information, ideas and feedback for the benefit of all parties.

“While information is often provided about new issues and products to retailers, we’re going a step further to provide a place where retailers can freely access additional point of sale collateral and examples of how to make the most out of it, including showcasing how others are leveraging titles to up-sell and cross-sell other stocked items in their store,” he said.

This new hub created by Morrison Media will be a valuable resource for proactive newsagents.

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magazines

Bed warmers show the diversity of products in a newsagency

img_0197.JPGCheck out this timely and creative display by Renee, the manager of the newsXpress Watergardens store.  Renee sourced these cute and safe bed warmers from Intelex and setup this display at the front of the store.

The display was up in perfect time for the cold snap we are experiencing in Victoria this week.

Notice the toy microwave on the display? Renee placed this to show shoppers what to do – you microwave the bed warmers.

There are several points I’d like to make about this initiative: it shows off a broader than usual range of products one would find in the traditional newsagency, it has been placed to attract shoppers to the store (and it is), it presents an sense of fun, the display is what they call retail theatre, the bed warmers make for a good gift to go with the great range of cards in store and … the overall message is one of innovation (for a newsagency).

I know of plenty of newsagents who would balk at carrying bed warmers.  Sometimes you need to let go and encourage people who are closer to your shoppers to do your buying and displays.

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Newsagency management

All hail the geek

maggeek.JPGI love this cover of Australian Science magazine.  It is a bit of fun about the rise of the geek.  It is also a bit of fun with the whole cover model concept.

We are going to give the title a shot at the counter on the back of this cover.  My sense is that it is the type of cover which will get someone picking up the title for a browse who would not usually take this step.

Regular readers here would know that I think it is important that we assess covers of magazines and seize opportunities to promote fringe and special interest titles which have a cover with cut through.  The cover on the current issue of Australian Science is one such cover.  It has visual cut through.  there those who will be offended for showing a topless geek, others who will sale that there is too much body hair showing and others who will love the homage to the geek.  Regardless of what drives the interest, I am certain this cover will increase browsing and we all know that …. increased browsing = increased sales.

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magazines

Leveraging Justin Bieber, again

magbeiberagain.JPGWe have just received the fourth delivery of this Justin Bieber one-shot published by Pacific Magazines.  We ordered more because the last delivery sold out, again for the third time.  We have also ordered more of the photo packs from Network Services as they have sold out, again for the third time.

Thanks to the sale or return model we can order the stock with little risk.  Take the compliment magazine distributors!

Too many newsagents to not chase extra stock when they sell out.  If we had been so lazy and ignorant with this Bieber title then we would have missed out on close to $500 in revenue from this title and plenty more in additional product purchased when people drop in attracted by this title.

We look at titles as they arrive carefully, seeking out opportunities to leverage current topics and to chase business which might otherwise elude us.

We have the new Justin Bieber display at the front of the shop on an impulse display facing into the shopping mall.

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magazines

Good to see Zoo bagged

baggedzoo.JPGWhile I do bang on here about bagged magazines, I have to say that I am pleased that the current issue of Zoo is bagged.  The bagging makes it much harder for shoppers to hunt down whether a $50 note is in the envelope supplied with the magazine.  I’ve had no bags opened.   The cash giveaway promotion appears to be popular with shoppers.

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magazines

Promoting home beautiful magazine

maghomebmay2011.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of home beautiful magazine with this in location display.  Simple yet effective.

I’d encourage other newsagents to try this in-location display approach.  I have found that it can be more successful that high traffic aisle end displays for some titles.  As the photo and others I have posted on the blog show, there is nothing much to it.

Like all promotional activity, track the results and do more of what works.

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magazines

Is ACP Magazines pursuing newsagent trust structures?

I received an odd letter from Network Services / ACP Magazines a couple of weeks ago requesting that I provide them with a copy of the trust deed to my family trust.  The letter said that this was required because of proposed Personal Property Securities Register legislation set to come into effect later this year.

I sought financial and legal advice and have been told that there is no basis within the proposed Personal Property Securities Register legislation for Network  / ACP to required that I provide the trust document. The Director of the trading entity, the trustee of the trust, is responsible.  On the ACP contract and other documents this responsibility is well established.  Further in the email stream, after I had put the advice I had received to Network / ACP, they responded that I had to provide it under the terms of my agreement with them, citing clause 8.3. Clause 8.3 says:

(a) On request, Agent must provide ACP with all financial and other information necessary for ACP to determine Agent’s creditworthiness.

I have been advised that providing the trust deed does not go to the creditworthiness of the trustee company which is the trading entity, the entity bearing responsibility for any trading debt to ACP / Network.

There has been no change to creditworthiness of the trading company, no reason for Network / ACP to now, following years of trading, seek a copy of the trust deed.

If I do not provide the original trust deed by May 20, 2011, the person with whom I am dealing at Network / ACP has made it clear that they will stop supply to the newsagency concerned.  This business turns over around $450,000 a year in magazines.  That they would kill magazine supply to this business because I do not provide a copy of a thirty year old and, I contend, irrelevant document astounds me.

I would be curious to find out if other newsagents with a trust structure have received this letter. 

If Network / ACP can show me where the proposed legislation requires me to provide the requested information I would gladly, as I have explained.

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magazine distribution

Aussie Royal Wedding titles in Singapore

Newsagents out of stock of Royal Wedding titles may find a blog post at the Bangkok Bugle interesting reading.

Significant numbers of one Australian magazine – a special souvenir edition of Woman’s Day – have appeared in Singapore. At one store I counted more than 40 on sale in two different positions alongside copies of other Royal Wedding magazines from around the world.

While I am sure this will frustrate some newsagents, I’d note that the channels through which Australian titles are sold and shipped overseas may be quite removed from our local distribution situation.

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magazine distribution

Osama posters but no magazines

We received twelve posters for the Osama Bin Laden Time magazine special yesterday but no magazines.  Hopefully, the mix up will be sorted out and we can put the posters, which look brilliant, to good use.  UPDATE: mix up easily sorted and magazines on the way.

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magazine distribution

Hello the next wedding sell out

UK magazine Hello is selling out everywhere. We along with many other newsagents arre chasing stock.  Based on demand we could have sold three or times what we were supplied.  I would have thought there would have been considerably more stock in the system because of the Royal Wedding coverage.  Unfortunately, that does not seem to have been the case.

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magazine distribution

Promoting winter cookbook titles

acp-winter.JPGWe are leveraging the freezing cold weather in Melbourne this week by featuring these two new ACP cookbook titles in a prominent location. Who doesn’t like soup on a cold day?  That’s when people will buy the soup cookbook.  I’m told that pressure cooking is a step up from slow cooking so given our sales for that title over the last year the pressure cooking title should do well.

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magazines

What was the Royal Wedding worth in magazine sales?

We achieved a 39% increase in unit sales as  result of the Royal Wedding.  To determine this figure I have only looked at magazine title which featured the Royal Wedding: New Idea, Woman’s Day, Grazia, Who, The Australian Women’s Weekly and OK!.  I compared sales for the last week, Sunday through Saturday, and looked at the same week in 2010.  I have not included one-shots.  To enable us to reach our sales growth, we ran a policy of purchasing stock from nearby supermarkets to avoid sell-outs.

Magazine distributors and publishers should review newsagent performance, in particular sell-outs, to assess the performance of the newsagency channel compared to other channels.  This analysis is especially important if my assertion that supermarkets were provided more than double the supply increase than newsagents.

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magazine distribution

Responding to Bruce Mansfield of EPAL on EFTPOS fee hike

Bruce Mansfield, CEO of Eftpos Payments Australia Limited has been sending out the same letter to anyone who writes to him about the EFTPOS fee hike which will flow from recent EPAL decisions.   He has nothing new to say in this letter.  It is more spin designed to deflect attention from the role being played by his board which is controlled by the major banks, Coles and Woolworths.

The facts which Mansfield ignores are:

  1. The 12 million Visa and MasterCard debit cards are dual cards i.e. also EFTPOS cards. They can be used in both networks depending on the cardholder pushing credit or check/savings.
  2. The EFTPOS network has become more expensive i.e. 1.2B Transaction by 11 cents, 800M by 6 cents. I am flabbergasted by the claim of “net impact zero”.
  3. The retailers can negotiate with acquirers challenging the acquiring margin, but how are they negotiating with issuers challenging the interchange fee? That is the one that was raised.
  4. The acquirer and retailers have to carry the bulk of the investment to save EFTPOS from the Bankcard demise. Why do they get charged?

The conclusion remains that Bruce Mansfield serves the issuing banks sitting on his board to levy an ”EFTPOS tax”. It is a fee that banks now get to continue to issue EFTPOS functionality on their debit card. Unjustifiable and untimely. His best position, if he had the survival of EFTPOS at heart and if he could decide, would be to maintain the cost advantage of EFTPOS versus scheme debit cards.

I am grateful to Jost Stollmann of Tyro for helping develop this response.

Newsagents – this is a big issue.  You need to contact your local member of parliament to fight not only for your nut for all small businesses.  The mroe who raise their voice the greater the opportunity for action on this issue.

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EFTPOS fees

What’s with the current Reader’s Digest promotion?

bigreadersd.JPGThe current issue of Reader’s Digest is (poorly) stuck to a free puzzle book.

The A4 puzzle book means that Reader’s Digest does not fit into the usual stand for this title.

Something about the package does not work. Either the weight of the two titles makes them easily fall apart or the adhesive is not good enough.  Either way, the package does not work as a package.

As for the promotion itself, it seems odd to me in that it does not appear to connect to the core content of Reader’s Digest.

More broadly on the title itself, as I blogged in March, data I have seen suggests that reader’s Digest has a sell through rate of around 25%, making it of questionable value for all but a few newsagents.

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magazines

Promoting Shop til you drop

shoptil.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Shop til you drop with this aisle end display in our women’s magazine area – near wedding magazines too which is important given bonus magazine with Shop.

This issue has a cool looking cover which is not served well by this photo.

We also have Shop on display with women’s interests titles as well as a pocket with impulse titles at the front of the newsagency.

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magazines

Promoting a holiday in the sun

bodysoul.JPGWe are promoting body+soul magazine with this aisle end display.

The title begged for promotion thanks to the offer of a prize of a holiday in the sun. Given the weather in Melbourne right now even the remote possibility of warmth is enough to make you feel good.

The promotional display is in addition to the title in its usual location.

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magazines

Fairfax accepts NANA / ANF compromise solution

NANA President Andrew Packham contacted me tonight to advise that he had tonight received a call from Adam Lamb, Director, Circulation Operations, Fairfax Media to advise that they had considered the NANA / ANF proposal and considered it to be a fit.

The Guide will continue to be inserted into all copies of the Sun Herald by Fairfax Media and Newsagents will insert The Guide into The Sydney Morning Herald on Mondays for the customers who opt in and for the previously offered 15c fee.

This process will commence this weekend.

Click here to see a document from Fairfax outlining details.

Newsagents will receive faxed advice of the subscribers for next Monday in the morning.  Details of the changes will be on the Connect website tonight.

Click here to link to the original thread with more than 180 comments on this topic.

Kudos to NANA and the ANF … and to Fairfax for listening.

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newspaper home delivery
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