Breathtaking snow globe theft
Check out this video of someone walking into the reception area of my newsagency software company earlier this week and stealing two snow globes from our reception desk. The video is a lesson in the ease with which some people execute theft. It teaches us something about vigilance.
Untitled from mark fletcher on Vimeo.
They chose their time well as the reception desk was unattended only momentarily.
Stealing snow globes? What’s the world coming to!
Top five events affecting newsagents in 2011
I was asked by mediaweek magazine to reflect on what I thought were the top five events affecting newsagents this year. It was tough because 2011 has been a big year. I tried to write thinking of the audience for the magazine – people in the media, publishers, distributors. Click here to see what I wrote.
While there are plenty of other events and changes this year which should be recorded, I needed to stay within the brief. I am happy with my final list.
I appreciate the opportunity by mediaweek for newsagents to be represented in the magazine in this way.
I’d be interest in comments from other newsagents on the big events this year as they see them.
Unwarranted increase in Quilts & More magazine supply
Gordon and Gotch has once again showed their skill at magazine distribution by increasing our supply of Quilts & More magazine by 50%, two copies, with the latest issue. Any reasonable assessment of our sales history (click on the image to see this) indicates that an increase in supply is not warranted. All I can think is that Gotch wanted to place the stock somewhere and not in their warehouse.
The CEO of Gotch claims that the company does not oversupply newsagents. Here is one more example of oversupply. Sure it is only small, two copies. Multiply this across hundreds, if not thousands, of newsagents and you get a feel for the impact it could have, the cost it could impose, on newsagents.
Gotch says we have control through early returns and their website. This is not true. Control would be me having absolute control over all titles and quantities and nothing being supplied outside of this. Gotch refuses to give newsagents this level of control yet they use it as a defence to the ACCC and the like to hit back at complaints such as the one I am making on this blog.
In 2012 we need to focus our attention on this behaviour as it is financially harming the entire newsagency channel and costing us millions of dollars.
Free Boxing Day sale collateral for newsagents
The creative team at my newsagency software company Tower Systems has produced a couple of posters for newsagents to use in promoting Boxing Day Sales this year. Click here for the blue poster and here for the red poster. Have a great sale!
Our plan in my own newsagencies is to stick with tradition and run a box Boxing Day Sale. We have planned for this and are set to offer some excellent deals.
Promoting Inside Cricket magazine
We are promote g the latest issue of Inside Cricket with prime positioning with our sports magazines plus this placement at the counter – next to where we sell cricket tickets. While it’s not been a massive title for us, we are hoping that the good media coverage for the big bash form of the game will help drive interest from new fans. This is why we are happy to give the title some space in this prime and valuable position.
Promoting Time person of the year
We are promoting the Time magazine person of the year cover with excellent placement showing off the full cover. We have this in our news section. It will also get a run next to newspapers for a couple of days. While I support the choice by Time I am not sure how commercial the cover will be. We’re giving it our best shot.
Getting access to extra magazine stock the BIG issue
One of the most common requests for help I get from newsagents at the moment relates to sourcing additional magazine stock. By the time I get the query they have already tried ordering through the distributor website and or calling their call centre. Newsagents are losing sales by not being able to get extra stock. This means that some in our channel are not being properly resourced with access to backup inventory with which to achieve their full potential for some titles.
Some go and purchase stock from supermarkets. While this hurst sales data it protects them from losing customers. I can understand newsagents taking this action.
Newspaper scrambles to help out after a newsagency closure
Port Macquarie News has a story about helping newspaper customers following the unexpected closure of Lighthouse Beach Newsagency a couple of days ago. I feel for the family behind the business and the circumstances leading to them closing so close to Christmas.
What’s the deal with overseas magazine prices?
Further to my post earlier this week about Easy Food, I decided to check the Australian dollar pricing for some other overseas titles. The pricing for Hornby Magazine represents the average. £3.55 converts to A$11.95. While high for a £ to A$ conversion, this is about the norm. It makes me wonder, again, why Easy Food sells for A$3.99 when the UK price is £2.80. Something doesn’t make sense here. It makes me wonder if Easy Food is being dumped in Australia.
Click on the image to see the covers (and prices) in detail.
There is considerable talk among some magazine publishers about dumping of overseas magazines in Australia. People I have spoken with fell it is happening but have no evidence. I wonder if looking at cover price could provide some evidence when considered along with an assessment of a title and whether consumer interest in the segment is already well satisfied with existing titles.
I am concerned that newsagencies are being used as dumping grounds for some overseas titles and that this reducing sales of Australian magazines from publishers who are more likely to support our channel.
Magazine distributors are the key here. When I have discussed it with them they say dumping is not happening. For certainty I would like more than just a statement that it is not happening. I’d like to see a through investigation so that we get to a provable truth.
Were you swamped with crossword titles yesterday?
I heard from several newsagents yesterday who reported that they received an increase in crossword titles from Gordon & Gotch. On one case, titles were sent which had been explicitly cancelled by the newsagent some time ago as they did not sell. All of the titles were from overseas.
Magazine distributors need to understand that newsagents have finite space. Sending new titles without discussion with the newsagent will often lead to the titles not being displayed and wasting newsagent time and money … and not helping the publisher.
Promoting Burke’s Backyard at the counter
Check out the display promoting the latest issue of Burke’s Backyard created by the VM genius Renee at my Watergardens newsagency. I love how it appears to wrap itself around the counter. It is certainly more visible than would be the case of we just put the magazine at the counter. This display also demonstrates the value of choosing background colours to promote a cover or a poster from the publisher.
I am confident that the visual power of the display will drive an excellent sales result for us an ACP Magazines.
Promoting Australasian Dirt Bike
I love the look of the latest issue of Australasian Dirt Bike. The monochrome cover cuts through against the colour from nearby magazines. We are leveraging this by giving the title double the usual space. This makes it more noticeable and will hopefully drive additional sales for us.
While only a small move, this is the sort of move we relish as it relies on what we bring to the table, it leverages the point of difference available to every newsagent.
Why are we getting Hustler magazine now?
Somebody or some system at Gordon & Gotch has decided we should start receiving Hustler magazine. The first issue arrived in-store yesterday. We returned it yesterday as well. This is not a title which could be sent. It’s not a title we want to have in our newsagency. We can understand others would. However, we feel that it does not reflect what we consider appropriate in this particular location. It is appalling that Gotch would send the title without consultation. I recall years ago that a representative of Gotch told me that they would not send pornography without express permission of the newsagent.
Promoting Dr Who Christmas magazine
We are promoting the Doctor Who Christmas themed issue. It’s a bit late though. For this to work as a Christmas purchase we should have had the title in-store more than a week ago rather than yesterday. It’s an express delivery after all.
The placement with newspapers is proof of us giving the title the best shot – it’s not something people will necessarily look for, hence our high traffic placement.
One food magazine title we don’t need
Easy Food is a good example of a magazine which we do not need on our shelves. There is nothing special about the content. The only redeeming feature is the cheap price. At $3.99 it feels too cheap, almost as if the title is being dumped on the Australian market. What I have no evidence of dumping, this is what it feels like when you consider the look and feel of the physical product and the low cover price.
I am not sure how they get to a price of A$3.99 when the UK price is £2.80. Maybe this is an indication of dumping.
This overseas title is taking space from and competing with Australian titles which I would prefer to support.
While I am pleased that Gotch has reduced us from seven copies to four, this is still too manning my view. We should not get this title at all. The space saved could be used better displaying food magazines for which we are achieving growth and off of which we earn a healthier margin.
Christmas gift card for newsagents
My newsagency software company, Tower Systems, is sending newsagents who do not use the Tower newsagency software a $500 gift card for use with purchasing the system.
Besides the practical value of the $500 discount, the professionally designed and manufactured gift card shows off the quality and type of gift cards many newsagents are now using in their businesses.
The same plastic card stock is also used by plenty of newsagents for customer loyalty cards. On the back is a barcode linking to unique customer details. The loyalty cards are used for accruing loyalty points, rewarding frequent shoppers and delivering access to other benefits.
If you are not one of the 1,760 newsagents with the Tower newsagency software and you’d like a $500 gift card to help you purchase the system, please let me know at mark@towersystems.com.au.
Mindfood Christmas sells Mindfood
We will sell out of the latest issue of Mindfood magazine … more so because of the Christmas cookbook on the back of the magazine than the main magazine itself.
We gambled and placed Mindfood back to front in with our food magazines, in our Christmas cooking display. This is where it has sold so well from. Sales have been better than if we had left Mindfood in the usual location for the title based on recent history. While we expected a lift, we did not expect this result.
This experience with Mindfood is interesting to me on a couple of fronts:
- Publishers can use special interest and seasonal features on the back of a magazine to introduce their title to new shoppers. This not only drives immediate sales but it also augurs well for future sales of the title. I can think of plenty of seasonal opportunities for titles which could drive sales.
- Newsagents need to look at every magazine which comes in and play to its strengths. Thanks to our team noticing the Christmas cookbook on the back of Mindfood has delivered sales we would not have otherwise achieved. Yes, this is hard work. It plays to us as magazine specialists and delivers certain incremental business.
Our magazine sales continue to power ahead in the lead up to Christmas. Unit sales are currently tracking at more than 30% up.
Another ACP shopping centre outpost
Further to my post this morning about ACP opening a magazine subscriptions outpost near one of my newsagencies, I have just found out that they have also set up an outport at Watergardens Town Centre in Victoria where I have another newsagency. In this situation, however, the ACP outpost is located a few feet from the front of the nextra newsagency in the centre. Talk about in your face.
UPDATE: We had two representatives of the ACP Magazines Magshop outpost in front of our newsagency today offering subscriptions to customers walking past and customers leaving our newsagency.
The response from ACP was that they didn’t know about this and agreed it could not happen.
ACP Magshop outpost in a shopping centre competes with newsagencies
The ACP Magazines owned Magshop operation has setup an outpost in the shopping mall in which I have one of my newsagencies.
The very professional looking outpost has been in place for several days now leveraging Christmas shopper traffic to drive subscription customers for ACP titles. If you sign up you get a free Women’s Weekly cookbook valued at $29.95 and an entry in a competition to win one of ten Hawaiian holidays valued at $12,000 each.
While I understand and support the role subscriptions play in the overall circulation model for magazine publishers, I do not understand why a publisher would so directly and aggressively pursue customers in my backyard.
This outpost is leveraging shoppers which I help to bring to this centre through considerable external marketing as well as through thousands of dollars paid to the landlord for centre marketing. These shoppers which I and my fellow tenants attract to the centre are being offered a service which is fulfilled outside of the retail channel, outside of our centre. This type of outpost which does not add value to the businesses in and facilitate the overall health of the shopping centre should not be permitted in my view.
One could argue that if successful, this outpost could reduce traffic to our newsagency and thereby financially harm our business in this centre. Unfortunately, I will not have access to the data which would be needed to thoroughly research this.
ACP could argue that subscriptions are often purchased as gifts and that their outpost will therefore have little impact on my newsagency. I don’t have that data and so cannot comment. All I can go off is the fact that this outpost is a short stroll from my front door, it’s competing with me and turning some of my magazine readers away from getting their fix at my newsagency.
As for the decision by ACP to so directly and aggressively compete with me in this way, all I can say is that I am disappointed. We work hard on magazines as anyone reading this blog would know. Our hard work is paying off with good sales growth … considerably above industry average sales growth. Comparing December 2011 with December 2012 our magazine sales are up more than 30%. Some of that growth is being achieved for ACP titles.
Irrational as it may sound, it feels as if ACP is rewarding our success in growing magazine sales by trying to convert some of our shoppers, or their interest in magazines at least, into subscription sales.
Other aspects of this outpost frustrate me – like the amazing subscription deals, the free gift and the Hawaiian holidays. I’d love to see a similar amount invested in the newsagency channel in a practical consumer promotion. To me, the ideal investment would be a margin bonus for growth.
ACP representatives regularly tell newsagents how important they (we) are to ACP and how much they support the newsagency channel. Today I am not feeling that.
Disney Britto keyrings a hit at the counter
These Disney key rings designed by pop artist Romero Britto have been selling very well for us. In less than two weeks we have achieved more than 50% sell through and could well sell out by Christmas.
We put the slim display unit at the counter as we didn’t want it to get lost with all the Christmas noise elsewhere in-store at the moment. This turned out to be an excellent move with shoppers adding Britto key rings to purchases they bring to the counter. One customer I served on the weekend purchased two on impulse, that’s almost $20 in incremental business.
The success here reinforces my love of brands. Both the Disney and Britto brands are well known to make the impulse decision quite safe. This is vital, especially for counter based purchase decisions.
Promoting weekly magazines in the run up to Christmas
We are making the most of the opportunities with weekly magazines this wee in the run up Christmas. Our approach is somewhat counter-intuitive. We only have these titles in this one location in-store. Yes, no counter display, no impulse unit display. Indeed, we have been doing this since our magazine relay in September. Sales of weeklies are up 13% on a year on year basis.
So, by saying that we are making the most of Christmas opportunities, we are ensuring that all products in-store are segmented by department in clearly defined and easy to shop locations – like with this display of weeklies. I think that this approach gets people shopping the shop. Certainly our numbers indicate that something is working for us. A 13% increase in weeklies sold is excellent when you consider that the average is a 5% decline for the newsagency channel.
So far this month, we are tracking an uncross of 54% more magazines sold than for the same period last year … off a healthy base. We are very proud of this as it means we are banking solid results from our obsession with magazines.
I was prompted to write this blog post by a newsagent who was swing that this is the week for us to forget the traditional newsagency lines as we will be too busy with christmas. I disagree. This is the week for our core newsagency offer to be right as it’s the week we could provide an experience that brings first time visitors back.
Promoting Men’s Health magazine
Check out the display promoting Men’s Health developed by the creative team at one of my newsagencies.
Facing into the mall, this display is designed to draw shoppers in as they pass by our business. It taps into the usual end of christmas season thoughts of getting fit for summer.
Men’s Health is a popular title for us, delivering good sales and growing.
We don’t use supplier visual merchandisers in this store so everything I post is by our own team, usually Renee the day to day manager of the business as well as gifted merchandiser.