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

Month: October 2013

Magazine/ newspaper bundle in NZ supermarkets

Check out the magazine / newspaper bundle offer at Countdown outlets in New Zealand. Buy a New Zealanad Herald, Weekend Herald or Herald on Sunday and NZ Women’s Weekly, New Idea or That’s Life for a bundle price of $5.00.

This is interesting in that it leverages newspaper traffic for these magazine titles and vice versa. Given that it is retail brand specific I’d not like to see anything like this in Australia as it would only serve to move even more magazine and newspaper traffic from the newsagency channel to supermarkets and nothing good will come from that.

The New Zealand marketplace is quite different to Australia. While it has the Paper Plus group it does not have the independent newsagency retail network we have.

Countdown is owned by a subsidiary of Wioolworths Australia.

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magazines

Premium gift with purchase works for these magazines

Both Vogue and InStyle have benefited from recent premium gift with purchase campaigns. My experience is that the gift selection is important as is placement to ensure the gift is seen. Also, lifting the price to reflect the value of a premium gift does not hurt sales in our areas as sales for InStyle have shown.

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magazines

Excellent Halloween display in Auckland

I love the chocolate coffins I saw in the window of one chocolate show in downtown Auckland earlier this week. Their Halloween display was excellent. It was made up of a series of small displays like this chocolate coffin display. Talking to a team member in the shop they have become known for their themed displays. People come to look at them. The team members get to make suggestions.

This is an excellent example of making an independent and small retail business a destination. Outside of these window displays this is an average chocolate shop – not meaning to put them down. Their window displays separate them and make them a shop to visit, to see what they are up to.

They are generating destination traffic, the most valuable form of traffic a retailer can have.

Click on the image for a bigger version.

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confectionary

Pre Christmas rush checklist

I know this blog is visited by many new newsagents so primarily for them, here is a brief list of what you need to be doing or have done by now for Christmas and other this-time-of-the-year opportunities.

  1. Boxed Christmas cards out. On a table. Tidy every day. Don’t discount.
  2. Christmas ribbon out near your boxed cards.
  3. Initial range of wrap out.
  4. Basic selection of Christmas single cards out.
  5. Christmas crackers out.
  6. Calendars out, especially Australian.
  7. Kris Kingle gifts ready to go out.
  8. Teachers gifts out.
  9. Graduation gifts and cards out.
  10. Make sure you have all your Christmas gifts and Christmas ornaments ordered.
  11. Make sure you have plenty of cardboard for end of year school projects.
  12. Create a plan for November 1 through December 26.Know what goes where and the necessary transitions. Delegate tasks to ensure this is done and your shop looks full and enticing.

I’m sure others will add to the list via comments.

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Newsagency management

Are you leveraging your Downton Abbey opportunity?

I am curious about where newsagents place the Downton Abbey diary. I’ve put it with People’s Friend and magazines targeting an older shopper as this seemed the most logical location. I have stock with diaries but felt that I am more likely to get an impulse purchase if I place this with the type of shopper most likely to be watching the hit TV series.

Don’t do this tactical placement just for Downton Abbey diaries. Look for more opportunities.

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Diaries

Grabbing Christmas magazine sales

We have the floor display unit from Pacific Magazines with Better Homes and Gardens, and the BHG Christmas plus  New Idea Christmas located in the card aisle. This is the main traffic thoroughfare in the newsagency as shoppers use it to browse cards and to head to newspapers and magazines. This display unit is currently the first magazine offer they confront. It’s less than three metres into the store.

We have each title in two other locations and will maintain this for the next couple of weeks which Christmas food and party themed magazines sell best in this period. We pocket count what we put into the floor unit so we can measure its success. It’s working a treat.

We will use this floor unit right up to Christmas though to promote other Christmas-themed Pacific titles. But we will move it weekly!

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magazines

Making sure frankie products are all together

I was in a newsagency last last week and they had their frankie magazine in the magazine department, the frankie diary with diaries and their frankie calendar with their calendars. I urge newsagents to put all frankie products together – you’re more likely to increase sales. In one of my newsagencies we sold a magazine, diary and calendar to a shopper who came in to purchase the magazine.

This is basic retail – place stock to sell in the most efficient way possible. Think like your customer.

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magazines

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: back to basics newsagency marketing ideas that are free to implement

I am working with a newsagency at the moment that is not doing any marketing because they don’t have the money. This is an unacceptable excuse.

Marketing your newsagency business does not have to cost anything. Here are some easy to undertake newsagency marketing ideas you can implement without spending any money, just a bit of time.

  1. Create a front window display that screams COME INSIDE WE HAVE STUFF YOU WANT.
  2. Put a promotional flyer in every bag that leaves your shop. Have two or three offers on the flyer plus an expiry date and a coupon for them to bring bcd so you can track engagement.
  3. Include a voucher or promotion on the bottom of every receipt. This could be an ad for a service or a discount off your next purchase. Good newsagency software will make handling this easy for you.
  4. De-clutter your counter and place good margin product there that works. I have found that less (but better) product at the counter generates more revenue.
  5. Track your customers from where they enter to where they leave. Place at the most popular locations, those attracting the most eyeballs, items they have not come to purchase but could appeal to that shopper. Perfect placement can be money in the bank.
  6. Get rid of junk in your shop, stock that has not sold in six months or more. make your shop cleaner, more welcoming and more enjoyable to shop. Any stock you want to throw away offer it to local charities and community groups first.
  7. Talk to your customers. Make sure they know you’re thrilled they are shopping with you.
  8. Go and stand where your customers stand when they come to the counter. Look behind where you would stand and at what your customers might see. Now go and create a display there to promote to shoppers at your counter.
  9. Relay your magazines. Click here and read How to do a magazine relay in your newsagency business. magazines are a key point of difference for you. Own them by creating a relay that shows you as a professional.
  10. List your business for free using Google.
  11. List your business for free using local online directories.
  12. Speak to your main card supplier about a range refresh.
  13. Host a staff meeting and explain your plan to refresh the business and ask for their support to do this. get their ideas and encourage them to engage more with shoppers on the shop floor.
  14. Get a colleague newsagent in to look at your business and make suggestions. Tell you want them to be brutally honest. You need to know what others see that you miss.
  15. Contact local clubs and community groups that could partner with you on promotions. Like: knitting clubs, sports clubs, schools, kindergartens. They could use your shop to connect with more people in the community.

This list is a fraction of free ideas you could use.

There is no excuse for not marketing your newsagency. These ideas do not cost anything.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: use your newsagency software to help cut theft

Further to my post a week ago about detecting theft, here is advice on reducing theft using your newsagency software.

Used properly, good Newsagency software can significantly cut the cost of theft.

Theft reduction is achieved through consistent use of the software throughout the business. The less consistent a business the less likely they are to uncover theft. Those most likely to steal will notice how the software is used and through this reach a conclusion as to the likelihood they will be caught.

Tracking stock from when it enters a business to when it leaves is the key to detecting and reducing theft by employees and customers. Too often, small and independent retailers do not fully track and manage stock – making them appealing businesses for people likely to steal.

Here are the steps involved in tracking stock and reducing the cost of theft:

  1. Enter all incoming stock into your POS software. Include the quantity received to ensure that the current quantity on hand is accurate.
  2. Write off stock that is thrown away.
  3. Scan-out all stock that is returned to the supplier for any reason. Good software will have
  4. Sell items by scanning the barcode. Too often items are sold using department keys and therefore not tracking each specific item sold.
  5. Reorder stock by producing a reorder report using your software. This can usually be done by using a desired quantity on hand as the guide for the software to reorder to. Note: this process alone will highlight stock on-hand discrepancies.
  6. Undertake a spot stock-take: count the quantity on hand of an item and enter that into your POS software and compare this against what the software thinks should be on-hand. A discrepancy can indicate theft.

Once all stock is setup in your software, the time taken for spot stock-takes is minimal. This time is funded from the reduced theft that will certainly result.

Employees who see you track stock movement through spot stock-takes and other activities listed here will be deterred from stealing from the business as they will see the risk of being caught is higher.

Manage your business professionally and consistently and theft will cost less.

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Management tip

Halloween at Coles supermarkets

At a Coles supermarket in Melbourne yesterday – a pallet of Halloween candy at the entrance to the business and in the background a near empty pallet of Halloween pumpkins. I’ve not seen any Australian retailer do pumpkins like they do in the US before.

In the back of the same Coles supermarket were these dump bins of other Halloween items – party items and costumes – being quit at a considerable discount.

We’re still at full price with all Halloween product and sales are excellent.

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Newsagency challenges

QLD newsagents frustrated with Tatts changes

Queensland newsagents tell me they are frustrated with several Tatts related issues today.

  1. The roll out of new machines has been haphazard with some out lets left without hardware due to insufficient replacement equipment available to maintain service.
  2. Communication around the software changes has been poor leaving some finding out about changes once they have been made.
  3. Some self check scanners have been inoperable for months.
  4. Frustration at the introduction of the a game and the apparent loss of preset entries.

The frustration is peaking today as Saturday is a big day for lottery sales and tatts is essentially closed on a Saturday.

Some people at Tatts will be angry that I have written this. They will complain I am picking on. I did not manage the equipment roll out, the software change, the introduction of the new game nor the communication around any of these.

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Customer Service

Newsagency business analysis: turnaround needed

Here’s an analysis I did yesterday for a newsagency in need of reinvention. Before that can be done they need to fix data issues so that they have meaningful data measurement. This is why the analysis is incomplete compared to what I would usually do.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to look at your sales data for July through September this year compared to last year. The numbers make for sobering reading but I know you understand that from the changes you are already making in the business

Over the thirteen weeks in this period your non agency sales were just below $20,000, or $1,461 a week. Based on the product mix I estimate your current gross profit to be around 28%. This gives you $409 a week out of which to pay wages, rent and operating costs.

A traditional newsagent would try and build off of traditional newsagency lines and while this could work over time, I think the better approach for your business would be to look at the shop as a blank canvass, using this to build a fresh retail offering to serve the needs of your specific area. For example, with the developments going on nearby consider the people purchasing there – if they are families then their interests and needs will be different to if they are retirees.

In your data I can see that magazines currently account for 32.40% of your sales. But at under $500 a week it is very low. Look carefully at the titles selling as this can provide an insight to your customers. While I’d chase magazine growth if I were you, my core focus would be on higher margin lines, lines that can generate their own traffic and for which you can promote your sales.

Newspapers account for 12.84% of your sales. Add newspapers and magazines and you have 45.24% of sales delivering below average gross profit. While newspapers and magazines generate traffic, these products are also available in other retailers near you so they do not offer a major point of difference.

That gifts account for 7.59% of sales is good news. This is an opportunity in your data. Also, considering what is and isn’t nearby, you have an opportunity to be a destination store in the gift / plush / toy space. But developed over time and within a conservative capital expenditure budget.

Today your business would most likely be known as a corner store or a small local old-school newsagency. I think the future for you is to be known for something completely different. A fun shop, somewhere I can find a gift for any occasion. Somewhere I can shop locally for what I might otherwise drive ten of fifteen minutes to find. Convenient gifts, stationery, toys and items likely to sell to these shoppers.

Achieving this requires careful thought on the type of business you want to create. research you can do on this is to look carefully at your card sales – to see what people are buying and why. For example, if kids birthday card sales are strong what can you do to leverage this? Likewise confirmation / christening / baptism cards. While your card sales are low, $207 a week, the data should at least give you an indication for guiding expanding your gift range.

The other department to assess is stationery. What can you see in this? For example, is your stationery business everyday or office related? What’s popular for you? In one newsagency recently a third of their stationery sales were art and craft related products being sold for kids projects. This opened their eyes to opportunities in the kids space that they had not considered as they were looking at stationery sales as adult focused sales. So my question is – what gold can be mined from your stationery sales data. I’d be happy to get someone to help with this if you would like.

The challenge is for you to remove what’s not working and rebuild within budget constraints. I’d do this section by section, from the front of the shop back. Make the front of your business look full and vibrant, reflecting your aspiration to grow into a respected and talked-about local retailer. Nail just one area of the business and then move to the next.

Using your software right is critical. Scan every single thing you sell. If you don’t do this you do not have good data and without good data you cannot make good business decisions.

You can’t turnaround a business in which you are not measuring the performance of what you sell. This business currently is not properly measuring what they sell – to their detriment.

There is no excuse for not measuring, not scanning, everything you sell. You’re in business to get a return on your investment and the only way you will achieve that is if you are efficient and growth focussed. Neither can be achieved without proper measurement.

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Newsagency

Blocking magazines to pitch well-known brands can drive magazine sales

We regularly refresh magazine placement in our magazine department to ensure that well-known brands are well-placed. This work is don separately from putting magazines out in the morning. It’s something I usually do myself when I am in-store, to ensure that we are promoting the brands I want to promote and that they are placed to make the most of their mastheads.

The photo shows the placement of four titles in our home and living section from Thursday this week. I’m using the front two pockets to promote four key titles. Blocking the titles in this way not only supports the four titles, it also supports the section more generally since these four titles blocked in this way become a signpost for the section.

I try and block key titles like this in four or five sections. Being able to do this depends on space availability. Sometimes I will half-pocket titles to be able to do this double-pocket type of layout.

Newsagents can grow magazine sales by managing the placement of magazines outside the early morning work of putting new titles out. This activity is management activity and is best done separately as I have said.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

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magazines

Great counter product for Halloween 2013

We’ve sold out of this melting monsters in the run up to Halloween. It has delivered easy impulse purchases without a thought by customers. Extending the basket with a good margin product is always a pleasure.

It’s small moves like this with the right impulse purchase product that drives basket value.

Too many newsagents are looking for a big bold move they can take to make their business more successful. I think success comes from many small steps – like the right good-margin counter offer.

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Gifts

We sack employees for stealing, why not our politicians?

The questionable claiming of travel expenses by many Australian federal politicians as disclosed over the last few weeks is disheartening. If some of what I have read is true it amounts to theft. I would sack employees for such blatant and systematic misappropriation of money from a business.

What is more disappointing is the double standards being applied. One person’s dishonesty is another person’s oversight. These matters ought to be black and white. The wriggling over the last couple of weeks on some claims and the support from within especially the Coalition parties is shameful.

The only solution is for oversight of politician expenses and salaries to be handed to a commission of everyday Australians outside the control of politicians.

The way the stories are coming out, in a tit for tat game, indicates that each party knows what people on the other side have been up to and that the disclosures are being fed for political purposes.

Shame on the media in Australia for not uncovering this story sooner and for not relentlessly pursuing all politicians with the same vigor. News Corp. stands out for its double standards most recently given their pursuit of Peter Slipper.

The same politicians who are claiming travel expenses to go to weddings, buy a home, attend an AFL game or for other dubious reasons set policies that affect us and our small family businesses. They tell us there are not enough funds to more effectively support small business. They tell us that they have to increase this charge or cut that service because money is tight. Yet they vote themselves pay increases every year and too many of them rort travel and other expenses in acts of utter dishonesty.

What does this have to do with newsagents? We have been let down by politicians for decades. They have fed excuses to us for too long and those representing newsagents have, in the main, accepted the excuses. All the while the politicians have looked after themselves. We have every right to feel let down. They have not served the Australian voters or the national interest ahead of serving themselves.

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Ethics

Great poster for hiring staff

I love the poster I saw in the window of a Grill’d hamburger outlet recently. It perfectly connects with the type of businesses Grill’d is. This poster is promoting the business as well as inviting applications for work.

I love how this is a local pitch even though Grill’d is a chain. I also love the approach and am likely to copy it.

Click on the image for a larger version.

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Hiring employees

Offending newsagency shoppers

Several customers have complained several times about the Spirit humour cards we have at one of my newsagencies. One makes a scene when they complain. Excellent sales t sales tell me that many customers are happy we have the range. While I don’t like offending customers I don’t see it as my job to shield people from everyday languages and images.

We listen to the complaint, thank them for their concern and explain that ours is a shop for a broad cross-section of people. While most accept this and appreciate us listening to them, there is this one customer I expect to see out the front one day with a protest sign.

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Customer Service

Zombie head decanter now the Halloween centrepiece

Okay so we sold the coffin centrepiece of our Halloween display in a couple of days so the Zombie head decanter has taken prime positioning. Damn! We’re thrilled.

The Zombie head decanter is part of a zombie range he have sourced to help us reach a broader audience with Halloween. It’s working a treat. Halloween sales are up on last year despite a bigger push from majors in our shopping centre.

Halloween is an excellent example of a traffic-generating opportunity for newsagents acting as retailers. Do Halloween right and you get excellent word of mouth and this drives valuable new traffic.  Halloween traffic converts to Christmas traffic.

A modest spend of $500 on Halloween product can return $1,100 and more in direct sales and another $300 to $500 in additional product sales in a few weeks.

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newsagency marketing

New Take 5 title from Bauer

We were chasing extra space with weeklies yesterday for a Take 5 brand extension from Bauer. Take 5 Crime & Puzzles looks British in terms of content and style. I am sure I have seen several titles like this in UK newsagencies. We have Take 5 Crime & Puzzles placed with Take 5 abut nowhere else as it fits best in this real life positioning.

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magazines

Better Homes & Gardens with newspapers

We have the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens between our two top selling newspapers – as we do with every issue of this title. This is what I recommend to all newsagents. Put BHG here plus in the usual location and a pocket with weeklies and you’ll grow sales.

The cost of the additional placements is minimal since you can claw it back by more efficiently displaying other product. the benefit is a bankable increase in BHG sales.

We run the additional for the first week and then assess how the issue is tracking before deciding on changes.

if you want to grow BHG sales you’re try this additional placement.

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magazines

Skylanders opportunity for newsagents

I urge newsagents to seek out the new Skylanders title which arrived in-store this morning and get in in a place where kids will notice it. Skylanders is a mega hit video game brand with kids. Wikipedia has good background.

If you are not sure of the interest, consider this. Skylanders generated US$1.5billion in sales over two years to mid 2013 according to The Economist.

This brand is an excellent business opportunity.

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Gifts

News Corp. security breach a case for not centralising newspaper home delivery data?

The admission by News Corp Australia today that a vulnerability had been discovered in its subscriber data systems is a reminder of the risk of centrally managed data banks.

For decades newsagents held subscriber data at the local business level and it is only in recent years that the newspaper publishers have sought to centralise this. While there were significant benefits for News, at the time of centralisation there was considerable concern by newsagents and some of their customers about the risk of unauthorised access to the data.

I recall one newsagent lost newspaper home delivery customers because of the centralisation of their data. One customer, a barrister, said they trusted the newsagent and their systems more than they trusted a publisher.

Today’s announcement by News could serve as vindication of concerns expressed at the time even though this breach relates to newsletter subscriber details.

Any company holding customer data needs to take the security of the data seriously. The greater the centralisation of data the greater the risk and the more valuable the reward for those who trade in data.

For a more complete report on what happened check out the report published by The Age.

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Ethics

Wingecarribee Shire Council crows about saving a trip to the newsagent

The must love small businesses and their contribution to the community at the Wingecarribee Shire Council … not. In announcing the availability of digital editions of magazines at the local library as part of their eMagazine strategy, the council press release included this line:

No longer do they have to make the trip to the newsagent to get some of the most popular international issues.

It’s clumsy, insensitive and ignorant. Councils should be the last organisations taking steps to reduce foot traffic for small businesses in their areas.

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magazines

Act now to promote 2015 diaries

Now is the time to include a reminder on a September or October page in the 2014 diaries on your shop floor telling shoppers to collect their next diary from you. This subtle reminder can generate excellent traffic for you. The small stickers are cheap to produce and only takes a few minutes to put in place – and they don’t damage the 2014 diary. Put the sticker on a weekend day.

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Diaries
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