The Independent newspaper to close
UK newspaper The Independent is to close. While I am not in the UK often, The Independent is one of the newspapers I like to read is its reporting is reporting rather than the silliness and sermons from News International titles and the nonsense in some other UK newspapers.
Without sales, a print newspaper cannot sustain its advertising rates. In Australia, I think News and Fairfax are staring at each other, waiting for someone to blink.
GNS addresses Collins Financial Year diary challenge
GNS has issued a statement to newsagents about challenges around the supply of Collins financial year diaries. I share it here with the permission of the business and because on an ANF forum there has been comment on this issue that does not reflect the facts as they are known. Here is the GNS statement.
GNS have been promoting and supporting the Collins Debden range within the Newsagents channel for over 20 years.
Under new management, Collins Debden presented GNS with price increases for Financial Year Diaries for FY16/17 that were well above and beyond what we considered as justifiable, based on cost comparisons for the same products last year.
GNS held several discussions with Collins Debden in the interests of our shared customers, being Newsagents, to minimise the impact of the proposed increases. This did not eventuate and as a result GNS has decided not to range the Collins Debden Financial Year diaries for FY16/17. The price increase impact was both unsubstantiated and well over market influencers such as the devaluation of the A$.
GNS has sourced alternative product to offer our customers at competitive prices, high quality, healthy retail margins and sales offers to Newsagents that will minimise risk in this product category. GNS will be issuing these offers shortly.
GNS is an easy head to kick for newsagents. Plenty of head kicking is ill-informed in my view. The company is more transparent and accessible than ever. I have found that asking a question elicits a frank answer on any issue. This is better in my view than ignorant bashing as if it is a fun sport.
Who is to blame for long-term employee theft in a newsagency?
A Current Affair ran a story about employee theft in a Queensland newsagency this week claiming the owner lost the Nextra Caloundra business as a result of theft of $36,000 over two years.
The reports indicating theft used in the ACA report are from the newsagency software from Tower Systems, the software company I own. When theft was suspected the COO of the company undertook a free theft check at the request of the owner of the newsagency and provided the evidence subsequently used by the police.
The ACA story frustrates me for a new reasons.
- Long term employee theft is avoidable. The newsagent and the majority in Australia have access to evidence of possible employee fraud. Detecting it is easy yet most newsagents think it will not happen to them – not matter how many times they are told it could easily happen to them. Had this newsagent followed the advice provided to them by Tower through contistent communication on theft they could have detected it after the week it began.
- Did $36,000 stole over two years really kill the business? I struggle to accept this as it is not a large sum of money. Further, for it to be the reason of the loss of the business the loss of the cash should have been discovered sooner. I’d more readily accept that the experience caused the owner to get out as the psychological impact of this type of theft is considerable.
- The report says the employee did not receive a pay rise for most of the time they worked in the business. If this is true it is illegal. The ACA report did not adequately address this as in doing so left questions about the quality of the reporting.
In all my work with newsagents: individually helping businesses, through this blog, with Tower Systems and with newsXpress, theft is a common topic. Theft in a newsagency by an employee ought to surprise no newsagent I am in contact with. yet it does … because too many newsagents choose to ignore it. This is why I wonder: Who is to blame for long-term employee theft in a newsagency?
In this case from ACA, I think the newsagent is to blame for the extent of the theft. Their management approach allowed the theft to go on far longer than should have been the case.
We, each of us, need to own our own situation. This is why the newsagent in the story ought to say they are to blame for how long this went on and the cost to the business. Taking such a stand would be more helpful to small business retailers seeing the story.
One of the worst cases of employee theft I saw was in a newsagency where an employee stole more than $250,000 in case over almost three years. The theft went on almost a year longer than it should as the newsagent said my advice they were being stolen from could not be right as it could only be one person and they would never steal from the business. Almost a year later they realised they were stupid to make such an assumption and ignore the evidence they were provided.
Yes, this stuff frustrates me because all the advice, all the training, all the warnings are too often ignored … and then when it happens, the their is the only person responsible.
newsXpress offers its member newsagents training and resources for confronting employee theft. I hope this is something all the newsagency marketing groups do. One of the theft mitigation resources from newsXpress is documented advice accompanying a store Theft Policy document.
As a courtesy to all newsagents, click here to download a copy of the latest version of the newsXpress theft advice that was first published years ago. This advice is part of a set of more than 100 business management advice documents provided to newsXpress members as part of their management assistance and training. I mention this to reflect that the approach to employee theft is part of a whole of business approach.
A few months ago I tried to take a different approach to warn about theft. In the studio at Tower Systems I and the video production team created this video. I share it here in the hope it makes a point:
Inadequate Wendy Harmer program on ABC 702 on newsagents
The ABC fact checker ought to listen to the ABC 702 program discussion earlier this week on newsagents. The first problem is the claim there were 7,000 newsagents 10 years ago. This was never the case. 10 years ago, the number was around 4,500. Today, that number is 3,000.
It would have been good for more thorough research to have been done on this prior to the discussion.
The discussion abut the challenges was equally frustrating. While the decline in print is a factor, so is the expanded reach by supermarkets, the ever increasing lease costs, online and the blurring of what specialty retail is. Today, chemists sell what many newsagents sold. To balance, many of us newsagents sell what other retail channels sold.
They talked about magazines toward the end of the discussion saying, shock horror, that between 40% and 50% of magazines sent to us are unsold. Seriously? The number is higher for most titles. There was no real comment on this when it ought to be a headline.
There appeared to be little interest in talking about positive stories and what many of us are doing to build strong businesses. There appeared to be a preference to talk it down.
The only upside was the discussion was that abut branding and the failure of the shingle newsagent to be relevant.
I know plenty of newsagents achieving double digit growth.
On the comments about the problems coming when supermarkets get lotteries, this need not be the case. Newsagents should run their businesses as if they do not have lotteries as that will focus the owners on gross profit. there is no upside in lotteries. There ought to be no surprise when supermarkets do get lotteries.
Smart newsagents have a good future in their businesses if they embrace change. Here is a video I shot recently for newsXpress. I post it here as it speaks to growth opportunities available to every newsagent. It is a good news story about one very specific business – based on their most recent benchmark results.
While our newsagent associations run awards and promote those they say are the best of the best, there are newsagents out there who do not ever the awards and, instead, reap the most important rewards for themselves by being smart and embracing change.
Cutting up the Valentine’s Day poster for impact in the newsagency
I love the handiwork of Chris at one of my businesses. He cut hearts out of the corner of two of the A1 valentine’s day posters, bringing them alive in a way beyond the poster artwork. The result is porters that come alive. You could almost say they tell a story.
The hearts are tumbling into the products we are selling – the cards, plush, chocolates and gifts.
While two posters hanging above the Valentine’s Day display would be good, especially these posters with the simple Loving You message, Chris’ creative efforts have resulted in something far more effective, far more noticeable.
This is a good example of taking merchandising material provided to the business and making it better – as well as making it unique to that business. For a season like Valentine’s Day that involves many retailers, being different is important. It gets you noticed above all the noise and remembered.
I have seen people see the posters while walking past the shop and post them out to someone they are walking with. That is a bankable result as far as I am concerned. These front of store displays are all about getting people noticing you as they walk through the mall as people shopping with you who would not usually shop with you are where revenue increases come from.
The other aspect of what Chris has done that I love is the symmetry of the display. This enhances the impact.
The best way to not have an average Valentine’s Day season in your retail newsagency is to not be average in your approach. No supplier will help you not be average as they have many retailers they serve. Being not average has to come from within your business.
The clarity of good headline
I read The Huffington Post every day. i appreciate the diverse opinions published. I trust their reporting. I also like the clarity of its headlines – not obscured by advertising. I especially like this headline from today:
Note: I tend to read the US edition. There in also an Australian edition.
Update from Network Services for newsagents on business closure
Click here for an update from network Services in transition plans for the closure of their business. Click here for a FAQ document. I am sharing these documents with the permission of the company – to facilitate wide release to newsagents.
If you sell Darrell Lea in your newsagency
Darrell Lea has a national TV commercial running to boost brand awareness, specially for liquorice products. The TVC promotes the packaging shoppers will see in-store.
If you stock Darrell Lea, now is the time to refresh your pitch, to leverage the TV ad spend by the company. While the TVC ought to raise awareness, this will not help you unless you act. How valuable the TVC is for your business is 100% up to you – based on what you do.
The ad does not pitch any retail channel, which is good in my view.
So, how can you leverage the Darrell Lea TV commercial for your business? Here are my suggestions … and I say this as a retailer who does to stock Darrell Lea, who has no relationship with the company:
- Make sure your product display is fresh with best-practice colour blocking and located in a high traffic location in-store.
- Make sure your display is branded Darrell Lea.
- Have a secondary pitch at the counter.
- Offer taste testing. be sure to follow health requirements.
- Promote on Facebook over a series of posts. Talk about the favours. Talk about Aussie made. Be passionate.
- Promote flavours by email to your customers.
- Host a tasting event to re-launch all the favours to your customers.
- Offer a buyers reward for loyalty. for example, if they buy four packs they could get one for free. How many times do you sell four packs at once? rarely probably.
While supermarkets, petrol outlets and others have Darrell Lea product, they are likely to be lazy retailers, doing little to actively engage with the product and the latest television commercial. This is your opportunity to separate your business from theirs.
If you do engage using any or all of the ideas I have suggested you can pitch your business differently, you can position your business as the Darrell lea expert.
if you do engage, let the company know. make sure they understand the value of having you as a retail partner.
I feel for British newsagents and cost of newspaper competition
How are you supposed to make money from a newspaper with a cover price of 50p? making retailers carry a cost for a fight between two publishers is appalling. I suspect I would not carry this title. Based on Australian commission for a 50p cover price I’d make $0.125 a copy. Nuts!
Also, Check out the cheeky claim re The Daily Mail.
Leveraging licences for Valentine’s Day card sales in the newsagency
I love this Darth Vader Valentine’s Day card as it helps is make a considerably broader appeal for the season. Too many Valentine’s Day cards from all companies are sugary sweet. This one stands out not only for the Darth Vader image but for how it has been produced. It looks terrific in the card fixture but even better when stand-alone at the counter or on social media. I especially like that the card is 100% image – i.e. no words. I also like that the rose reached out from the card and can be removed as a memento.
So, this card is our feature card for the 2016 Valentine’s Day season as we seek to appeal beyond the traditional Valentine’s Day shopper.
With many other Star Wars and Darth Vader products in-store right now, the card is an excellent opportunity for non-traditional Valentine’s Day gifts as well.
We have to look at major seasons in a non-traditional way, to make the most possible from the opportunities. This is how we attract more than the usual newsagency shopper, it is how we grow our newsagency businesses.
Too often we either put product out or let suppliers put product out for a major season without thinking about special interest or niche interest opportunities we have with products. That is what I love about this card, the niche appeal. It presents us with an excellent opportunity our major card competitors – supermarkets, department stores and discount variety stores – will not embrace. This card is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the value we bring through our specialisation.
Promoting the new Dr Who partwork
We are promoting the new Dr Who partwork with an aisle end display, near our other Dr Who and pop culture product. With plenty of licenced products available it is easy for newsagents to leverage this opportunity way beyond magazine margin.
We are also engaging on social media to attract people who may not think of us as where to purchase this and other Dr Who products.
This is a partwork to embrace in my view.
Remembering David Bowie in the newsagency
We have given prime position to the music magazines remembering David Bowie. We have also been using social media to let people around know that we have these magazines as his passing is an opportunity for a real fan to collect a special edition of a memorial feature for future reference.
The purpose of the social media engagement is to reinforce the relevance of our small local business when it comes to stories like this. I see it as if we are in a battle for relevance with other magazine outlets. Embracing opportunities around major news events provides us with an opportunity to show our point of difference. In this instance, it is in range of titles we carry. Coles only has one of the titles we have. Our social media engagement reminds people of our range.
For reference, I targeted the post broadly around the area and spent $5 on a 24 hour boost. I did this to pitch to more than people who already know about us.
Why did News Corp. cut newspaper supply to small business newsagents?
Why did News Corp. allocations experts cut the supply of newspapers on the launch day of the Dr Seuss national promotion being run by the company to increase the sale of newspapers?
The cynic in me wonders if this is to do with shifting traffic from newsagents to supermarkets.
I heard from several newsagents yesterday about cuts to their supply. Some were cut to a lower supply than their average net sales over recent weeks. There is no evidence in sales data for the cost, hence the cynical wonder.
The Dr Seuss promotion is excellent: timely and popular. Right now is when supply ought to be boosted rather than cut – especially in newsagencies where engagement is far more professional and whole of business.
Footnote: it is usually after I publish a post like this that I get a call or an email along the lines of – I don’t read your blog but someone told me to look at this blah blah blah. The thing is, I know publishers read the blog. Who cares? What matters is that what I have written has happened. It is real. No, I will not tell you the names of the newsagents. Go to your ‘smart’ allocations people and ask for a list of all newsagents for whom they cut supply yesterday and this week, ask them why.
Sunday newsagency challenge: compare suppliers
Use your newsagency software to compare suppliers that compete in a department or category. Do this based on brand even if all are through one wholesales, like pens.
Compare the performance of Artline, Pilot, Bic and Uniball, see which provides the better stock turn, return on space and ROI.
Compare your suppliers and focus more on those that perform better for you.
Your data is more important to your business that data from your suppliers about what they have sold to you.
Sunday newsagency management tip: product knowledge drives Pilot Frixion sales
The Pilot Friction pen range offers more than the TV commercial pitches. If art or writing done with a Friction pen is left in the sun it fades. Place it in the freezer and it comes back. This is a ‘magic’ pen kids will love. Ensure all team members knows what the pen can do – and sell more. We sold 20 to one customer as a result of product knowledge.
The Pilot website has more information on this product.
My tip today is tossed out product knowledge from sales reps, the supplier website and online forms – and ensure your team members have this knowledge so they can professionally engage with shoppers on the shop floor.