The no physical returns project commenced early this year by Gotch is proving to be successful among plenty of the newsagents who have been carefully selected by Gotch to participate.
Once newsagents have enjoyed no physical returns, they will work hard to ensure they meet the criteria for this to continue.
The project also focusses attention at Gotch and publisher businesses to supply closer to anticipates sales as there will be no stock for them to repurpose.
Kudos to everyone involved in getting the project this far.
I urge newsagents not involved in this project so far to ensure they manage their data well, so they can be considered. Gotch looks at your compliance as measured by XchangeIT. To measure well you need to accurately receive electronic invoices, scan all returns, provide sales data electronically and not purchase top-up stock elsewhere if you are short supplied.
The hurdle is relatively low. Every newsagent should be able to meet the requirements.
A by-product of meeting the requirements is knowing more about magazines and having the ability to leverage this knowledge to save time managing magazines and, yes, improving sales of magazines.
While there is plenty more to do on the magazine front, this project is some good news for newsagents and their engagement with magazines.
In writing about this I understand I am opening the topic up for criticism by some who are not part of the trial. If that is you I encourage you to drive compliance in your business. Your software company can look at your data and provide advice and help. Others reading this will say why bother doing anything for magazines? To them I say many newsagents do care. Let them care, let them leverage what they see as an important product category. Sure have the blues yourself, and keep them to yourself. This post is good news.
Its great the only down fall is I need to hold stock I return for 2 business days after I send in the return form, as we can only submit one return form per week there’s a lot of stock held out the back. Be nice if we can get rid of that problem. I know I can get rid of the bulk by topping the mags but that comes at a cost.
overstock by over 50% . GG you are bad!
Being part of this program has freed up time and saved in costs. Agree with Shane but the benefits outweigh the downsides.
As a small rural newsagent with an elderly population magazines (and newspapers) still do matter despite other changes we have made to stay profitable.
Not good enough.
Not selective when it comes to supermarkets,theyve had no physical returns for years.
Because I dont do xchangit ,yet have been doing honest accurate returns for over a decade,I will still be paying $5 a box every week to return the mountains of sh%* I get lumped with continually ,even when G&G have all the return data to know exactly what I will and will not stock and the numbers I need of the mags I do stock.
Like I said not good enough !
Am I stupid or thick ? Why is anyone not using XchangeIt.
The process is a doddle. Return every week and physicals are not more than one box of titles plus a few full returns.
Only been a newsagent for 4 years, clearly I have much to learn.
Pat use XchangeIT. save time. Improve data accuracy. That said, XchangeIT should be free to newsagents. It should not be a cost given the meagre margin on magazines.
If publishers used XchangeIT would over-supply still occur?
You are right Mark – the no physical returns project is a winner. I encourage all Newsgents to seek to improve their processes and get on board. And so too should we encourage IPS to follow G&G’s lead and join in as the other main Magazine distributor!!
Maybe Im stupid or thick .The process you describe Colin is the same as mine ,minus exchangit.
My gripe is having to pay for that box to be returned when its near 90% early returns.While the supermarket across the road does not have send physical returns and hasnt done for years ,would be interesting to know how much better their allocation is handled at the G&G end aswell
You are correct Pat Newsagents have been treated like second class citizens by Gotch and previously Network.
Clearly there are 2 sets of rules one for Newsagents and one for supermarkets.
Australian Family Tree Connections ,short answer is no. However Gotch have oversupplied since the dawn of time. This results in newsagents having to “clean out” their magazines every month just so they can pay their Gotch account.
The over supply by Gotch impacts publishers by newsagents having to early return magazines for their magazine department to be profitable
Early returning is a cashflow benefit. Returning excess stock of major titles has negligible profit effect. Early returning niche titles can result in less profits if sales are lost. I have to juggle my 600 pockets and it irks when I sometimes get it wrong and get asked for returned title.
Mark R, thank you, good to know that publishers using XchangeIT would prevent over-supply.
Now curious to know why publishers were excluded from XchangeIT?
Because the truth would hurt.
Mark is correct in that xchangit should be free to all newsagents.
When it was first mooted many eons ago, it was supposed to be free to newsagents.
Good on the ANF / ALNA for supporting an extra cost on us – I think not
John, I remember Mark saying he thought it was a good thing bit that it SHOULD be free. I particularly remember it because I’ve always thought, and still think it is a madness to go to a third party to an invoice you are entitled as a matter of course.
Mark, in your original remarks you say,
“The project also focusses attention at Gotch and publisher businesses to supply closer to anticipates sales as there will be no stock for them to repurpose.”
Later on in response to Family Tree you say,
“Gotch have oversupplied since the dawn of time.”
Given that XchangeIt have promised, as a sales pitch, to eliminate oversupply since it was created;
and given that Gordon and Gotch and the major publishers have said that,
“They [the distributors] are remunerated by the number of copies distributed (or redistributed), they have a
commercial incentive to act for as many publishers as they can and to fully distribute
(and to some extent redistribute) all product as supplied by those publishers.”;
and given that Gordon and Gotch and major publishers admit that newsagents having to pay upfront, places a heavy burden on their cash flow and that burden is an increase in Gordon and Gotch’s cash flow;
and given that Gordon and Gotch consider 45% of what they supply is acceptable (about 82% of the number sold);
after all these decades of promises do you really believe that there will ever be a time when there will be no stock to repurpose?
Do you think that GG’s parent company or shareholders would tolerate them not milking the model for all they can?
Henry I did not m make the Dawn of time comment, Mark R did.
I don’t think Gotch is milking it. The PMP financials suggest it is not making a reasonable return.
There is no up-side in magazines. Unless the newsagent compensation model changes dramatically, newsagents will continue to reduce space and that will speed up what is happening naturally.
The distributors have been told. The publishers have been told. It is almost too late for them to listen now.
I would think it is past too late for them now. I’ve now got less than a third of the magazine displays that I had when I bought this place 7 years ago and don’t really think I’ve lost anything as a result except for having an easier to manage (and keep on top of) magazine department. Mag sales are declining and we know that the supermarkets aren’t interested in stocking 90% of the titles and certainly don’t have them forced on them like we do so if we aren’t here to sell them who is ? No one simply and the magazine sales decline self perpetuates itself gathering more pace all the time.
We have focused on special interest magazines like model trains ect anything which the major supermarket chains don’t stock.
At the same time we have reduced our magazine dept floor space ,yes we can’t display full face all the time, but we do get lots of comments from new customers seeking out a particular title
Colin, Malvern SA #14
You wrote: “Because the truth would hurt.”
My response: It’s also said that “the truth will set you free.”
It’s odd that 3 separate entities are involved in retailing magazines in Australia, yet only 2 of those entities are given access to the software used to track supply and sales.
Why is it so? How was that decision made and why?
Agree with Paul S, the decline is more and more noticeable with every return I do.
Could easily cut back to weeklies only and in a business sense it wouldnt impact at all.
However as a small business in a small town I still have to ,and am expected to , provide a public service.
I guess G&G can still bank on that one for a little while (he says as he is about to get on and submit 80% of todays delivery for early return )
All,
My only comment on this is very simple.
G&G when will Distribution only be involved? Sure we don’t comply with parts of XIT rules for this, but everyone knows it’s about the nature of the business, not non compliance.
Mags are well past the point of no return.
Gotch and Bauer are sole contributors to newsagents rightfully disengaging in magazines.
Our Gotch bill this month was $3,000 more than our mag takings. There were contributing factors such as some football cards and we kept more than usual on the shelf due to mothers day being normally a good week in mag sales but this is still unacceptable.
It is only a matter of time before the distribution of mags by Gotch to newsagents is unviable. It might be that the top 200 titles are distributed by Gotch (or the publishers) to coles/woolworths distribution centres then redistributed through there to stores.
That leaves the smaller publishers distributing from their car boot to newsagencies. It would be a good time NOW, before it is too late, for smaller publishers to find another distribution method, and PLEASE do not make that IPS.
All,
Until, IPS respect’s Newsagents with an early returns system, if you’re a publisher using IPS you’re losing sales.
We have a strict policy of no mag will sit on a Subagents shelf for move than 4 weeks.
Because of IPS returns policy we refuse to accept any mag not on our approved list.
John
The interesting thing about the TPG bid for the cream of Fairfax’s assets is you never here a thing about who gets IPS in the expected divide. It’s an orphan that nobody wants, its like it doesn’t exist, which I expect will be the case if the TPG bid and dismemberment of Fairfax succeeds.