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

Month: January 2018

Why you need more than one Valentine’s Day display

Look at the store of any major retailer during a season and you will see multiple pitches for the season, no matter how small the store is.

Even in a store of 100 sq metres you will see a key season pitched in at least three locations. I have seen this in gift shops, card shops and similar.

Each placement is visually connected to the other, but different, an advancement even.

This is on my mind today as I have been talking with a newsagent who says seasonal sales are declining in their business. They do one display per season. While it is is in a good location and looks good it is only one display, there is only one opportunity for people to connect.

By having at least three displays, you reinforce the message, hopefully getting through.

It starts with a bold, signature, statement at the entrance.

This is followed by a secondary display behind, usually at a key traffic destination.

This is followed by a third display placement, at or near the counter, where you can impulse pitch.

We should be growing seasonal sales, not only in cards but gifts too. To achieve this, we have to match and better our competitors. This is why I say for this Valentine’s Day, take a look at your pro motion points in-store. Make your you have at least three, they they connect and that they give you excellent opportunities to pitch to shoppers.

It is easy to look at the declining sales for a season or a promotion and blame the economy, suppliers or other factors. The reality is, it is on us as the retailer. We are responsible for the success or otherwise. It is on us.

Valentine’s Day 2018 is a good opportunity to start. Take a look at what you have done and see how it can be improved for greater success. Ensure all team members are on board. Then, make a similar, layered, pitch on social media.

Know last year’s numbers, so you know what you have to beat this year. Involve all team members in this, in the actual number you are out to beat. Everyone in the business should be invested in achieving this.

For me, multiple displays is a key factor for success and changing the displays as the season unfolds is also important. Multiple displays combat store blindness, which is common among newsagency shoppers.

Oh, and take note, people don’t often look up. In fact, there are plenty who do not even look straight ahead.

A single display does not cut it anymore.

For context, here is how my high street newsagency promoted the recent jigsaw offer fro outside the shop to behind the counter to the counter to inside the front door. It could not be missed, and it worked a treat.

16 likes
Newsagency management

How we pitch Australia Day is challenging

All of us in business want to connect with major holidays, for business and for community connection. It is challenging with holidays meaning different things to different people.

Australia Day is challenging as we learn more of what happened on that day, especially that is marked the start of the systematic reduction of the 700,000 aboriginal population down to 70,000.

Without wanting to enter the politics of change the date, through my newsXpress business and my POS software business we sought to recognise the day in two different ways, away from the usual green and gold and barbie approach.

The reaction to each was terrific. We received some wonderful feedback.

I have written this post in the context of earlier posts about the need for us to evolve how we pitch our businesses. This involves us playing beyond the traditional, giving people other reasons to consider us.

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marketing

Newsagents need to be prepared for the day daily newspapers close print editions

Regardless of the spin from newspaper publishers, we are approaching the day when capital city and major regional daily newspapers will cease to be published daily.

As the largest single channel retailing print newspapers in Australia, small business newsagents need to be prepared for this, we need to ensure, today, that our businesses can sustain such a move.

This will happen. Daily newspapers will close. The decline in sales is driving it. The decline in advertising revenue makes it unavoidable.

The print model for news has run its race. The costs of printing the product and distributing it to shops and homes is too high.

I appreciate plenty in the newsagency channel will disagree with me or will hope I am wrong. The thing is, there is now downside in business planning on the basis of me being right. This business planning would / should focus on making the business attractive for people who do not visit today and on how to attract those people to the business.

New business and new traffic are key to success in 2018 as fewer people will walk through your front door for traditional newsagency products. So, we need non traditional newsagency products, promoted outside the business, to attract new shoppers.

Acting now, hopefully, long before now, gives you the best opportunity for successful trading through what I think will be a very disruptive couple of years, far more disruptive than the last ten years combined. In disruption we can find opportunity.

However, my call is that you do not wait for a daily newspaper to close. Act now. Rely less, today, on newspaper traffic.

Acting now looks like this:

  1. Placing newspapers in a lower cost location, away from the entrance and high value real-estate.
  2. Sourcing new product categories that you do not carry today.
  3. Pitching the new categories in marketing outside the business.
  4. Getting the business known as a destination for multiple sought-after categories in your area, categories people would drive at least an hour to shop and purchase.
  5. Spending less time on what is declining and more time on what could be.
  6. Doing everything possible to ensure your business does not look traditional.

I appreciate that no one involved with the newsagency channel wants newspapers to close. However, it will happen. The test is whether you have, by then, created a business that will flourish without daily newspaper traffic.

21 likes
Media disruption

Using social media to reach new customers

POS software can be pretty boring, especially to small business retailers who are passionate about their family and about their specific type of business.

The marketing folks at my newsagency software company, which also develops and sell software for other specialty retail channels, create social media posts to reach out to retailers who might not look at a traditional POS software ad.

I share some of the images here as inspiration as they reflect ways to change how a traditional business might be considered.

There are many tools available today that enable businesses to create visual messages like these. While it takes creativity to come up with the ideas, execution is easier than ever.

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marketing

Humanise your business with shopper photos

More and more retailers use using photos of shoppers in-store to personalise their businesses. Toms (see photo) is one example. This is something we can do in newsagencies, especially regional / rural newsagencies.

The photos could be of events, customers with purchases, charity engagement, competition winners, local happenings or photos people have brought in that are somehow relevant to the business.

Over the course of a week in the US recently I saw at least fifteen stores with shopper photos like those I have included with this post. I was drawn to look at the photos as were others ion the stores.

I have seen photo walls placed in high profile locations as well as dead space locations. The where can be stored out. Starting somewhere is smart.

A photo wall shows your business as supportive and engaged beyond simply trying to sell stuff. I think there are enough who would appreciate this to make it work the try.

11 likes
Newsagency management

Visiting an Amazon shop for magazines

I am grateful for the opportunity to visit two Amazon shops in the US a couple of weeks ago, one in New York and one in Los Angeles. While I will have more to say about the shops and shopping experience at my newsagency workshops soon, I want to share today what I saw in relation to magazines.

The layout is not that different to what you see elsewhere:

It on a closer look that where you can see the online pitch. The stores exist primarily to facilitate online sales, rather than the other way around.

On the shelves are these signs, too.

This is how they approach the rest of the business. Simple, easily understood messaging. Like everything Amazon does, their approach to magazines is data driven. Their mix of titles is determined by online sales data, in the area surrounding the store. Their size gives them considerable power in their dealings with suppliers.

What Amazon is doing throughout their retail businesses is disruptive in several categories, including magazines. We are yet to see anything like this hit Australia.

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magazines

Small business newsagents help parents contain back to school costs

Small business newsagents are doing an excellent job serving local families and schools with access to an excellent range of stationery and other supplies at competitive prices for the 2018 back to School season.

Watching TV and reading the newspapers you would not know this as the mainstream media are focussed on big business stories about Back to School as well as stories about this year being more expensive than last – although the actual evidence of this is scant.

Local newsagency businesses give parents the best opportunity to save money and to support their local school community.

While big businesses spend a ton of money advertising they are cheaper, small business newsagents work hard to be competitive, they deliver.

Being competitive is not just about price, it is also about practical support for local schools and families. This support often comes in the form of practical assistance, prizes for competitions and other support. This and other support is often done without self promotion, without beating the chest like we see big businesses do so regularly in the media.

Sure, the percentage of Back to School won by small business newsagents is less years ago, it remains an important part of business for plenty of newsagents and an important service for local communities, especially in rural and regional Australia.

Local schools and parents of kids in schools need to support their local small business newsagencies if they expect to knock on their door looking for support for the school during the year. Custom today is what makes it possible to provide support tomorrow.

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Newsagency management

Every newsagent needs to be across Gotch product code change

Here is the text of an email from XchangeIT to newsagents yesterday.

Dear Newsagent

From 13th February 2018 you will be receiving DD2s/Files from Gotch, via XchangeIT, that contain their new 10-digit Product Code format (an update from their old 5-digit codes because they are running out of numbers).

To make this change possible, your POS provider has been contacted and they are developing processes to implement the new 10-digit Product Codes and update the product inventory in your POS.

On or before 13th February, please look out for any instructions from your POS provider.

NOTE: If you are not on support with your POS Provider you may have to manually update each Product Code from 5 to 10 digits across all Gotch products.

Between now and approximately 5th February, your POS provider will be preparing for the change, as will XchangeIT and Gotch. We will update you on approximately 29th January as to progress.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please call us on 1300 551 212.

Best regards,

The XchangeIT Team

All the Gotch products codes are remaining the same except they are adding 10000 to the start. The change has been in the works for several months with software companies involved in the discussions.

The change means that products arriving with the new codes will have to be matched to the old code. Engaged software companies will make this easy for customers with the latest software.

All returns data going back after February 13 will need to use the new product codes. Otherwise, returns will be rejected.

The change has come about because of the expansion of the Gotch portfolio moving Network titles in and the introduction of giftware.

Newsagents cannot ignore what is happening here. It is essential that every newsagent is on top of this, following exactly the advice of their software company. If this is not done, credits could be lost.

14 likes
magazine distribution

Inspiring retail outpost

The kikki.K outpost in the Qantas terminal at Sydney Airport is terrific, a best-practice example of an outpost.

The outpost uses a small footprint but displays a considerable range of stock and even offers a personalisation service. It is easily shopped and laid out for fast selection, which is important in an outpost situation.

If you are thinking of doing and outpost and are in Sydney, check it out.

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Newsagency opportunities

Free workshop: Ideas for transforming your newsagency in 2018

Ideas for transforming your newsagency in 2018.

A free management workshop for newsagents.

newsXpress invites newsagents from across Australia to free management workshops. We also offer to fund air travel for newsagents to ensure easy access to this important event.

Hear how newsagents are transforming their businesses, finding new customers, enjoying a new lease on life. We will share case studies from city and country newsagencies.

  1. See new, exclusive, product that is attracting new shoppers, product you have never seen at a gift fair or trade show before.
  2. See greeting cards not available in any other newsagency, greeting cards that appeal to shoppers beyond the usual caption range in Australia.
  3. See the evidence of success of the newsXpress multi-site web strategy that is driving online as well as in-store sales. We will share the latest sales data.
  4. See the newsXpress P&L – demonstrating transparency.

Here are the only dates in this series. Please tick your selection.

  • ADELAIDE: 5th Feb, 10am @ Rydges South Park, 1 South Terrace SA 5000
  • SYDNEY: 6th Feb, 10am @ Hilton Sydney, 448 George St Sydney NSW 2000
  • BRISBANE: 7th Feb, 10am @ Brisbane Riverview Hotel, Kingsford Smith Dr,
  • PERTH: 8th Feb, 10am @ Parmelia Hilton Perth, 14 Miller St Perth WA 6000
  • MELBOURNE: 9th Feb, 10am @ Grace Park Hawthorn Club, 6 Hilda Crescent

I am posting this here as I am a director of newsXpress and will be hosting each workshop.

Book by emailing help@newsxpress.com.au or by using the booking form.

If you have any questions, call me – 0418 321 338.

15 likes
Newsagency management

Newsagency management tip: worry less about competitors

I appreciate frustration newsagents and other small business retailers feel when they see products they have had success with make their way into a national chain or a nearby competitor.

In many cases this comes about because the supplier needs more volume than the independent retail channel can provide. Hence the move to mass or more independents.

Most key competitors of independents attract different destination traffic.

For you to make the most of what could be a growing product category, and or licence, you need to become the destination retailer in your area. This takes more than putting product on the shop floor. It involves being the expert, promoting outside the business, hosting events and giving people to place your store top of mind when they think of the product, category or license.

The easy approach is to complain about the actions of the supplier. The better approach is to deny the supplier this consideration by being better from the outset.

Competitors will always be there. Suppliers will always need to more more stock – usually because of manufacturer pressure.

13 likes
Management tip

Toys set to be strong in 2018 for newsagents

The toy category is set to be a strong category for newsagents in 2018 with more newsagents taking it on and with more suppliers prepared to sell to our channel than in the past.

Toys today are broader in their appeal than ever before, especially bad games, which experienced double digit growth in 2017.

While a few years ago it seemed that games were in trouble because of digital disruption, they have come into their own thanks to clever invention of new products and recasting of the appeal of some traditional products, such as Monopoly.

Taking on a local toy shop competitor is possible for newsagents. It takes knowledge, focus and commitment. This is especially true if you focus on niche, special interest, opportunities.

As a guide, toy revenue could easily be equal to 50% of your greeting card revenue. I have determined this base benchmark based on data I have seen from more than fifty newsagency businesses.

If you are not in toys, consider it. The right toy product can attract new traffic across several valuable demos.

11 likes
Newsagency management

Beware the doom and gloom reporting about Facebook

News outlets and some social media commentators / consultants have been saying the sky is falling following the announcement from Facebook last week of planned changes to their news feed algorithm.

As often the case, plenty has been said about what might be. I think we are better off waiting to see what actually happens, how the algorithm changes actually play out. Once we see those facts those of us who make active, daily, use of Facebook for our businesses can adjust accordingly.

Facebook is a business. It’s sole focus is share price. Share price is driven, in part, by revenue. Revenue is tied back to boosted posts and advertising. Advertisers will spend money if they can make money.

While we need to wait and see, I suspect facebook will ensure it has a healthy revenue model. That benefits those of use who use the platform commercially.

In the meantime, no, the sky is not falling.

13 likes
marketing

Terrific Atlanta gift fair offers insights for independent retailers

I am grateful for the opportunity to visit the Atlanta gift fair this year. It was my fourth year at the event and the most enjoyable so far. In addition to the trade show I was able to sit in on some terrific gift related product and strategy workshops.

There was plenty of new product to see and new initiatives to consider.

This is the major trade show for gift and homewares for the year. It is held in a three tower location with each tower similar in size two the one on the photo.

Many companies have year-long booths for sales people to use. Many of these booths show products as a shopper would see them in retail.

I use the show as an opportunity its to draw inspiration in terms of product range, in-store merchandise rising and retail management practices from way beyond the opportunities for inspiration we see in Australia.

As often the case, there was talk at the trade show about the mood of small business owners. The mood is considered to be optimistic. People were open to buy. This is an advance on the same rate show a year earlier.

I have come away with several new product opportunities as well as what I think will be some good in-store initiatives. Retail competition in the US is considerably greater than in Australia. This challenges small business retailers to do better. That is where I have found good learning opportunities by being at trade shows like this.

The importance of gift retailers  is growing in our channel. It is exciting as what constitutes gift continues to evolve.

15 likes
Gifts

Some small business newsagents rely too much on accountants for business decisions

While accountants can play a valuable role in business decisions, I see and hear of situations where the accountant has too much of a say.

In one situation recently an accountant told a newsagent they should put tobacco products into their business because all newsagents have cigarettes. This was in a business the accountant’s client had recently purchased, their first and the first newsagency for the accountant.

The previous newsagent had got out of tobacco five years earlier because of falling sales. But here was this accountant telling someone new to the channel and new to retail that they should get into tobacco. They did.

That was almost a year ago. It has not gone well.

The accountant thinks the retailer failed. The retailer thinks so too. This is despite evidence in the business data showing growth elsewhere in the business, where the retailer backed their own instincts.

This is one example. There are plenty in our channel, where accountants have provided advice that is either out of date, not relevant to a transforming newsagency today or plain wrong. And there are plenty of examples where accountants have provided excellent advice to newsagents.

Some decisions are not about the numbers alone. With the extent of change we are confronting, taking a risk beyond what the numbers show will be key to success in a year or two.

It is important to remember it is your money on the line. As the business owner, you have to back yourself. Relying too much on an accountant who is not in the business, who may not have relevant knowledge about your channel, may hold you back. It could head you in an inappropriate direction.

My advice is to by all means listen too your accountant. However, have the data and knowledge to make decisions yourself, and in a timely manner, based on your own evidence. The pace and scope of change today demand this from us in business.

25 likes
Management tip

Inside the pencil factory

Pencils are a core product for Australian newsagencies. While they have travelled a significant distance from where began, they remain vital today as new generations buy them in good numbers.

With this in mind, I encourage you to take a moment to read a wonderful article, Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories.

In an era of infinite screens, the humble pencil feels revolutionarily direct: It does exactly what it does, when it does it, right in front of you. Pencils eschew digital jujitsu. They are pure analog, absolute presence. They help to rescue us from oblivion.

This article is a beautiful piece of writing about a wonderful factory where they make an item important to us for decades.

17 likes
Stationery

Suppliers promoting retailers on social media need to lift their game

The publisher of Breathe magazine promoted newsagents on social media, and Woolworths.

The post from yesterday says participating newsagents. You have to go to their website to find them.

However, on their website it is all about them selling direct to the shopper.

It is only when you scroll down to the bottom of the home page that you see the store finder link. Once you click that you enter a suburb and it them displays a map of stockists.

Once you get to the map it is terrific. They need to make this easier to find. It could be in front of people landing on their home page, without needing to scroll or even click on a link. That is what they should do if theirs is a over the counter purchase first strategy.

If the publisher strategy is that retail serves to facilitate the publisher / reader relationship then they should continue doing what they are doing.

I like to see suppliers promote stockists and do appreciate that newsagents get a mention from the folks at Breathe. However, I (selfishly, of course) want them to do it with a retailer first approach. In fact, a newsagents first approach. That approach would drive our engagement is it demonstrates respect for the us.

Re this pitch for Breathe: Woolworths is at an advantage and that is unfortunate.

21 likes
Competition

TV campaign for newsXpress

newsXpress yesterday kicked off a national TV campaign promoting jigsaws. 93% of purchases with jigsaws have only one jigsaw in the basket. The goal o the TV campaign, in-store promotion and social media engagement is to drive basket depth – in addition to making newsXpress stores destination stores for jigsaws.

Last year, jigsaw sales increased by more than 10% in Australia, off a strong base. Jigsaw shoppers are loyal.

The more newsagency businesses are promoted outside what have been traditional traditional traffic attracting offers for the channel the better.

21 likes
marketing

In 2018, make every day your payday

For several years, I have written that newsagents need to make every day their payday.

This is an important message as it focuses on the goal of driving business value. Too often, I see retailers working about, being focussed on, the wrong things, things that do not directly affect business value.

As 2018 gets under way, I am pitching this again, with revisions.

Make every day your payday.

There was a time when small business retailers could rely on selling their business for a handsome increase on the price they paid thereby providing a good pay day, when businesses sold for a good multiple of net earnings.

No more. Today, the best way to extract value from our businesses is to make every day your pay day, to not rely on your pay day being the day you sell the business. In fact, the typical newsagency today will sell for somewhere between 1.l5 and 2 times actual net profit as shown in the business P&L.

The P&L matters as this is what you need to be guided by in all business decisions and actions.

The challenge is how do you do this?

Retailers need to look at their businesses differently. This starts with the mindset of every day being your pay day. Each decision needs to be considered in this context, in the context of the P&L impact.

Focusing on profit today will give you a better result today and make your business more valuable tomorrow.

Here are some suggestions for making every day your pay day:

  1. Run with the leanest roster possible. Just about every retail business I review has capacity to lower labour costs. In a typical newsagency, one hour saved today is worth between $75.00 and $100.00 in revenue.
  2. Ensure you can sell when the business is closed. Yes, this means sell online.
  3. Promote the business outside your usual foot traffic area … increase your customer base.
  4. Promote your business outside the brand people know you as. or example, online pitch under a brand other than your newsagency brand.
  5. Have your best people working the floor, helping customers spend more.
  6. Have stunning displays that attract people from outside the shop.
  7. Have compelling displays in-store that encourage people to browse beyond their destination purchase.
  8. Always have impulse offers at high traffic locations.
  9. Charge more every time you can. Loyalty programs such as discount vouchers, bundling into hampers, multi buys such as 2 for 3 and other opportunities enable you to do this by blocking price comparison.
  10. Buy as best you can.
  11. Grab settlement discounts every time you are able.
  12. Measure product category performance by gross profit. Quit the categories that are not paying for themselves.
  13. Promote outside your store using online and social media opportunities.
  14. Leverage adjacency information. Chase a deeper basket – people purchasing more each visit.

Be responsible for the profitability of your business. Don’t blame your suppliers, your landlord, your employees or some other external factor … it all comes down to you – the decisions you make and the actions you take.

If you relentlessly pursue profit with a clear focus you are likely to see profit grow. That’s better than waiting to make money when you sell because that’s less likely to happen in this market.

Doing all this relies on your measuring the performance of your business. The Tower software helps with this. It is easy.

26 likes
Newsagency benchmark

You are not your customer

The next time you decide to not stock something because you do not like it, stock it and give it a good location and good support.

You are not your customer.

Think about the magazines you sell, the diverse number of titles. What percentage of the magazines you stock would you read if you had time? I would be surprised is the percentage was higher than 25%. That would mean 75% of the titles are not to your taste.

You don’t have to like what you sell. You don’t have to like it to be able to pitch it. All you need to do is to understand what you sell. Understand who the customer could be, how they would choose what they buy and how to best represent the product.

The more people who shop with you buying what you would not buy for yourself the better for you and the business.

Don’t think about your shop as an extension of your home, filled with what you want ton see.

You are not your customer.

Hang on to this mantra. Buy with it in mind. Take it as a challenge to see how far you can stray from your comfort of what you like. Let this straying show you what is possible in your business.

The desk nameplate in the photo is an example of an item several newsagents I know stocked under protest. They were shocked that it and others from the sarcastic range sold out in a matter of days, leading them to reorder these products they do not like.

Chase opportunities outside what you like and outside of what people expect for your business or your type of business. This is key to attracting new shoppers.

24 likes
Gifts
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