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

Month: October 2019

A simple Halloween pitch in the newsagency

This display pitching Halloween Beanie Boos has been terrific showing off these popular kids products as being relevant to the Halloween shopper looking to dress the desk or home  of the the occasion. The display has also worked at pitching gift opportunities for grandparents and others in the shop looking for an easy low cost gift.

I like the display as it looks more effective than is usual in retail with products placed on a shelf. This display offers a sense of theatre, which attracts attention.

The display also pitches a Halloween difference in a centre with plenty of outlets offering the usual low price point Halloween items.

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marketing

New traffic: the mission critical need for newsagents and all small business retailers

Definition: New traffic for a retail business is shoppers who are new to the businessNew traffic is traffic other than what you would receive simply by opening your doors.

Pursuing new traffic is the single most important business management activity for small business retailers today.

Why? because of the growth in online shopping, greater competition on the high street, consumer confidence challenges and growing business operational overheads. Oh, and because a more valuable business is easier to sell, when you decide to sell.

Please take a moment to think about that.

Pursuing new traffic is the single most important business management activity for you and your business.

Without wanting to sound weird or new-agey, I suggest this as a meditation point … new traffic, what it is, what it means and how you can attract it

When you approach any management or strategic activity in your business, think about what this task or activity will do to attract new shoppers.

It is not enough to do something in your shop for that is only seen by people in your shop.  What are you doing to promote this outside your shop?  … because that is where new traffic is to be found.

This is not something for your suppliers to do. It is up to you. Only you and your actions can attract new traffic.

I’d say that less than a third of  retail newsagents today are actively engaged in attracting genuine new traffic. While most will not adversely suffer in the short to medium term because of lack of engagement, they will at some point for sure. New shoppers are key to revenue, profit and upside for the business.

Pursuing new traffic is about far more than putting new products in your store. Indeed, stock is only one of several steps that are all connected in pursuing new traffic. However, stock is the start. Stocking new lines never offered in the business are the best first step to take too bring in people who do not shop with you today.

A New Traffic Strategy relies on you in actively reaching outside your four walls and deep into your catchment area, the area from which you can attract shoppers, to bring people to your business who other might not visit … to generate for you new traffic.

Footnote: this is the opening section of a broader paper on the opportunity of new traffic for newsagents.

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Newsagency management

Every retailer can embrace Halloween

This Halloween pitch from Koala mattresses is a reminder that Halloween is a season any retailer can engage with. It is a good excuse for a flash sale or similar. It works because it is date related and because the occasion is visual, enabling you to have fun . What Koala has done here is perfect for connecting the business with a season for which you might think they would have no connection.

Here are the details of the simple offer:

So, even if you have no Halloween specific products, this is a season with which you can engage.

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marketing

Christmas 2020 already

While Christmas 2019 is ramping up, I have been finalising orders with some suppliers for Christmas 2020 – for products where we can join production runs for retailers in other countries and leverage their volume for better pricing.

The challenge of ordering so early is the lack of data on trend opportunities appropriate top Christmas 2020. The thing is, we are not alone in the challenge. So, seeing what others are going harder on can be instructing to purchasing.

With our major and large competitors ordering this way, for independent small business retailers to be competitive on price and hero product and brand access we need to engage early as well. This is why I have been focussed on it over the last week with several suppliers.

This is an area in which the larger groups can play by leveraging critical mass of 200 or more retailers to order centrally and at sufficient volume to enable access to products that otherwise might not be available in less volume. Anything less and you are too small. While suppliers will order this way, it is less likely that they pass on benefits to individual stores at the time of offering access because of the cost of warehousing, pre-payment and more.

What has been particularly interesting through the process is the storyboarding by some suppliers, sharing access to forecasts of colour and texture trends for the 2020 Christmas season.

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Newsagency management

Responsiveness key to online

I wanted to purchase from a US based online coffee related store but they did not ship to Australia. They had figured it was too hard and that Aussies would not pay shipping.

I sent them an email and 24 hors later Australia was added as a shipping destination. I placed my order.

They emailed me to say that in that same day, three others ordered. They had not realised the sales they were missing until they turned on Aussie shipping.

In business, we don’t know what we don’t know often.

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Management tip

Great to see ABC Grandstand supporting local Aussie newsagents to 143,000 followers

Not just one here:

But, here too:

It is terrific to see publishers directly promote the channel.

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marketing

Drop in magazine titles helps retailers better focus

At the Bauer Media Connections conference on the Gold Coast yesterday I was interested to see data shared by Ovato about the reduction in magazine titles being circulated over the last 3 years. I appreciated seeing the drop broken down by local / UK / US.

While there have been some magazine launches over the 3 years, the reality is we have less titles in circulation today compared to 3 years ago. This is a good thing in my view.

Shopper interest in special interest and more m mainstream titles is easily satisfied by the reduced range on offer today. Indeed, we could see a cut of, say, 25% in some segments without a negative impact on sales.

What often happens in a business with more titles in the same segment is a more diverse mix of titles sold rather than a desired increase in total revenue for the segment. Competing titles can cannibalise each other. Retailers do not benefit from this.

So, I am pleased to see this data from Ovato showing a net reduction in the range of titles available.

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magazine distribution

Full face Christmas cards on the lease line attract shoppers

We are appreciating the terrific reaction from shoppers to the placement of single Christmas cards full face on the lease line. While this is one of four placements of Christmas cards in this particular shop, it is the only one on the lease line for attracting passers-by and pitching Christmas cards.

Impulse and early Christmas card purchases are valuable.

We made the stand to have 100% control over what cards are placed here.

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Greeting Cards

Picture and People magazine to close

This report, from Amanda Meade at Guardian Australia on the closure of Picture and People:

Softcore magazines the Picture and People to close amid sale ban and falling circulation

Exclusive: Hundreds of service stations recently banned the magazines from sale, saying they demeaned women and girls.

Australian men’s magazine the Picture and the 69 year-old People magazine will close at the end of the year, ending decades of printed weeklies featuring topless models and readers’ sex stories.

Publisher Bauer Media was forced to axe the magazines after retailers lined up to ban them from sale at service stations; and readership fell to 0.02% of the population over 14 for People magazine and 0.01% for The Picture. They are already banned from sale in supermarkets.

“Discussions to close the Picture and People magazines have been taking place, as the magazines have lost ranging [visibility], which has affected their commercial viability,” a spokeswoman for Bauer Media told Guardian Australia.

“As closures impact a number of people, including some staff and suppliers, they need to be well considered and timed appropriately.

“The magazines will be closing at the end of the year and we’re working closely with staff to find suitable redeployment.”

I expect minimal impact on the newsagency channel from the closure of these two titles.

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magazines

How one publisher encourages print to digital migration

The cover price for the UK Autosport magazine has been more than doubled for over the counter purchase in a move that appears designed to drive migration from print to online.

Magazine cover prices need to increase to reflect cost increases for retailers. Or, newsagents ought be paid a higher percentage of cover price.

The price increase for Autosport, however, is nuts.

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magazines

What could the Bauer Media acquisition of Pacific Magazines mean for newsagents?

While there are regulatory processes to play out and finalisation is anticipated to be months away, the news yesterday that Bauer Media and Seven West Media had reached agreement for Bauer to acquire Pacific has captured the attention of plenty in our channel.

Bauer media and Pacific Magazines are the two largest magazine publishers in Australia.

The most common question in emails and calls that I received yesterday from newsagents was what does this mean for us?

I think asking this question now is late. I say this because rationalisation of print media businesses has been happening for some years and has been discussed widely here and elsewhere in our channel.

If you are asking today what it means, you are already behind. If this is you, I encourage you to invest time now to catch up.

If the Bauer / Pacific news has come at a shock and you are wondering about the impact, act now, make decisions that focus on propelling your business forward. No supplier will do this for you – putting your business first in every decision.

While I don’t know what a Bauer acquisition of Pacific will or could mean, we can reasonably speculate that there will be changes over time. It cannot 100% be business as usual.There will have to be changes given the challenges faced by some of the titles involved. One benefit of single ownership of an expanded stable of titles at Bauer would be co-ordinated management of all titles. This could mean less cannibalisation between competing titles through more thoughtful and complementary coverage.

Many of us in the newsagency channel have been actively working on chasing net new traffic for categories outside of legacy product categories for our channel for years. There have been hits and misses through. Such is the experience of chasing change.

There is no doubt we are in a period of extraordinary change in print media. Change is being driven by how news is delivered into our hands, how and when we engage with news and information, what constitutes news and entertainment, what people will and will not pay for, who is a publisher (all of us?) and how print mastheads and stories are packaged and priced.

The Australian market is small. I think that is a factor playing out here too. Print media products need critical mass. We miss that in some markets here.

Thinking about what could change as a result of the announced acquisition… It would not surprise me to see: the days of magazine delivery changed, maybe to one a week; the closure of some weekly titles; the launch of a new weekly title; changes in monthly titles; greater accessibility for over the counter purchase of titles.

What should matter most to newsagents today is focus of the business changing net new shopper traffic, broadening the shopper appeal through new products, driving overall business GP%, growing online sales so the business is less reliant on local shoppers and chasing opportunities through pursuing what we don’t know our businesses can achieve.

The Bauer / Pacific announcement is an encouragement for us to work on our businesses, to pursue change, to make our businesses more valuable in the future.

All of this, of course, means more focus away from the newsagency shingle.

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magazines

Bauer to acquire Pacific Magazines

Here is the announcement from Bauer in full:

MEDIA RELEASE

BAUER MEDIA GROUP TO ACQUIRE ICONIC AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND MAGAZINE PORTFOLIO FROM SEVEN WEST MEDIA

Sydney and Hamburg, 21 October, 2019: The Boards of Bauer Media Group and Seven West Media are pleased to announce an agreement for Bauer Media to acquire Pacific Magazines, which publishes a leading portfolio of iconic Australian and New Zealand media brands – including Better Homes & Gardens, New Idea and Marie Claire.

Combining Pacific Magazines with Bauer Media Australia’s existing multi-platform publishing portfolio brings together over 50 highly complementary titles.

The enlarged business will boast deep expertise in the Women’s Entertainment & Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty & Health, and Food & Homes categories, and be well placed to maximise reach and engagement with consumers while continuing to invest in new, must-have content.

Brendon Hill, Bauer Media Australia CEO, says: “We are delighted to be able to combine our talent and resources with one of our most admired and respected industry peers. More than ever, scale and superior content is emerging as the differentiator of success in publishing. This transaction will bring the Bauer and Pacific teams greater opportunities to innovate, create and collaborate – and continue to delight their audiences.”

Bauer Media Group is a global owner of assets ranging from radio, print and digital content to online comparison platforms and marketing services. This acquisition is in line with the Group’s strategy to capitalize on its leading position in publishing, investing in new launches, concepts and business models around its strong brands, whilst actively participating in the consolidation of the industry and pursuing opportunities in new areas.

The transaction is expected to close during either late 2019 or early 2020, subject to ACCC approval.

-ENDS-

Here is the Seven West announcement in full.

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magazines

Appreciating local shoppers

I have been working with a designer on a range of unbranded collateral to express appreciation for local shoppers. I’m frustrated with the usual shop local pitch I see as it reads somewhat entitled / demanding. I prefer a more subtle and genuinely appreciative approach.

This image is part of the series. It’s designed for in-store as well as digital use. I am pretty happy with how this is developing.

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Social responsibility

Buskers

I love this clip that I saw on Twitter. It’s a reminder of how good buskers can engage. In a high street situation, good buskers out the front of the shop are awesome. Now to  find buskers like these two…

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Fun

The start of Christmas in-store

Here is the first crack at Christmas in one of my stores. It runs from this front of store display behind for around three metres.  I say first crack because this will change weekly as new stock is added, early hits sell out and the narrative is evolved.

In-store is only part of our Christmas pitch this year. Already Christmas has been terrific with online sales, to people will never see in-store.

For those wondering, this shop does not sell lotteries, tobacco or candy. It is pop culture / card / gift / sarcasm focussed store with mags and papers still represented, but not front of store.

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newsagency of the future

It pays to check social media

I did a search Wednesday night for newsagents on Twitter and found this post.

While it references newsagents, it specially mentions www.myornaments.com.au, a website connected to one of my shops. Finding it by accident as I did I was able to understand another question – what caused a noticeable spike in sales from October 16.

What happened here is a good example of customer endorsement. It is also an example of the value of checking out what is said. In my own case, it allowed me to respond:

I am grateful for the endorsement and grateful to have found it.

Search your business, and the channel  from time to time and appreciate support shown on social media and elsewhere.

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Management tip

People searching for “Newsagent near me” online

On any day in Australia, there are, on average, close to 1,000 searches online for newsagent near me. Yes, that is exactly what they are searching for. This is data I have access through a respected keyword search analytics tool from this morning.

There are three times that many searches for newsagent and newsagency from in Australia every day.

This is useful data for newsagents developing online presences to consider as that search volume could be leveraged to land people on a website from which related  product lines  could be purchased.

Connecting with browsers online is critical to driving in-store purchases.

I use several tools to understand online searches in the context of several retail business channels and a range of product categories, to ensure that websites serve search needs.

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Newsagency management

Suppliers need to respect small business retailers

Too often we in small business discover that suppliers have one approach for us and another for a big business competitor of ours with the approach for small businesses impacting efficiency and, therefore, profitability.

Here are some examples of the types of different approaches that concern me:

  • Big businesses paying suppliers only for scanned sales while we have  to pay for everything, including shrinkage.
  • Big businesses receiving invoice and other data in a format suitable to their systems while small business retailers are told it is too hard.
  • Big businesses getting supply without impediment while small businesses nearby are not supplied due to an internal systems error.
  • Big businesses being supplied sought after new release items  ahead of small business competitors.
  • Big businesses benefiting from marketing and other fees that reduce the carrying cost of an item or range.

These approaches compounds the disadvantage small business retailers encounter on price and service. Any supplier advantaging big businesses in these and other ways need to look at their operations and decide on the retailers they prefer  to  supply.

Too often, I see small business retailers delivering financial benefit to suppliers that is far greater than their proportion of GP from the total GP pool of the supplier.

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Ethics

Reminder: free online workshop for newsagents – a deep dive into selling online

Join me this week for a free online workshop all about selling online – how to, what to watch out for, where to spend money and where not to spend money. 20 have booked already.

I will share a series of non newsagency related examples, from businesses in completely different retail channels to ours, and share what they are achieving, how and why.

The session is this Wednesday: October 16, at 2pm AEST (that is, Melbourne time).

This will be an online session. Access is open to anyone. There is no cost.

At this session, I will focus on how to connect your business to sell online, why, how to rank high in Google searches and what to sell. This last piece is critical as all too often indie retailers think they should putt everything they have in-store online.  I will also cover pitfalls, risks and opportunities.

Most examples I will use will be from small business retailers with no connection with the newsagency channel.

The session will be interactive with opportunity for questions and two-way discussion. There will also be opportunity at the end for any topic to be canvassed.

I’ll be setting the meeting up using the Zoom platform, meaning you will be able to access it from any device, anywhere.

To register, please email bookings@towersystems.com.au. The day before the office will send you a link for the meeting.

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newsagency of the future

If you pitch magazines on Facebook

Sometimes, a photo of part of a cover is more enticing than the full cover. For example, this photo works much better…

…than this photo for a medium as visual as Facebook…

…and that its not intended to be a negative commentary on the terrific Better Homes and Gardens.

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magazines
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