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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Are there consequences for newsagents from Zoo Weekly magazine closing?

With the date of the final issue of Zoo Weekly now set, will we see other titles fill this space? I ask because it has happened before. The locally produced Grazia closed and not long after newsagents started receiving the imported Grazia.

This is not necessarily a bad thing as we found for a while we sold more copies of the imported Grazia than the local title.

With Zoo Weekly, I wonder if a distributor will allocate to newsagents one of the UK lad’s mags. While I can see it happening I hope it does’t as I think that genre has had its day.

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magazines

Attention to detail drives plush sales

Attention to detail is vital in driving product sales in the modern newsagency. Putting products out on display can work but making products look the best they can is essential.

IMG_9719Take this large graduation bear we have in the newsagency. In the photo taken immediately after he was put on display, he looks okay – nice and big, cuddly, well made. But to me he didn’t look quite right. He looked average, not as alive as I felt he could look, not as appealing to shoppers walking past and glimpsing the display.

IMG_9720I spent a few seconds grooming the bear, around the eyes particularly, and he immediately looked different: alive, more appealing. I hope you can see what I am talking about in the photo – especially when you compare it to the first photo. The face of this bear looks 100% better in my view, more likely to attract shoppers.

This level of attention to detail is vital in retail. Indeed, we have a kit of products we use to refresh products to being them to life – brushes, a hair dryer and more. We use these to make items we sell look more appealing and, through this, to drive traffic and sales.

With sales in the category up well into double digits year on year the attention to detail is paying off. While not the only factor in driving growth, I am certain it is a factor.

This is one area where we have to leave behind being a newsagent and focus on being a special interest retailer as the special interest customers who purchase items that benefit from grooming notice the attention to detail.

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Plush

Free: take only what you need

IMG_9763Walking near where I live last night I noticed this box and sign outside a food store offering free produce. There was no requirement to make any purchase in-store – the items were truly free, no questions asked. The box was considerably fuller earlier in the day.

It turns out this is a regular service by this food store. Fresh produce and other food items nearing their best by date are placed in the box with passers-by welcome to take what they need.

In addition to offering the free food, the box and sign make a subtle pitch for the business and their generosity.

For me, the box and sign were a reminder of good things people do and, in particular, good things we can do in small business retail.

I am sure there are things we can do in our businesses to help people and that many newsagents do this every day. What I saw last night is an execution that is practical and subtle – inspiring.

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Social responsibility

Smart use of social media by Tatts

IMG_9761Tatts paid for this promoted tweet on Twitter Tuesday afternoon, pitching tickets in that night’s OzLotto draw. It is their use of the #libspill hashtag that caught my attention as this is the hashtag that had been running hot through the Liberal Party leadership spill and beyond. Hashtags are a factor in determining when proposed Tweets are served by Twitter. What Tatts has done here is remind us of the value of timely targeted Tweets.

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Lotteries

Art Therapy update for newsagents

Here is an update from within Gordon and Gotch late yesterday about the Art Therapy partwork:

Part 2 stock was based on their retention curve (the curve of the publisher) but due to the early sales data we presented last week to the publisher they are air-freighting some more stock from the UK today of Part 2 that we need to finish before sending out to cover any back-orders. The publisher has just confirmed to bring forward part 3 supply to next week and we have also managed to secure a bit more additional stock for this issue. We will send a further newsagent update by the end of the week.

The supply situation newsagents are experiencing with this title are a function of supply decisions by the publisher. I feel for the folks at Gotch as they are the servant of the publisher.

To those newsagents complaining about supply – there is nothing new here. We have seen it for years – an amazingly successful partwork for which we cannot get enough stock and where supply drops dramatically as we get deeper into the series. We have to manage the opportunity expecting this, making the most of what we can. This is why I said I think newsagents early returning part one were nuts because they missed the opportunity of leveraging that traffic into other products.

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magazine distribution

Leveraging Star Wars to drive new traffic for the newsagency

photo 1We are promoting the official Star Wars cards and gifts range from Hallmark on the lease line, facing into the mall – leveraging maximum traffic generating potential for the newsagency.

We are also promoting on social media widely around the business – and not only to those who like our social media pages.

Star Wars is tipped by licence experts here in Australia and overseas to generate more sales from now to Christmas than all other licenced products combined.

Early engagement with other Star Wars products that we launched two weeks ago suggests that interest will be massive. We have customers who have prepaid us for official Star wars licenced products that will not arrive for at least another month.

Good licences promoted well in-store and outside the business can be valuable for us not only for the direct sales they generate but also for the other purchases made by those attracted by the licenced product promotion.

I urge all newsagents to embrace licenced product opportunities from a variety of suppliers. Good licences allow you to make a pitch for relevance related to the licence and this is often better than the relevance attached to your shingle.

Be careful about your licence choices as some are duds. Not all licences go as nuts as Star Wars will or Frozen did.

The challenge with licence engagement is the need to engage early. Usually, this is months away from release. In the case of Star Wars, we completed most of our buying by March – we actually started last last year. yes, considerable forward planning is involved.

While being part of an engaged group helps, it is not mandatory. Do your research, watch what is happening in the marketplace, listen to suppliers, be connected with overseas news sources. Know about major opportunities well in advance of them hitting mainstream news here.

Yes, all this is hard work. However, this is where new traffic lives, where our future lives. It is good and rewarding work.

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Management tip

Are newsagents being overloaded with adult colouring titles?

This is now getting ridiculous – more adult colouring titles being sent to newsagents from which we make 25% while access to better quality books from which we make 50% is easy.

Me, I want absolute control over the magazines so I can maximise the higher margin book opportunity over which I have complete control. Yesterday I spoke with a newsagent who is the opposite – they are not ordering any books and taking all the magazines they can get because they are sale or return.

The two choices are right for each of the business owners as the choices reflect their approach to their businesses.

While I say neither of us is wrong in our approach, I think preferring sale or return keeps your focus on likely failure of inventory sent by another party making a decision on what you should stock in your business.

Now more than ever we need to control our businesses. This is why I want absolute control on the adult colouring magazines I receive. I have made and continue to make far more from th adult colouring titles I source for myself. I can also control my exit from the segment, just as I did my entry many months ago.

I worry for the newsagents who take what they are sent by the magazine companies without thinking about this strategically. I think such an approach contains or holds back what they could make from adult colouring. Considering this more broadly, I think it holds them back from reaching for other goals within and through their businesses, goals that sit at the heart of their future.

Our newsagencies are our businesses. They are places where decisions we make ought to be reflected in our performance. Those relying solely on the magazine companies for adult colouring engagement are not running their newsagencies as their own businesses. Rather, they are acting as a drop off point, an outpost, for another business.

This is the difference between a retailer and an agent.

There is no future in being an agent, none whatsoever. While riskier and harder work, there are valuable benefits and opportunities from being a retailer.

The future of every newsagency depends on the leadership team making their own choices, pursuing margin, new traffic, efficiency and business defining opportunities. The future depends on managing the old model – sale or return – while learning and engaging with the new (not really new but new for some newsagents) model of being a retailer going out, finding new stock and purchasing this on a firm sale basis.

Sometimes, a magazine does present an opportunity to work with firm sale stock. The new Art Therapy partwork is a good example. I heard about it, asked for 160 copies and used these to leverage the TV ad generated traffic for the benefit of the large range I have in store of higher margin product. It has been a good win win.

While I do look at the growing range of magazine titles in this space, my main focus remains on the higher margin products including books, pencils, erasers and other items over which I have more control. This is the future of newsagency retail – being an engaged retailer rather than being a good agent.

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Newsagency challenges

How small business newsagents could benefit from Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull is an explainer, he provides context, he understands the importance of narrative. Whether you agree with his politics or not, and I don’t on a number of policy topics, he at least explains his position in an accessible and considerate way. His approach helps win more to his thinking and lose fewer because of it.

His comments at his first press conference last night about disruption are a good example of what I mean. Disruption is a challenge and an opportunity.

I expect/hope Turnbull as Prime Minister will help Australians feel more confident and optimistic and this will be reflected in small businesses, especially in small business retail, like newsagencies. Our customers will express their optimism and newsagents themselves will reflect optimism in their own business decisions.

The change in Prime Minister decided last night is an opportunity to reset, reboot.

Optimism is more important in small business retail than in national retail chains. This is why I think Turnbull as Prime Minister will be better for us than Abbott. Tony Abbott comes across as a bully. he appears to care little about bringing the electorate with him on views he holds dear. This feeds negativity and encourages pessimism in my view.

So, from where I sit in small business, I think Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will/should be good for business.

From a small business newsagency perspective, today is, hopefully, a good time for us to consider our own business situation in the context of leadership, disruption and opportunities. I think today is an opportunity for us to reset.

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Newsagency management

Garden magazines respond to co-location in the newsagency

IMG_9735For the last two weeks have been pitching garden magazines in a second location underneath British and women’s general magazines, next to a couple of extra columns of crossword titles. This co-location is designed to get people noticing the titles who otherwise would miss them as they are in another aisle. As you might expect, sales are up.

While space is limited, we do like to move magazines around like this and co-locate small selections when time appropriate. With Spring here, garden titles placed as we have done is sure to work, and it is.

While I appreciate the frustration that magazines do not generate the margin dollars today that we need for growing rent and labour costs, any increase from additional sales has to be good. This is why I recommend newsagents look for opportunities like I have outlined in this post.

Tactical placement of magazines usually generates a more incremental business than any other promotion I run in-store.

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magazines

Newsagents do not need more ‘leech’ products and services

I met with people in Sydney today who want to introduce a service to the newsagency channel. It is unlike any product newsagents sell or have ever sold. Further, it doesn’t fit with existing categories most newsagents sell. They have little money for promotion. What we need is 1,000 shops offering the service and that will make it successful.

They say they chose newsagents because we are small business people and are more likely to help their small business.

The last thing our channel needs is a service from which we make less than 10% and that relies on leveraging existing newsagency traffic to achieve revenue.

If the service was certain to generate net new traffic maybe and only then if the margin was considerably higher than 10%.

What worries me is that if the people I met today go to one or more of the associations representing newsagents they may get support if there is something it for the association.

We do not need more leech products and services – you know, products and services that rely solely on our existing traffic to be successful. I am not sure newsagent associations see it that way, especially those making decisions on behalf of newsagents who are not themselves newsagents.

Retail businesses in our channel need net new traffic. For the most part, achieving this is up to us, individually in our own businesses – based on our inventory decisions and our out of store marketing.

I do not see evidence that newsagent association folk understand the net new traffic imperative.

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Newsagency management

Skweek stationery from GNS timely for newsagents

IMG_9699 (1)GNS sent me samples from the Skweek range of kid-targeted stationery launched by the business to newsagents this month. The Skweek products are brightly coloured and cover a selection of uses.

Skweek addresses a need expressed by newsagents for some time – giving newsagents something with which to directly compete with Smiggle and similar lines in Big W and K-Mart.

I like that GNS has created a Facebook page for promoting the brand as well as posters and shelf wobblers for in0-store promotion.

I’d encourage newsagents to use Skweek on the lease line, in the front window and online through the school holidays to attract new shoppers.

Here is how one newsagency has implemented the range in-store. The photo is from the Skweek facebook page.

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Stationery

Sunday newsagency management tip: track distance shoppers travel

For a week ask customers you do not immediately recognise for the postcode of their home. Record this and map how far you pull people from to shop in your newsagency. Once you eliminate those in the area n vacation or passing through, such as grey nomads, you can soon get to an understanding of the geographic appeal of what you do. Map this and set a goal to increase your appeal, geographically.

This data will help you approach managing and marketing your business differently.

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency challenge: play dare

Ask everyone who works in your newsagency to come up with a business management dare for you, something that can be done that they are certain will help the business. Get them to write their dares on a small card. read them all. Choose one. Do it, do the dare. Share the results. The team benefits will be far more than the practical benefits from the dare working for the business.

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Management tip

Disappointed at Lovatts low-margin adult colouring title

lov-colLovatts has entered the adult colouring space with Inklings. They are late. Adult colouring took off ten months ago. While I didn’t receive the title other newsagents have and they needed to find space in full magazine departments. They also had to deal with yet another low margin title in a category from which we can easily earn 50% gross profit.

Newsagents with the title will be frustrated to know Lovatts has placed the title in supermarkets.

Smart newsagents want adult colouring titles through which they can leverage a point of difference over supermarkets. This is where book and art supply suppliers help us.

Magazine publishers need to not be overloading newsagents in this already full segment.

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magazine distribution

Refreshed main adult colouring promotion

IMG_9730We refreshed the front of store adult colouring display in the newsagency today. The photo does not do the A1 posters above the display justice.

We are still selling more than $200 a day in adult colouring books not including the partwork launch – we have sold 130 in just over a week. While the range selling is diverse, it is the non magazine titles that do better. I like that, of course, because of the margin from the real books.

I was considering using this space for something else from today but sales demand it stay here for at least another week. I am watching space and inventory investment as there are at least fifteen shops in the centre with adult colouring products now.

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art supplies

Promoting adult colouring and That’s Life

IMG_9734We have the latest That’s Life magazine on the lease line to leverage the mini adult colouring book with this issue and the Win a $5,000 Shopping Spree newsagent only promotion.

Since we are right out the front of Coles, I’ll leverage any magazine point of difference I can.

The floor display unit is space efficient making it easy to justify the prime space allocation.

The placement is opposite our adult colouring front of store promotion.

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magazines

New Lotterywest retail fixtures welcomed by newsagents

IMG_9708I like the prototype of the new Lotterywest counter unit I saw on show at the Lotterywest Retailer Conference in Perth yesterday.

The unit features housing for state of the technology Lotterywest will be rolling out next year and fixtures for customer service and product merchandising.

The release of the prototype yesterday in Perth was a first-look opportunity for retailers. The next step is in-store trial of a prototype with feedback to inform fine tuning prior to staged roll out across the state.

The consultation being undertaken by the folks at Lotterywest is considerable – with retailers at the heart of this.

Technology plays a vital role from the digital screen to the ticket checker to the customer display to the terminal itself.

Note the scratch ticket unit. Lifting it from being flat allows the featuring of twenty tickets rather than the current sixteen.

Newsagents I spoke to were most positive about the new fixtures.

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Lotteries

How newsagents lose money selling a $2.95 magazine

Magazines in supermarkets are add-on purchases rather than destination purchases whereas in for many newsagents, magazines continue to be destination purchases.

As an add-on purchase a $2.95 magazine can work for a supermarket while the same magazine in a newsagency is likely to be loss making.

In my own business with a magazine pocket costing $1.15 per week for the space alone, I need to sell two of these magazines a week for the month-long on sale to cover the real estate costs and labour associated with the title. If I don’t achieve this I lose money.

Indeed, if you look at the financial performance of magazines in most newsagencies, no more than 20% of magazines are cash-flow positive.

While publishers like to promote low cover prices, they tend to not work for newsagents – especially those of us in shopping centres. We need higher cover prices, especially with unit sales falling.

The only option for a $2.95 magazine where I am selling less than two copies a week is to fit three such titles into two pockets or two titles into one pocket. This is not always possible because of the sick model supplying me two and three times what I will sell.

Unfortunately, magazine publishers and distributors are not having these types of discussions with thoughtful newsagents.

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magazines

At the Lotterywest conference today

I am grateful to be at the Lotterywest Retailer Conference in Perth today. The agenda is full with practice sessions to help Western Australian lottery agents grow stronger businesses not only in the lottery category but beyond.

Session 1 / Grow
‘Australian retail innovation trends’ with Bernard Salt
What’s happening at Lotterywest
Keeping you up to date on the Retail Transformation Program
Session 2 / Connect
‘Creating Passionate Customers’ with Keith Abraham
‘Connecting with today’s consumers’ with Tenille Bentley
Session 3 / Make it work
‘Get more from change’ with Warwick Merry
Workshops
‘Your guide to a win-win leasing negotiation’ with Brian Childs
‘Take a step into the online world’ with Tenille Bentley
‘Recruit, train and manage your staff for greater business growth’ with Renae Catalano
Q & A with presenters / Let’s talk

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Lotteries

The disconnect between politicians and small business

The more I hear politicians speak the more I realise the extent of their disconnect from small business and everyday people.

While we talk about real issues in our businesses and engage is genuine two-way conversations with our customers, our politicians from the major parties ignore questions from journalists and fail to listen.

Watch or listen to any live interview with a politician and you hear them say what they want rather than answer the question. In such a situation, the journalist is our representative as they have direct access where we do not. We expect journalists to ask the questions we would want asked. Moreover, we expect the politicians to listen to the questions and to answer them.

This is not what happens.

Politicians front the media with a message to put and they put it regardless of the questions they are asked. They play us for fools. Too many journalists and media outlets let them get away with it.

We know in small business that authenticity matters. Your customers soon figure out if you are faking happiness, the value of a deal or something else in business. Faking it is not possible in small business.

Faking it is what politicians do and we elect them and let them get away with it.

Every time politicians dodge a question or fake support for something they do not agree with and only go along with because of party rules they fail us. Whereas in small business such faking costs us business, in politics we let them get away with it.

I want to see politicians say what they think, on any topic. It’s okay if they say things I don’t agree with because I don’t expect to vote in a 100% clone of my views.

I want to see in my politicians the authenticity I see in small businesses, like newsagencies. Australia would be all the better for it.

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Ethics

The new home of specialist magazines – not a newsagency

IMG_9687I was in a train hobbyist shop a few days ago and found a terrific range of model train magazines. It reminded me of the range I had in my Forest Hill business five or six years ago. The difference in the range in the train shop and the newsagency a few doors away left me wondering if others are noticing this – fewer model train magazines in newsagencies and more in specialist hobby train shops.

I am certainly seeing this in garden centres where there are plenty of garden magazines I am not seeing in newsagencies.

While I am not saying this is a trend, it is something to watch out for.

Specialty publishers naturally want to be closer where those interested in their topics shop.

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magazines

When do you put out boxed Christmas cards?

I like to get boxed Christmas cards out early to make the most of the opportunity right through the season. My experience is that between early September and late January a range of different customers purchase boxed Christmas cards. Having a good range of stock out and in the right location is key to leveraging the opportunity.

This post today is about the kick off of boxed Christmas cards. When do you put them out in your newsagency?

For me boxed card season starts now to get the early movers … they are lucrative shoppers. The early sales help you spot trends from the range you have in-store.

Footnote: the display of boxed cards is not important. Flat on a table works fine for us.

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Greeting Cards
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