World Stationery Day
In case you missed it, today is World Stationery Day. I missed it. Typo told me.
Draft legislation on unfair contracts out for comment
I encourage newsagents to read the draft legislation from the Federal Government on unfair contracts. See what the Minister for Small Business has to say here. reading his comments, this legislation could be useful for small newsagencies dealing with magazine contracts.
I have not had an opportunity to read this yet. If you do, please share your feedback as a comment on this thread.
Magazine week: How to promote magazines outside your newsagency
Each day this week I will post about magazines from an overall business perspective in newsagencies. I am doing this because some suppliers think my submission to the ACCC of the proposed trial of new magazine supply rules I made on behalf of newsXpress reflects a move against magazines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am fighting for fairness because of believe in magazines for the long term.
How to promote magazines outside your newsagency.
For too long magazine marketing and promotion by newsagents has consisted of putting up posters and doing aisle end displays as requested by major publishers. Some newsagents have merchandisers who visit to do this. My view is this traditional approach is a waste of time. The sales numbers suggest as much.
If you want to make the most of magazines and break free from what is traditional in your business in terms of sales you need to break free from traditional marketing. Here are my suggestions:
- Talk about content. Step away from mastheads and promote stories, especially those in titles unique to your business.
- Use social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest lend themselves to our of store magazine marketing.
- Have conversations. In store and online with your customers about topics in magazines. Engage with them.
- Leverage unique value. If you have a value proposition which is unique to your business, leverage it, promote it.
- Focus on unique product. Consider window and other displays and promotions for the titles not available in nearby supermarkets.
- New this week. Setup a display somewhere i-store to display issues of unique titles new this week.
- Did you miss this. When you have returned a title check for any particularly interesting articles in titles outside those sole in supermarkets and put these on a noticeboard – promoting what your shoppers ay have missed.
- Create a flyer. Every couple of months create a flyer listing titles you sell in several segments which are not sold in supermarkets. This promotes your depth of range and reinforces your position as the magazine specialist.
- Staff picks. Get them to choose a title every week or fortnight and place a card with this explaining why they choose it as their favourite magazine.
Sure some of these ideas require additional effort. That’s the point – to act beyond what is usual or average, to uncover sales you do not currently achieve. I am confident we can grow magazines sales. While I think we ought to make more, I think we have to put revenue ahead of that argument for now as our suppliers appear immovable on the topic.
For too long newsagents have been treated by magazine publishers and distributors in a paternalistic way. Just because we ask for fair and equitable supply so we can compete with others selling magazines does not mean we want to turn our back on the category. It means the opposite. We see a bright future for magazines if we can achieve fair supply.
Footnote: I am calling this magazine week for no reason other than to label the series of posts.
How one retail business takes shoplifting seriously
This photo shows how my local independent bottle shop tackles shoplifting. There is no beating around the bush here.
One newsagent was recently told by the police to take down a photo they had of someone stealing. When the police did say it was okay it was too late.
Since the shop where I took the photo is opposite a police station I suspect they were advised it was okay.
The rules vary state by state. I am not endorsing newsagents do not – rather, noting how one bottle shop confronts the situation.
I have certainly put up photos, identifying the shopper of the week and seeking their details so I can give them their prize. While I didn’t find them it at least made me feel like I was doing something practical.
Terrific Dymocks window display
I like the Mother’s Day window display in the Dymocks flagship store on George Street in Sydney. The display incorporates gifts, cards and wrapped boxes. It promotes a diverse range of gifts too from the traditional to the non traditional. What is most appealing, however, is the inclusion of greeting cards in the display. Too often we neglect to include cards in our window and other displays in our newsagencies, forgetting a valuable piece of the gift purchase.
Newsagents are being let down by their associations on magazine supply rule trial
I am disappointed in the poor reporting by the ANF of the ACCC conference held Thursday last week to consider issues raised about the proposed trial of new magazine supply rules.
The note published does not accurately report what happened. Nor does it accurately inform newsagents about the trial. My view is that the reporting reflects an ignorance these associations bring to their roles of serving newsagents.
Had these associations been doing their job they would have petitioned the ACCC for the conference. Instead, it fell to newsXpress to do this for newsagents. You are welcome ANF and NANA.
Several ANF representatives have reportedly complained to newsagents that I am wrong to have written to the ACCC about the issue and wrong about specifics. I say reportedly because no ANF representative has said this to me. But that’s typical – they will complain about you behind your back and act as if nothing is wrong to your face.
Reps of the ANF have reportedly said the trial rules allow newsagents to early return. Anyone at the ANF who had read the trial rules would have seen that newsagents are not permitted to early return. Here is what the rules say:
4. Early Returns
A Distributor will not be required to accept Early Returns from Retailers, except where such Early Return is
made by a Retailer to correct an error in allocations quantity.
There is no mention in the rules of newsagents having control over supply – meaning you have to rely on what the distributors do and their track record is less than idea on this front.
The ANF has failed newsagents o this issue and now it is engaged in spin which fails to fully inform newsagents about the proposed new rules.
Every dollar newsagents pay the ANF directly or indirectly extends this inadequate representation of the channel.
Mediaweek helps show magazines differently
A feature of the Mediaweek daily email is the display covers of magazines out this week. While not displaying all new issues, the mix is broad enough to provide a view of some titles that may not be on my radar.
As I am on the road a lot, this email lets me see a title I can get my stores to feature in response to a cover.
I’d love the magazine distributors to publish covers of all new issues out each week in exactly tis way – so those of us managing newsagencies off-site can provide direction in response to cover opportunities we see.
Magazine week: How to grow magazine sales in your newsagency
Each day this week I will post about magazines from an overall business perspective in newsagencies. I am doing this because some suppliers think my submission to the ACCC of the proposed trial of new magaZine supply rules I made on behalf of newsXpress reflects a move against magazines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am fighting for fairness because of believe in magazines for the long term.
How to grow magazine sales in your newsagency.
We can either wallow in self pity about our appalling treatment by some magazine publishers and distributors or we can make the most of the situation we we have. My view is we need to suck it up and make the most of it. Here are ways we can do this, ways we can grow magazine sales in our eretail newsagency businesses.
- Leverage your difference. While magazines are available in other retail channels, if you think your offer is different somehow, lead with this, make it obvious, leverage it.
- Display for sale. Make sure full covers of particularly interesting issues are displayed.
- Change placement. Tweak placement of titles regularly to keep your offer fresh.
- Relay. Completely change your offer every six to twelve months – do a magazine relay.
- Loyalty. Reward loyalty in a way that brings shoppers back. make buying magazines from you a habit that is rewarded.
- Value-add. Offer putaways and other services others retailers do not offer.
- Label professionally. Respect the masthead and cover – place labels so as to not be a barrier to sales.
- Train employees. Ensure your employees can answer questions about magazines – test them.
- Be first. Get your magazines out early – ahead of your competitors.
- Co-locate. Regularly feature magazines in window displays and at the counter – feature titles you have others don’t have.
- Leverage newspapers. Place your top selling monthlies with newspapers. Better Homes and Gardens does particularly well here.
- Use social media. Talk about stories in magazines you find interesting. Leverage magazine content that speaks to a narrative for your business.
While magazine publishers think they need research and a trial to work out what to do to help newsagents, the assistance needed is more practical. While it starts with fair magazine supply arrangements for newsagents, on the shop floor we can take steps to reinstate our position as the magazine specialists.
For too long newsagents have been treated by magazine publishers and distributors in a paternalistic way. Just because we ask for fair and equitable supply so we can compete with others selling magazines does not mean we want to turn our back on the category. It means the opposite. We see a bright future for magazines if we can achieve fair supply.
Footnote: I am calling this magazine week for no reason other than to label the series of posts.
Another example of oversupply of small business newsagents by Bauer Media
While Bauer Media representatives said to the ACCC last they want to help newsagents with a fairer magazine supply model, back at the office the people reporting to them scaled out HOME ENTERTAINMENT: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE to newsagents. This publication was tagged New for 2014. Seriously, new for 2014. What happened yesterday is that newsagents received this title for the second time. Bauer send back out for another go around this old title.
Sending it a few days before the end of the month as they have, it is fair for newsagents to see this as a cash grab by Bauer. many newsagents will not be able to return it in enough time for it to NOT be charged this month.
This is appalling behaviour by Bauer Media. Shame on them. I think this supply is socially irresponsible. It makes small business newsagents less competitive than the supermarkets chasing our magazine revenue.
Four newsagents contacted me about this. each was angry at the treatment they received from Bauer.
Shoppers cannot find Woman’s Day magazine
We had a bunch of people yesterday saying they could not find Woman’s Day. A couple said they did not want to buy Woman magazine. While it is easy to laugh about this, it is a real problem when you obscure the brand as has been done with the latest issue of Woman’s Day.
Magazine week: Why magazines matter in a retail newsagency
Each day this week I will post about magazines from an overall business perspective in newsagencies. I am doing this because some suppliers think my submission to the ACCC of the proposed trial of new magazine supply rules I made on behalf of newsXpress reflects a move against magazines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am fighting for fairness because of believe in magazines for the long term.
I am kicking this week’s series off with this post on Why magazines matter in a retail newsagency.
Despite all our complaints and all our frustrations with the unfairness of the model of supply to newsagents compared to our competitors magazines matter to us because:
- Our channel is known as the magazines specialists. If shoppers are looking for a magazine outside the top sellers they think of us.
- Magazine traffic remains good, not where it was, but still good.
- People love browsing our shops – we make it easier than any other retailer.
- We offer magazine related services no one else offers (special orders and putaways to name two).
- We go deeper into segments, we genuinely cater to special interests.
- Australians still prefer purchasing over the counter to subscriptions for most titles.
- Our retail competitors do not want to specialise beyond the top selling titles.
- There is upside if we are prepared to invest,
These and other reasons make magazines important to us. How important is up to each of us.
Unfortunately, we have publishers and distributors who know the importance of magazines to us and this is why the terms we are supplied under are considerably worse than the terms magazines are supplied under for our competitors. Shame on them for this unfairness.
I think for the medium term we need to rise above the unfairness of the magazine supply model. We need to make the most of the magazine opportunity. We need to use magazine traffic to leverage our way to the future we want for our businesses. This is the most important opportunity magazines present newsagents with today. It is the one reason magazines matter in our businesses.
For too long newsagents have been treated by magazine publishers and distributors in a paternalistic way. Just because we ask for fair and equitable supply so we can compete with others selling magazines does not mean we want to turn our back on the category. It means the opposite. We see a bright future for magazines if we can achieve fair supply.
Footnote: I am calling this magazine week for no reason other than to label the series of posts.
A clever shop window sign can drive traffic
I don’t often stop and notice signs in windows. This sign stopped me. It is funny and clever.
The best sign you can have in the window of your shop is one that stops people na gets them looking at your shop.
Oversupplied The Block magazine
A year ago we received 31 copies of The Block magazine and returned 22. This year, taking no notice of our sales data, Bauer supplied us 31 copies again. Last year we promoted the title prominently. This year we are not. We have better use for the same. Saturday, I early returned stock of this title.
At the ACCC conference Thursday last week Bauer representatives talked about how they want to help newsagents and how the proposed new magazine supply rules they the ACCC are key to this. This oversupply of The Block title is a harm they could have prevented without ACCC approval. That they so grossly oversupplied is what feeds into distrust newsagents have.
Newsagents may want to check supply of this title and resolve any early returns now.
Promoting Who magazine
Even though the Bruce Jenner interview has not aired in Australia, it has received plenty of media coverage and is being discussed considerably online. We have had Who prominently displayed and this has resulted in incremental business for us. It’s not too late for you to do this.
Disrespectful ANZAC cover on the Sunday Age
Fairfax trashed a terrific ANZAC themed cover for The Sunday Age only to ruin it with a post-it note ad promoting subscriptions stuck over part of the image. Shame on them for trashing otherwise good ANZAC coverage.
The only reason to stick these ads on the paper is to convert shoppers to digital and, possibly, home delivery.
Sunday newsagency marketing tip: be clear in your message
Standing in front of your newsagency or at the entrance to the shop, how many messages are you pitching to your customers? Do these messages contradict each other? Are the messages connected in any way? Could your customers be confused?
How we dress our shops is one of our most important marketing activities. From product placement to displays to price offers to posters to traffic pathways … how we dress our shop is a vital marketing activity.
The photo is from one of several Bath & Body Works shops I visited in the US a couple of weeks ago. Their messaging was clear and co-ordinated. This is somewhat easier for them as a relatively narrow category retailer. In today’s newsagency this is challenging as we are more general in the categories we pitch.
Greeting card, magazine and stationery products are colourful in themselves. we tend to enhance this with signage and other collateral supporting each, adding to the colour volume. Next we pepper the store with posters, displays and signs. No wonder some promotions do not cut through – shoppers cannot see them for all the visual noise.
I think a less is more approach is appropriate. Cut back on your noise. Be clear and focussed in your messaging. Provide a visually calmer shopping experience to encourage your shoppers to enjoy your space more.
Look at the messages you controlling those in front of your shop or just inside your doors. Count the different messages. Cut back and track the impact this makes.
Visual noise for the sake of noise is not a good strategy.
Sunday newsagency management tip: when to early return magazines
Early returning of magazines is the returning to the distributor of titles prior to their recall date. While you can use your newsagency software to suggest early return numbers the day of receipt of the stock, my advice if space permits is you undertake this activity from the shop floor – giving all stock and opportunity to perform.
Here are my tips for early returns:
- Treat selecting stock for early return as a senior management activity.
- Undertake the process of selecting titles weekly, not as part of the process of putting new stock onto the shelves. In my own business I do it on Saturdays.
- Consider the date the title arrives, sales to that point and the prospect of sales through the remainder of the on-sale.
- Consider whether to return all stock or some of the stock on hand.
- At all times be aware of we weekly magazine pocket cost for your business as the ability for the title to pay for the space it occupies is essential to your business.
- Do not early return out of spite or based on emotion.
- Early return based on the facts otherwise you will drive down sales of magazines in your business and hurt yourself as much as the publishers.
Those who say newsagents should not early return are ignorant of the costs of magazine space and the factors in today’s newsagents which make early returning an essential tool of professional newsagency management.
Diabetic Living magazine works with newspapers
We have some copies of the latest issue of Diabetic Living placed with newsapapers and it is working. This is a title people will purchase on impulse. I figured next to newspapers makes sense to leverage that opportunity.
Zoo ANZAC day failure
Had some comments today about the poor taste of the cover of Zoo magazine. I suspect the couple who complained sought the magazine out specifically to make the complaint. I agreed with them – they were happy with that.
ANZAC Day
I am thinking of newsagents touched by war today. While ANZAC Day commemorates a horror, it is also a day for reflection on other battles in pursuit of what we hold dear.
I have heard newsagents talk of family loss through war and how this affected the business. I offer this post today as a placement for people to share their stories.
Avoidable employee theft in newsagencies
I hate hearing about avoidable employee theft in a newsagency. While not all employee theft is avoidable, plenty is. This typically happens in a newsagency where record keeping is not as good as it could be, where all cash brought into the business is not completely balanced against goods sold.
Every cent of revenue in a newsagency ought to be recorded in the newsagency software at the time of the sale and this ought to be balanced back through the P&L to cost of goods, back to supplier invoices or records.
Take lotteries, all instant tickets and online sales ought to be reconciled to lottery sales in the software. The revenue ought to match. If it does;t you have a problem.
Ir is not acceptable to say it is too hard to balance. It is easy to balance when you have people who are committed to serving the business and those who own it.
Too often, business owners who find it too hard to balance later discover theft for which they only have themselves to blame.
The lottery ticket kiosk
In my trip to the US a week ago I saw several more lottery product kiosks. I have now seen these in five different states and in a variety of situations including in-store in supermarkets and convenience stores as well as in public areas in transit locations.
The unit in the photo sells lottery tickets as well as scratch tickets. While there is a warning about customers needing to be 18 or older, there is no mechanism as far as I could see to properly monitor or check the age of customers. I am surprised by this given the influence conservatives have over governments in the US.
These lottery kiosks and the expanding use of Apps to sell lottery products in Australia present a greater risk to newsagent lottery revenue than whether supermarket chains sell lottery products through their petrol outlets.
ACCC conference listens to newsagent concerns over proposed magazine supply changes
The ACCC conference to consider a trial of new magazine supply rules held yesterday in response to a request I submitted on behalf of newsXpress was well attended. Major magazine publishers attended along with the MPA, lawyers, the ANF, VANA and NANA, several newsagents and a rep from POS Solutions.
While the main conference room was at the ACCC offices in Sydney, there were video links to Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Darwin. There were six newsXpress newsagents who participated from five states and four independent newsagents. Nextra, The Lucky Charm, Supanews and Newspower were not represented.
This conference was a first for our channel. I cannot recall newsagents ever having this type of opportunity to speak directly to the ACCC on the issue of the magazine supply model or to confront magazine publishers and distributors directly on the damage to newsagency businesses of the magazine supply model.
I applaud those newsagents who participated. Our channel is full of people who complain and lacking people prepared to act rather than complain. Participating yesterday meant a day out of the business and being put in a situation which, for some, was confronting as you are face to face with suppliers which historically have done more to harm our channel than most others.
It is disappointing that associations presenting newsagents have failed to achieve this previously. Newsagents participating yesterday demonstrated that they can speak confidently and personally about the matter without getting too bogged down in minutia.
The conference went for two hours with around half in attendance speaking on the proposed magazine supply rule changes.
As I had requested the conference I was invited to make an opening statement. Click here to see the submission I made on behalf of newsXpress – my opening statement was a summary of this submission. I encourage all newsagents to read this as it summarises the concerns I have with the proposed magazine supply rule changes. Also read the MPA submission to which I was responding.
MPA and Bauer Media representatives at the conference said that the concerns raised were ill-founded in that newsagents would have control over supply and would be able to undertake early returns. My response was that if this is the case then why is it not reflected in the proposed supply rules put to the ACCC for its consideration.
There is a disconnect between what the MPA stated at the conference and what is in its submission to the ACCC for the magazine supply trial. I hope the ACCC considers this. It is covered by my submission to the ACCC.
There was considerable discussion about the failure of the magazine distributors to use the sales data provided by newsagents to set supply figures. In discussing data, a Bauer representative commented that there were many newsagency software packages, inferring working with them was difficult. I pointed out that they, Bauer, played a direct role in approving each newsagency software package for us.
Several newsagents challenged the ANF endorsement of the proposed new supply rule trial and that there had been no consultation. To this, the ANF CEO said there had been consultation citing an article in National Newsagent and a mention in an email to its members.
Had the ANF done its job it would have hosted national meetings where any newsagent could comment on the proposed trial. Indeed, the MPA could have organised such consultation. Instead, it relied on casual discussions with a select group of people and the submitted to the ACCC that it had consulted widely with all stakeholders.
I was given an opportunity toward the end of the ACCC conference to revisit some points made by others. At this time I asked the MPA if they had sought to understand what newsagents who are growing magazine sales had done/ The MPA representative said they had not and that it was not part of this trial.
My view is that this trial is about researching efficiency gain opportunities for magazine distributors and publishers. Those goals are wrapped up to look like there is a benefit for newsagents.
The new magazine supply model outlined by the MPA in their submission to the ACCC does not provide newsagents with any significant benefits, it will not make us more competitive, it will not stop oversupply, it will not make magazines more profitable for us, it will not stop newsagents reducing their commitment to magazines.
If the MPA did research newsagents who are growing magazine sales they would discover learnings which would be of more commercial benefit to the newsagency channel and magazine publishers.
Yesterday’s conference was another step in the process of consideration by the ACCC of the application by the MPA for authorisation for a trial of new magazine supply rules. The ACCC will consider yesterday’s conference, written submissions including the one I linked to above and any other submissions between now and mid May.
This is a vitally important matter for newsagents. If you have an opinion about the magazine supply model you need for magazines to be viable in your newsagency, I urge you to read the MPA application, my submission and consider engaging yourself. The more newsagents who engage the better regardless of your position.
There were some good discussions outside the ACCC meeting which gave me confidence that newsagents have got attention on this matter. Discussions over the next couple of weeks will demonstrate if progress can be made outside of the framework of what has been put to the ACCC on this.
Plush at the newsagency counter
We have a cute range of dogs at the counter on offer for pulse purchase. We have done this before with terrific success. The value is more than sales revenue – they are noticed by kids and adults, bringing a smile to many faces. Who can say no to an adorable dog?
Ikea in the social stationery business
I’m not sure when this happened: Ikea is in the social stationery business in a big way with colour-themed ranges. Their offer is a bit like Smiggle for a slightly older than Smuggle age group. Their n’store display and packaging is identical to what we can see in Coles right now for similar products.