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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Sunday newsagency management tip: How to quit stock in your newsagency

quittingstockIf you ever wonder about how to quit stock that is not moving in your newsagency, follow what the majors do. They take it off the usual shelving, stack it without car on temporary shelving in a high traffic location and they price it to sell.

The photo is of a discount placement in a Woolworths supermarket in Queensland. See the simple shelving they are using and their pricing approach.

This is what we have to do when quitting stock – be unglamorous with placement and generous with discount. If you want to quit, act like you really do.

This is one area of our business where we can learn a lot from the supermarkets.

10 likes
Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: setup a photo gallery

In a quiet part of your business setup a photo gallery or wall for displaying photos submitted by customers. Give the area fancy name related to the photos.

For example: [town name] SURPRISE CHRISTMAS PHOTO ART. In this example, create a small flyer now and hand it out to customers asking them to take photos of kids as they open gifts. They then bring in their best photo for displaying in your gallery. Families and friends will want to come in for a look as will others without families.

The opportunities for photo art displays are endless. Your newsagency can become known as the photo art place in town where people come and look and, hopefully, purchase.

Sure the photo idea is not directly connected to what you sell – it’s about generating net new traffic for you that no other shop in ton is generating.

I’d suggest you plan for up to six photo art displays each year. Try have ensure local themes. Here are suggestions for photo art displays you could consider:

  1. Local farm animals you’ll love.
  2. Old buildings in our town.
  3. Hidden gems you didn’t know were here.
  4. My dad the hero.
  5. Here’s why I love my mum
  6. Local Selfies 2015

Talk to your team, Ask for their ideas.

You’d need rules about what photos are acceptable, permission to display and a process for cataloguing what you display. Once you have done your first other displays should be easy to do.

If you go with this idea, promote it on social media, on flyers you have to customers and through your local paper – it’s a story they should love.

I did this in one of my businesses and had people coming into the shop with a photo who had never been in the shop before. Enough of them spent money to make this a valuable marketing campaign.

9 likes
marketing

Promoting The Saturday Paper

satpaperThis photo shows how the newsagency at Sydney International Airport has The Saturday Paper positioned today. Seeing it stacked high between The Sydney Morning Herald and AFR Weekend would warm the hearts of the folks who launched it this year.

7 likes
Newspapers

Terrific ads from Fairfax promoting newspapers

smhI like the ad campaign from Fairfax promoting their newspapers and featuring some of their best journalists and writers. This photo shows a digital ad at a Sydney airport newsagency. I have also seen the cinema, billboard and their TV ads in this series.

I like the campaign as it promotes a key point of difference for Fairfax – the people who uncover and write the stories. Stories make newspapers.

2 likes
Newspapers

Oops! Lord becomes Lard in a spelling or font failure

fontfailureWe did a double-take when we read the inscription on this religious Christmas ornament. Was unto really written as unta, born really barn and Lord really Lard?

Everyone we have shown the ornament agrees, each o in the text is an a. They they say leave it out on display and see what happens. So that’s what we have done for now. It is the type of thing I can see people buying and never reading because they know what it says.

8 likes
Newsagency management

Amazing Frozen sales drive newsagency traffic and revenue

frozencardsWe have Frozen products from five suppliers. While everything is selling well and we’ll sell out, the Hallmark sound cards with the Let It Go song from the movie is the hero product. We have ordered more stock and are certain to order more again next week.

Frozen is the licence of 2014 and having not only this card and the rest of the licenced products on the Hallmark stand but Frozen products from plenty more suppliers has enabled us to do well from the opportunity.

To those newsagents who ask how can I grow my business? or how can I make more money? here is a perfect example … engage with popular licences with products from multiple suppliers so that you have a depth to your offer. Stay away from the cheap crap as when it comes to licences, quality matters. Price is less of an issue.

You have to chase the product. If you get on a bandwagon like Frozen only when a rep comes to you you are most likely getting on board too late.

This is an excellent example of how to grow the newsagency. That said, be careful with Frozen as the market is saturated with product and you don’t want to be left with items once the craze has passed.

If you have not seen the movie and have no reference point for the Let It Go song, watch the video of the song here.

8 likes
Greeting Cards

Using your customer display to educate newsagency shoppers and drive engagement

dvcdispWe make thoughtful use of our customer displays connected to our POS software, carefully selecting what we show and when. Sometimes displays appear based on products purchased while other times we promote opportunities unique to us.

One effective promotion for us this one supporting discount vouchers. Other than the over the counter pitch, this ad on the digital customer display is the only mention of discount vouchers inside or outside the business. The ad on the display reminds shoppers to look for vouchers they may have. It also reinforces the pitch we make when we hand over a voucher.

Integrating an over the counter pitch with a visual cue such as what is showing on the digital customer display can increase customer awareness and from this flows engagement.

We don’t have any other digital advertising in the business as I only want to promote products available in my shop.

Note: I expect any POS software could offer what I am writing about here.

5 likes
marketing

Christmas cards selling well and early

IMG_0532We are seeing good early Christmas card sales from our placement of cardboard units on the lease line at the front of the shop. We are using the interactive and premium cards to attract shoppers as they are seen as a point of difference to the usual.

The stands are not moved in an out – this is important as it maintains their structural integrity.

We use the cardboard units as I don’t want to take cards off the wall for seasons as that costs sales of those cards taken down. Indeed, that was a valuable lesson to learn years ago.

Sales are good. I think we’re in for a good Christmas.

5 likes
Greeting Cards

Thanks Kara’s Aunty

Screen Shot 2014-11-28 at 2.12.41 pmTwitter can be inspiring sometimes. Check out the tweet I just found from @KarasAunty: Time we boycotted ALL chain supermarkets & reclaimed our High Streets. Local newsagents have emerged as the real stars 2day. . Great stuff.

The more newsagents on Twitter and engaging in relevant local community discussion the higher the profile for our channel.

5 likes
marketing

If you are selling kinetic sand

On The Living Room tonight on Network Ten Kinetic Sand is featured as a Christmas gift. If you sell this product make sure you have it out in a good location – to make the most of the publicity.

While the majors are now onto this product, our channel still has an opportunity here. We have sold more than $8,000.00 of this product in a few months.

7 likes
Newsagency opportunities

NSW Lotteries writes to newsagents

Click here to see the letter NSW Lotteries (Tatts) send newsagents. It includes this paragraph relating to product distribution:

Distribution of lottery products 
In terms of concerns about product distribution via supermarkets, Tatts Lotteries has been consistently open and transparent about the fact that a trial commenced in July 2013 selling lotto products in selected convenience fuel outlets in Victoria. The purpose of this trial is to thoroughly and carefully assess whether this new channel will provide an opportunity for Tatts Lotteries to capture incremental lottery sales. Results to date over an extended trial period of almost 18 months demonstrate this to be the case and accordingly the convenience fuel channel continues to be explored. However, we wish to reinforce that commentary by others that this trial indicates an intention to extend our retail reach to supermarkets, is an attempt to distort the reality and is not based on fact.

Further on the letter states:

As a consumer focused retail business, it is imperative that our products are conveniently available to our customers. As such NSW Lotteries must continue to respond to our customer’s needs, and it is in that context that we reiterate the value placed on newsagents facilitating this and that is why we are so committed to partnering with this retail channel going forward.

The letter also claims – NSW Lotteries focus has always been on driving growth for our partners.

As a public company, Tatts must put its shareholders above all others, they most do whatever is necessary to drive the share price. If this can be best achieved by growing the businesses of their partners like newsagents they will do it.  But shareholders must come first.

10 likes
Lotteries

Terrific product for newsagents in cattle country

driverThis is a product tip I heard about from Peter at newsXpress Emerald.  The Drover by photographer Al Mabin is a wonderful photography book documenting a 2,000km cattle run of 18,000 head of cattle through two states. It’s selling exceptionally well at newsXpress Emerald and could sell well in other cattle country areas. Here are reasons for newsagents to get behind The Drover: It is self published, it beautifully documents Australia and this Australian event, customers love it, it’s a great Aussie story. Contact Al directly to purchase the book at wholesale for sale in your newsagency. You can be part of a terrific local story.

9 likes
Book retailing

Pie Face a timely reminder about the importance of a healthy core

piefaceThe appointment of Administrators to the Pie Face retail chain is disappointing for a high-profile Aussie retail start up. It’s never good reading about a retail group in such trouble.

News reports this week have gone into some detail about challenges for the business that led to the owners bringing in the Administrators. The stories are a reminder to all retailers to ensure the core of your business is healthy.

The core of any retail business is fixed costs, traffic generation, current cash flow and future plans to grow traffic and sales. These all play into the health of any business. Weakness in one plays into another and another.  Each can be affected by weather, local economic conditions and consumer confidence. It’s why running a retail business is often compared to juggling.

To the credit of the owners of Pice Face, they are owning their situation and this is evidenced by them appointing managers.

Our channel continues to face extraordinary change. Like Pie Face we are in a competitive marketplace. Unlike Pie Face, our retail businesses have been around for a long time. Usually, longevity would be a foundation for strength. In our situation, longevity is a barrier to change.

The challenge for newsagents is to be alive to the challenges, be realistic in assessing your business health and acting early rather than late to build a better future.

While you may not feel a connection what is happening with Pie Face, there is one. Take a moment an consider your core health.

12 likes
Newsagency challenges

Newslink promoting crosswords throughout

newslinkadCheck out how Newslink in Brisbane airport is promoting crossword titles above magazine pockets. They had these located throughout the magazine department – promoting crossword titles to just about every magazine shopper. It’s an interesting approach – something newsagents could try.

2 likes
crosswords

Terrific promotion by The Courier Mail

cmadThe large electronic billboard out the front of the Brisbane News Corp. offices yesterday was proudly promoting The Courier Mail in a series of digital ads. While I’d like to have seen more promotion of print and newsagents, promoting the masthead on a corner with tons of traffic is good to see.

2 likes
Newspapers

Placement challenges when you have an extra title

magsbauerextraThis photo shows how one newsagent has placed the Yours / Woman’s Day discount bundle from Bauer. You can’t see the Yours masthead. Only the discount pitch is clear but that covers the magazine in the next pocket above. Maybe I am missing something – I don’t see how these discount bags work in newsagencies where space is limited and we are not paid to allocate it.

6 likes
Bagged magazines

The ANF advertises Officeworks on its website?

anfofficeworksThis image (click on it for a larger version) is a screen cap from the ANF website yesterday. It shows the last paragraphs of a news story about a newsagency on the ANF website. Immediately after the story is an ad promoting ink and toner at Officeworks.

The image was sent to me by a newsagent.

The ANF, the body that claims to represent newsagents is advertising one of our most aggressive big business  competitors.

There is no excuse for this.

I expect the ANF response to be something like – we have signed up for an ad feed and can’t control the ads or it’s the fault of our blog software.  To that I would say: you at the ANF, representatives of newsagents, need to be accountable for the decision that saw stories you publish about newsagents being used by Officeworks to grow their business and generate revenue for you.

The ANF is profiting by promoting a business competing with those the ANF claims to serve. The ads appear to be served through gravity.com. From what I can see, you need to register for Gravity. The Terms of Service show how little control the ANF has over advertising on its site.

Those responsible for Officeworks ads appearing on the ANF website ought to apologise to newsagents and resign.

Anyone from the ANF is welcome to respond here – as they always are.

21 likes
Newsagency management

News the loss leader to music?

Screen Shot 2014-11-25 at 2.22.37 pmI received this offer by email from Fairfax yesterday for The Age: $3.50 a week for digital access for six months. The bulk of the email was about the music offer: a free album to download every week of the six months. The value proposition is pitched in therms of music and not news. I found the offer to be interesting and disappointing – that they have to do this to get people to ‘pay’ for news.

6 likes
Media disruption

Loving graduation season

graduplushThe end of calendar year graduation season is the most successful for us. We sell more gifts and cards now than for the university season early in the new year. In the last week we’ve sold plenty of plush, cards and other gifts – up on last year. The key is having everything together to ‘own’ the space.

3 likes
Gifts

Is WWE Kids something we would want our kids to read

wkidsI am concerned that UFC, wrestling and similar programs educate kids to be violent. These shows glamorise it in an unhealthy way in my view. However, just as it’s not my place to determine what people can watch on TV, it is not my place to restrict what magazines they purchase. That said, I was surprised to see WWE Kids on the shelf in my newsagency. We received two copies and sold one.

3 likes
magazines

The Morning Bulletin: a good local newspaper

morningbullI was on Rockhampton yesterday and got to sample The Morning Bulletin, the local daily newspaper. If yesterday’s issue reflects their usual approach, The Morning Bulletin is a good local paper offering better coverage of local stories than we see in capital city suburbs. it had  a cover news story rather than political agenda setting. I’m glad I got to see it.

3 likes
Newspapers
Trending Articles

Fairfax changes approach to TV Guide, disrespects newsagents

Published on April 20, 2011

What do you think of the Powerball changes?

Published on February 16, 2018

IPS releases new magazine contracts

Published on June 21, 2011