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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Digital versus print challenges of The New York Times speak to local challenges

Digiday has published a fascinating report into the digital challenges being confronted by The New York Times. The graphs in the report show excellent growth in digital access while at the same time showing the high cost of serving the declining and unprofitable print consumer. It’s the biggest single challenge facing newspaper companies, the reason for so many changes at Fairfax and more to come.

The biggest single challenge publishers face is how to monetise traffic to their sites and individual stories. The reason this is a challenge is because they have looked at with experience in and from the perspective of selling display ads and classified ads in the print world. Monetisation of digital content needs a completely different .NET approach. A publisher who gets this and acts should do well. A traditional pay wall is not the answer.

If I was running a publishing business I’d be pursuing multiple models at once – including following the model that is working so well for in-game purchasing as people are happy to pay a small fee to get to the next step.  Let me buy a story for a few cents. Let me follow a story for a bit more.  However, with so much content available freely it is hard for a publisher to have a genuine exclusive like game makers have. I’d also be investing in a Twitter like platform for trusted news – people will want that with Twitter being filled more with junk content and advertising.

Look at the MH370 story. While I would not sign up to a masthead based on the story I’d have paid for 7, 14, or 30 days of trusted coverage on this story alone.

Publishers need to come up with new entry points to paying for content – beyond the masthead.

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Media disruption

Pointless drug related crime

On Saturday night the back door and the outer steel security door of a high street retail business I own were smashed and thousands of dollars in cash (two days takings) was taken along with more than five thousand dollars worth of stock.

The theft was committed at 4:30am. We have photos and video of those involved. On the evidence, the police confident that it is a drug related crime.

What shocked me was a comment by the police that the money will be spent by those involved within 48 hours, that they will be high for a couple of days, down for a couple of days after than and then on the look out for their next payday.

Stock and doors can be replaced and insurance can cover some of the cash. The business disruption is frustrating as is the process of claiming on insurance. All because someone wants to get high.

The police expect no jail time, some community service and no attention to what caused them to steal i the first place.

I have no idea what the answer is and no, I am not suggesting that jail time resolves drug related crime. Naively, I wish there was a solution for the addiction that is at the root of this crime.

What I do know is that this business feels a bit less safe than a few days and and that means a bit less enjoyment for those who work there and maybe some who shop there.

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theft

Rough start for changes in printing The Age

The switch in printing location for The Age has made for late deliveries and this is causing some challenges for distribution and retail newsagents.

I have heard from a couple of retail newsagents who have been told they have to go pick up The Age because it arrived too late for them to deliver. It arrived before 7am. I suspect Fairfax would not be happy with this.

I understood that distribution newsagents had to deliver to retail newsagents no matter what time the papers arrived.

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Newspaper distribution

A Mary Berry fest

aryberryUK food TV star Mary Berry is on the cover of Woman’s Weekly Healthy Living, My Weekly and Cook Vegetarian right now – giving us an excellent opportunity to place all titles next to each other. You don’t need to know who she is – just recognise her face on the covers and encourage shoppers interested in Mary to purchase all three titles. A simple move could get you some extra sales.

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magazines

Featuring Women’s Health

magswhWe are featuring the latest issue of Women’s Health magazine with this placement above other titles that appeal to the same shopper. The Women’s Health placement has been done to achieve impulse purchases of this title by shoppers purchasing the magazines below it – in their usual location. We often sell more copies of Women’s Health outside the health section of the magazine department.

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magazines

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: who buys this?

plushplushEvery time you place a product on your shop floor or on your shelves you have to step back, look at the placement and ask who WHO BUYS THIS? Once you have your answer, look at what else is placed with the product and ask the same question.

If you place items next to each other that attract different shoppers you may be holding back from what you could achieve with better placement. Okay, there is an opportunity to argue that this type of competitive placement gets products seen by people who would not usually see them. I can agree with that. However, I prefer to place products that appeal to the same shopper together – to create a more compelling display targeting that shopper. I prefer to zone the shop for destination shopping.

In every department I do this: magazines, stationery, gifts, plush – much the same way as the card companies do it when they plan your card department. They do it for a reason, they deliberately place products next to each other. Why do it in the rest of your newsagency?

Deliberately and thoughtfully place products on the floor or on shelves taking care to place them with other products that appeal to the same shopper and I expect you will help drive an increase in sales.

Your newsagency software can help by reporting what sells with what. I often look here for ideas on ideal product adjacencies.

The photo shows a deliberate placement move at the front of the newsagency this weekend – the new Itty Bitty plush stand from Hallmark next to another plush stand and behind that another plush stand – all in a line. They all attract the same shopper. $500 in sales yesterday from the three stands tells me the placement is right.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: dress for work

I saw a photo of a newsagent behind the counter of their newsagency published by a major news outlet this week and the newsagent was dressed as if going to a BBQ or a sports game. They looked ok – neat and tidy – but they were not dressed for work.

The photo gave the impression of the business being small and local – and while that’s an impression something some newsagents want to give off, it does not help you compete against our biggest competition.

While I get that our businesses are local and more friendly places than a major supermarket or c-store outlet, we need to come to work each day looking professional and connected with the brand under which we trade.

We need to dress like we mean business. We need to dress with authority. We need to dress like our customers can trust us.

Dressing for business will help you win more business – especially when you approach nearby businesses for their accounts.

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Management tip

Weekly magazine sales continue to grow in May

mscmay2014Further to my post yesterday commenting on the January – March magazine audit result, I checked my numbers for May so far – weekly magazine unit sales are up 11% for the first 16 days of May compared to the same period a year earlier. Click on the image and see the data for yourself. I’m posting it here to encourage other newsagents to chase growth. I’m achieving this with no additional promotion except for a consistent customer service loyalty offering.

Newsagents can grow magazine sales.

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magazines

Chicken and papers go together

chickenpapersThe best place for the Better Basics Your best-ever Chicken Cookbook is with newspapers this weekend. It;s an ideal weekend shopper title. We have it in this locations as week as with food and a pocket with weeklies. Good sales so far.

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magazines

Weekly magazine circulation decline and how it’s not a one size fits all result

The sales of all weekly magazines declined in the first three months of 2014 the latest circulation audit reports. The results marsh what I reported in the newsagency sales benchmark report earlier this week except that in my benchmark I get down to a store level and see some newsagents bucking the trend.

Zoo Weekly dropping 36% has to be a concern not only for the title but the lads mags genre. That’s Life dropped 5% while Take 5 dropped 7.4%.New Idea dropped 4.1% while Woman’s Day dropped 5.5%. OK! dropped 16.3% while Who dropped 7%. Famous dropped 21.8% while NW dropped 16.7%. The Famous result notwithstanding, Pacific Magazines would have to be happy in these head to head competitive situations with Bauer.

In my own newsagency weekly magazine sales for the same quarter were up 4%, giving this business an eight percentage point break ahead of the average for weekly magazines. Warning as I’m about to toot my own horn. My result against the average shows that I am doing something right since my weekly magazine performance is ahead of the newsagency traffic result and ahead of other measures. Specifically, there are things I am doing with and for weeklies that is working well for them and magazines overall where my unit sales are up 11% year on year.

I am certain that other newsagents doing what I do with magazines and in the business overall as obsessively as I do it could achieve a similar result.

Newsagents can grow magazine sales. While some titles and some issues of some titles respond better than others there are moves we can make at the store level that grow our sales.

While I leverage some national campaigns by publishers, I rely more on what I do in store. I obsess about it because for the next few years at least magazines are vitally important to the traffic plan for my business.

mUmBRELLA and a full report on the audit results.

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magazines

Telling a story

giftscardsRetail is all about telling a story, guiding the customer to browse and purchase based on the story.

This photo shows an excellent example of telling a story – the blending of cards and gifts from two suppliers but leveraging one licence – to create a cohesive display that stand s out.

This display is in a newsagency. I mention that as it’s not something you would have seen in a  newsagency a few years ago.

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retail

Lego stationery very cool

legostatIn an Officeworks this week I noticed Lego branded stationery. I must have missed the launch of this range. It’s something we could easily sell in newsagencies with other Lego brand product being available to us.. It’s an excellent example of selling stationery outside the stationery department.

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Stationery

Spaces magazine #2 looks very cool

spacesmagNewsagents should take a look at the opportunity of Spaces magazine issue #2 . Spaces is from the people behind frankie magazine. It’s a title you will need to order from Gotch if you’re not down for any.  The on-sale is June 2, 2014.  The note from the publisher explains: This unique collection of homes and creative space celebrates the importance of home to a creative bunch of Australians. Whilst not fancy, these homes and ‘Spaces’ encapsulate what is precious to Australians and our home environs!

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magazines

Coles magazine display unit funded by suppliers?

colesmagsIn an inner-suburban Coles last night I noticed this display unit placed in the entrance, just after where shoppers pick up baskets – near the self checkout area. Behind the magazines on two sides were stickers indicating title placement.

Given how supermarkets manage floorspace I suspect Coles is being paid for the floorspace taken by this unit – unless this is a trial in which case I expect they would be paid if it moves to wider roll out.

The challenge with this unit will be in keeping it stocked and products in the right location. I checked each pocket and outside of the newspapers only five pockets had the right title in the right location.

This unit is the third location for magazines in this supermarket.

I am not complaining about the unit as I don’t want something this size. However, I do think it is smart to have major magazine titles and newspapers together in a cohesive and easy to maintain front of store offer like this.

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Competition

Don’t you love customers relaying products in your shop?

cosmobarleyIn a Coles supermarket last at first I wondered if they were promoting Cosmopolitan with Pearl Barley. I soon realised they were a victim of a customer dumping a product far away from where it should be.

This poor behaviour by customers costs all retailers and probably some sales. But there is no stopping it. In fact, it probably helps in that we get on the shop floor putting things back where they should be and soon realise other opportunities.

Occasionally, where a customer dumps something they don’t want shows a placement opportunity previously overlooked. It’s very cool when this happens.

Let us know what you think about customers dumping products out of place like this.

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magazines

A golden age of news access

We are in a golden age of news sources in Australia., In addition to the brands we know from Fairfax and News and the long term online and email offering from Crikey, we now have The Guardian, The Conversation, The News Daily, Mail Online as well as the ABC and its various offerings as well as Yahoo7 and other established online offerings.

It is terrific having all these voices so accessible.

The competition from the new players must be frustrating News and Fairfax as they play in a crowded signal market when their history has been in a relatively uncrowded print market.

This is on my mind tonight because I’ve enjoyed some time reading post-budget analysis and realised that now in 2014 I have access to a broader range of views than previously. I like that.

Whereas in the past there was a Fairfax view and a News view, now we more voices in the room. This makes us a better informed people and better informed people make better decisions.

Cheers for the Internet and the media diversity it encourages.

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Media disruption

Newsagency marketing: a card leads to a soft toy leads to a gift

A ada purchasing a Mother’s Day card on Saturday was thrilled with the $1.50 discount voucher he received. His daughter grabbed it and said now can I get it – she ran and brought one of the $12.95 Beanie Boos from our stand out the front of the newsagency. Ok said the dad. They received another discount voucher, this time for under a dollar. They left happy only to return a couple of minutes later with a mug for Mum for Mother’s Day.

The gift they had planned for mum was a dinner in the Dandenongs but they decided to add the mug because of the $1.25 discount voucher.  A total of $33.85 in purchases over three transactions and a total discount of $2.75. Our investment of $2.75 lifted their spend with us from $7.95 to $33.85. I am thrilled with that.

These are not regular customers – they were at the shopping centre because they were attending a sports event nearby.

This is an excellent example of where a traditional points-based, card-based, loyalty program would not have led to the same commercially valuable result for us.

When you develop a loyalty program for your newsagency, make sure that you offer a program that customers love, is easy to engage with and actually drives sales. 

I think the discount vouchers program I am running in this newsagency is a key factor in our 11% Jan-Mar 2014 vs. 2013 magazine unit sales lift.

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Management tip

Is Supanews using its franchisees to compete with them?

supanewsbagSupanews head office supplies its franchisees with bags for shoppers. The only promotion on the bags is for the website:  www.supanews.com and note that this website is owned and operated by a Hong Kong business an that items at the site cannot be purchased through any Supanews retail store.

Besides the confusing message of what a shopper can access in a bricks and mortar store versus the website trading under the same brand (read the note at the bottom of the bag) is the question some Supanews franchisees are asking – is this our franchisor competing with us?

I am told that Supanews representatives have said they do not own the Hong Kong business that owns the website. In following the company registration trail to an accountants office in Hong Kong. While I can’t answer the question about ownership, if I were a Supanews franchisee I’d be taking steps to get clarity as to who owns the business behind www.supanews.com.au. I would also demand that the franchisor stop using my franchised business to promote a business off of which I gain no revenue.

Click on the bag to read the detail.

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Ethics

Good use of a QR code to engage newspaper readers

QRCThe New Zealand Herald uses a QR code to make it easier for readers to submit a letter to the editor for consideration. This is a smart use of a QR code. I mention it here because newsagents are yet to embrace QR codes in-store to drive shopper engagement -whereas big businesses in Australia and worldwide regularly use them to facilitate engagement.

A while back I launched a completely free QR code generation and content hosting platform – QRki – for any small independent retail (and other) business to use in the world. I funded the development of QRki and cover hosting costs as part of my commitment to support small and independent retailers.

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newsagency marketing

Small business newsagents and the budget

We are being bombarded with words about the Federal Budget last night so I figured I join the fray – not on the whole thing as that will just anger but more on some points that relate to small business newsagents.

Those of us making a profit will gain from the cut in company tax is it passes in parliament. We will benefit if the commitment to finally address unfair contracts with small businesses comes to fruition.

Changes to training programs could increase labour costs.

The big question is how consumers will react, especially in the hardest middle and low income areas where benefits have been cut and new taxes imposed such as the $7 GP co-payment … it’s a tax, right? Newsagencies serving such hit families in number could feel an impact at the register.

The biggest impact on newsagency businesses from this budget will be felt in consumer behaviour. If people have less money in their pocket they will spend less. If they feel at a greater financial risk they will spend less. Given the imbalance of those hit by this budget, we ought to expect impacts.

Now is the time to adjust our businesses for such impacts.

While I appreciate the cut in company tax and the commitment on contracts, these are less tangible to me than families serve having less disposable income.

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Newsagency management

Why I don’t feel sorry for Australia Post

I am surprised at the easy run journalists and news outlets have given Australia Post over the last few days, reporting on the decline in the use of letter mail, that AP will open Saturdays and that the organisation faces challenges that if not met could require financial support from government.

The decline in mail is not unexpected – I’ve been reading about it for more than ten years. Australia Post leadership should have been factoring this into their plans for at least that long as should their shareholders.

As for the comment that they could be in a position of needing government support, Australia Post has, as I understand it, provided the government of the day with excellent dividends. Why did the organisation and or politicians plan for structural change and retain some of these funds to help it navigate changing circumstances.

Australia Post government owned retail outlets in shopping centres have had a dream run for decades, trading under the protection of government ownership while they targeted family run newsagencies. I know from personal experience they were not forced to open in low trading periods when penalty rates applied. My newsagency was price checked by government employees as they sought to take sales from us.

Special treatment by the landlord is one of several benefits they had as an ‘essential service retailer’.

No, I don’t feel sorry for Australia Post.

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Australia Post

Officeworks is not cheap for ink or stationery

oworksI posted an update on Linked In connecting to my blog post yesterday about Officeworks price comparing ink. Almost straight away an ad on my Linked In page appeared for Officeworks. Creepy. Then I read the ad – 20 years of helping businesses grow. Yeah. 20 years of trying to take business from small business newsagents using clever advertising that makes Officeworks look like it has good prices when it waits for others to pitch on price and all Officeworks does is says ME TOO!

I think Officeworks is lazy when it comes to advertising. They know people are price sensitive and will buy from where they think they will get the best price. They also know there is a difference between someone thinking they will get a good price and them actually checking to ensure that they really do get a good price.

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Competition
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