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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Interest in tablet computer magazines on the wane?

Check out the fascinating article at GIGAOM on the waning interest in tablet magazines – magazines published through iTunes and the like for reading on the iPad and other tablets.

The Newsstand and tablet magazine honeymoon is over. Apple knows it. The industry knows it. And consumers have made it painfully clear for far too long.

As Twitter and other social media platform use shows, story form preferences are changing. While longer format interest will continue, volume traffic today is more about more immediate shorter form and more accessible content.

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Media disruption

How to protect your newsagency business when an employee leaves

Here are some simple steps to consider taking when an employee stops working for you. These steps are designed to protect your business and the former employee.

  1. Change your locks. If you’re in a high-street situation and if the employee had keys, changing the locks is important, especially if the employee has left under a cloud.
  2. Change all your computer passwords – regardless of whether they had access to these or not.
  3. Change your supplier website access passwords.
  4. If your employee did any buying, advise your suppliers of their departure.
  5. Ensure superannuation is up to date.
  6. Have business-supplied uniforms and name badges returned.

Too often business owners don’t consider steps like these until after an incident has occurred.

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Management tip

Take 5 and That’s Life

deay-t5tlWhile I have only looked at decay data for less than twenty newsagencies, it appears that the move to a Thursday on-sale for Take 5 and That’s Life has slightly challenged sales in newsagencies. The image on the screen is a blended result of data from businesses that are open seven days, all day every day. You can see that whereas from the Wednesday delivery (the red line) we had four days of measurable sales, from the Thursday delivery (the black line) we have three. Knowing this should focus our attention on Thursday through Saturday more.

In the data I have seen, some weeks are up on last year and others are down so for me, the jury is still out on the overall impact of the shift of on-sale on these two titles.

The small bump registering on Wednesdays for the Thursday on-sale data is, I suspect, from customers yet to realise the change of day.

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magazines

Promoting Men’s Health

magsmenshdec2013We’re promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine in our men’s reading area with this aisle end display. We’re also pitching the title as an ideal Christmas gift for a guy as part of a group of titles elsewhere in the store. Plus we have it in its usual location.

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magazines

Note to magazine publishers: delayed billing will NOT reduce early returns

Newsagents are being swamped with titles where billing is delayed. It feels like title range and volume has increased as a result. This is nuts. I early return a title based on its sales performance and not based on when it will be billed. Retail space has a cost. Delayed billing will not and should not remove a title from consideration for early return. Anyone saying otherwise to magazine publishers is not accurately representing newsagents – the people paying for the retail space, labour and shrinkage in newsagencies.

Publishers: Stop using us as your warehouse. If your title has an on-sale of more than  four weeks, hold the stock and send additional stock bales on our sales data. While your distributor may say that they don’t have accurate sales data, challenge them as they are probably wrong.

If the increase in delayed billing titles does not stop more newsagents will strike out by cutting magazine space and sending more titles back early.

For Christmas, newsagents want magazine distributors and some magazine publishers to treat them with more respect.

There was a time delayed billing was used by a few publishers with care. The free for all we are seeing now has ruined it for everyone.

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magazine distribution

Australiana Christmas ornaments sell out

xmasaustralianaWe have sold out of our Australiana Christmas ornaments and other Australiana-themed Christmas items faster this year and we had more stock. My could have ordered double … maybe next year. Price was not an issue because not many other retailers in our centre had Australiana themed ornaments. If only we knew we would have a point of difference.

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Gifts

Here’s one reason food magazine sales are not as strong

magscolesfoodThe food magazines made freely available at checkout counters of Coles and Woolworths are excellent publications, far superior today than was was available even a couple of years ago.

Looking at the Christmas edition of the Coles magazine custom published for Coles by Bauer.  This is a publication they proclaim is Australia’s No. 1 food magazine – I can see why people would be satisfied with this as their Christmas food magazine. For free they get access to recipes from Curtis Stone and others, baking tips, presentation ideas and plenty more. Someone on a budget wanting inspiration for Christmas food ideas will get it with this title.

That they can pick up the title for free at Coles could give shoppers reason to not visit their local newsagency to browse a broader range of food titles. There’s no point in complaining since Coles is doing what they need to do to drive sales. The magazine does that well through ads and editorial content. The consequence for newsagents, I think, is less of an appetite for the everyday food titles we sell.

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magazines

No choice but to early return Dolly

magsdollyexcessOur supply of Dolly was increased significantly even though previous issues were not coming close to selling out. While I would not usually early return such a major title I had no choice given the gross oversupply and no storage space for such a thick issue where we can fit only one copy per pocket.

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Magazine oversupply

Sunday newsagency management tip: take a walk

It’s tough work running a newsagency, working 70, 80 and more hours a week covering many tasks from business manager to cleaner to customer service to creating retail displays. There is always something to do. Some days it can feel like no matter what you do you have more to do at the end of the day than when you started.

No matter how busy you are in your newsagency I urge you to take time out every day for a brisk 20 to 30 minute walk outside, in the sun, alone. Leave your phone behind – the shop worn’t burn down. Time yourself and try and get at least 3k, preferably 4k, of walking in.  Getting your heart rate up will be good for your physical and mental health.

If walking every day during the day is too much of a challenge, try it early in the morning or once you close at night.

Being away from the business, other people an the phone will give your body and mind time to process. I walk between 8k and 10k every day. It’s the lunchtime walk that’s the best as it refreshes me for the afternoon. I find the business benefits of walking outside in the sun are considerable.

See the Vic. Government website for health benefits of walking for a brisk 30 minute walk each day. See the SA Government website where they talk about walking making us happy.

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: change your layout

This marketing tip is for this last ten days before Christmas when every newsagency should be at their busiest. With all the marketing activity from major retailers now is not the best time for small businesses to spend as your voice will be drowned out. Instead, focus your marketing attention inside your business. Work to leverage existing shopper traffic.

Change things around. Move your highest traffic items to a different location to disrupt shopper flow so that they see the products they may have missed before. Newsagents often complain that shoppers don’t notice things. This is because the newsagencies don’t change that much.

By making two or three tactical moves you could get existing shoppers spending more. We did this just over a week ago with a significant move for weekly magazines. In the last seven days to last night weekly magazine sales are up 7%. This is more than overall growth for magazines.

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marketing

Off-location promotion of Better Homes and Gardens attracts impulse purchase

magsbhgtvcWe have ordered more stock of the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens on the back of success with this off-location promotion using a single purpose stand placed so that all of our magazine and newspaper shoppers will pass it. Many of our plush customers will also pass this stand. Sales are ahead of usual for the January issue at this short time in the on-sale. I think that’s helped by the stunning cover (a delicious-looking trifle that featured on the TV show on Friday night) and this second location promotion of the magazine.

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magazines

Featuring Australian Traveller

magsaustravellerWe are giving the latest Australian Traveller magazine (with the popular reader’s choice awards) time in the spotlight with placement between our two daily newspapers. A couple of minutes work achieves extra sales. Newsagents can grow magazine sales.

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magazines

The Grinch sells Christmas candy

xmasgrinchThis pack of Christmas Grinch Medication is a sell out for us. In less than a week it’s gone. Customers buying it usually have someone in mind. It’s fun listening to their stories and the Grinch they will give the medication to. Fun products like this make Christmas in retail more enjoyable!

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confectionary

Stunning sales of frankie magazine

The performance of the latest issue of frankie magazine has been stunning. We have sold 75% of our stock and ordered more. The higher cover price has not hurt sales whatsoever. Our additional support and the promotion by the publisher is paying off. Newsagents can grow magazine sales with the right product and store level engagement.

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magazines

Impulse lines off the charts this Christmas

splatballOne newsagent was putting out boxes of impulse lines a week ago and one customer purchases four full boxes spending close to $300. While we have not experienced that, our impulse lines of funky gifts and toys are going exceptionally well. These Sp;at Balls are a good example – selling out in a week. These types of products are terrific financially and enjoyable for the delight they bring our shoppers.

While Christmas decorations and gifts are performing well, it’s impulse lines we are spending the most time keeping up with. Thankfully suppliers are topping up quickly.

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Fun

Blogging software update

The software managing this blog has been further updated. While most of the changes are behind the scenes, one change makes it easier for people to read and comment from their smart phone or tablet device. Enjoy.

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About us

OK! exclusive at Coles

magsokcolesThe card holding the free gift of Ella Baché instant summer tan in the current issue of OK! magazine at Coles says Only at Coles. While I understand the importance of different channels offering gifts with purchase at different times, promoting a gift as only at Coles on the magazine is not ideal. I don’t recall a gift with purchase being promoted or ow with the title like this as only at newsagents.

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magazines

Promoting Holden magazines on the back of the General Motors decision

holden-magazineWhile it may be opportunistic and/or bad taste, I wonder if there is value in us promoting or drawing attention to Holden themed titles with a get them while you can or similar promotion. While I am sure these titles will be published for many years, there would be nothing stopping us trading off fear .I’m not advocating this, just asking the question.

On the decision by GM to quit manufacturing in Australia, it’s disappointing. I worked for the company as an IBM Systems Programmer three years before starting my software company. While I enjoyed my two years there, the future of such labour intensive manufacturing in Australia was challenged the moment the world embraced a more global approach to trade.

You can’t have a fair global economy when resources central to manufacture are priced so differently in different countries and where some countries bend fair trade rules to make local products financially more appealing. We as a country need decide how we see ourselves playing in the global economy. We need economic settings that facilitate developing industries that are globally competitive. We need education policies that create a workforce that serves this.

The settings over multiple federal and state governments, covering decades, have failed us, they have not positioned Australia for the global market nor have they not positioned us as they might for the information age of this century.

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magazines

Relaying crosswords by brand drives sales

magazine-display-adviceI relayed the crossword section in a newsagency earlier this week to give greater prominence to Lovatts titles as the key brand in the crossword department and to use the AWW puzzle book as a border for the section.

The display before was a mess: Lovatts titles were sprinkled through and thereby missing an opportunity to promote the brand; the AWW puzzle book was lost; there was no order.

The display looked old and unappealing.

Blocking the titles, leveraging known brands and refreshing the offer shows the business taking pride in crossword titles. This will increase sales. Crossword magazine customers are loyal.

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crosswords

New introductory video for the newsagency blog

I shot a new introductory video for this blog earlier this week to outline my goals here and to explain what this place is all about. The old video was being viewed 20 to 30 times a week and had been live for almost a year and I felt it was time for a change. Here’s the new video (it’s also on the top right corner of the home page):

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About us

Tatts is growing an online community of instant scratch ticket customers

scratcheclubAt Westfield Bondi shopping mall earlier this week I noticed this sign promoting instant scratch tickets outside of Coles. While there was no mention of retailers selling scratch tickets, the poster promoted scratcheclub.com.au. This is a Tatts owned website where scratch ticket customers can enter second chance draws, participate in a birthday draw, play puzzles and engage in other scratch ticket related activity.

Nowhere on the website are retailers promoted and this makes me wonder if this is site is about harvesting customer details for some other online engagement.

If I was a lottery retailer, investing in promoting Tatts related brands as contractually required by the company, I’d be asking tatts about their plans for this site; why they are not promoting retailers; and, why they are running a second chance  draw when many of their retailers already do this.

If I was a Tatts shareholder I would be hoping that the company is developing a direct relationship with people buying its products as part of a plan to migrate more business online and thereby reduce product distribution costs.

Newsagents and lottery agents need to be aware of Scratcheclub at the very least. This could be a development that needs to be considered as part of your business planning.

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Lotteries

Good Christmas gift wrap add-on

xmasscissorsI love the Christmas-themed scissors we sourced for placement with Christmas wrap. They are an easy add-on purchase, delivering terrific extra margin dollars to a basket. Placement is everything for getting the additional purchase of these scissors though. They have to be with Christmas wrap and cards. We have them placed vertically on a clip-strip.

These scissors were sourced from Pilot.

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Newsagency opportunities
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