These Jelly Rings sell better at the counter if one in the display unit is turned on. One flashing attracts attention and attention = sales.
From Independence Studios, the Jelly Rings are part of a range of counter and candy-lane products we embrace. While not for everyone, they work for us as we are surrounded by retailers with discounted candy.
I’m shooting a video of the presentation I gave at each of the GNS Market Fairs over the last two months, to make the content accessible from the GNS website and from here. GNS is loading videos of all the presentations. The video content will be an advance on what I covered at GNS thanks to questions and feedback. It will be skewed more to independent newsagents as that’s who tended to take part in the sessions.
VANA yesterday advised Victorian newsagents that they should not sign the Hubbed contract at this time. here is their announcement in full:
VANA’s position on Hubbed
By VANA News | September 13, 2013 | Nparcel Leave a commentThere has been much talk within the industry lately about the ANF’s endorsed company ‘Hubbed”. VANA also understands that the Hubbed team are visiting Victorian Newsagents to introduce the platform to them. As expected, VANA is receiving enquires from members as to our position and recommendation.
The VANA Board was given a presentation by Hubbed CEO David Mclean at our May Board meeting, and has also had many conversations with ANF CEO, Alf Maccioni in relation to the platform.
VANA received a copy of a Hubbed contract and VANA’s solicitors have given us a list of issues and concerns involving this. On Thursday 29th August, VANA met with the ANF to enquire about these issues and on Friday 30th, a list of issues was submitted to Hubbed CEO, David McLean. These questions have been answered and after further discussions, Hubbed has released another version of their contract.
VANA’s advice to Newsagents today is to not sign a Hubbed contract until the final version of the contract is available for all to see, understand and evaluate. Newsagents MUST seek their own professional advice on this contract if they wish to participate as the platform does commit newsagents to a contract term and at a monetary cost, amongst many other things.
VANA also has concerns over the ANF 5% shareholding in Hubbed and the ANF’s ability to have an influence in making sure newsagents are protected.
This issue will be discussed further at our next Board meeting. VANA will continue to update members if any more information comes to hand. If you have any questions in relation to this announcement, please contact The VANA team.
I have expressed some of these concerns here on August 20 and here on August 26. It is good to see newsagent associations doing what associations should do when a new business opportunity enters their marketplace. This is what members expect.
If the Hubbed offer is as good as Hubbed and the ANF say it is they will welcome the scrutiny.
We introduced the Melissa and Doug educational classic toy range to one of my newsagencies last week and while the display oin the lease line facing into the mall looked good, I felt it could look better. Here are before and after photos. Click on them for bigger size.
Here is the display as it looked yesterday when I saw it for the first time. The product was well laid out and there was good use of the Melissa and Doug logo. Seeing it though I felt it lacked what I’d call ownership of the space for the brand.
Here is the display after we had made one change, the introduction of a black cloth backdrop covering the beanie Kids fixture behind the melissa and Doug product. This simple change makes a huge difference. Now the Melissa and Doug products own the space.
Visual merchandising is all about making the product the hero, making it stand out to shoppers in your store and walking past your store. While the only test that matters is if the product sells, it will sell if it is displayed in to sell.
Since I am not in the newsagency full time it is easy to walk in and notice things people who are there all the time may miss. I appreciate their patience and cheerfulness in letting me do this and then leave while they change things.
The first display was not bad at all but I knew it could be better. Hence the small change.
sales of melissa and Doug product are excellent. We’ve reordered.
Another magazine move we have made this week is to shift our magazines that are purchased by our older shoppers together and placed them opposite our weeklies at the entrance to the magazine aisle.
We are adding more titles here as these customers are valuable for magazines, cards and gifts. We want to better serve their needs.
This posts and others recently documenting magazine placement adjustments and our overall magazine relay strategy demonstrate our commitment to magazines. We are committed because growth is achievable. Magazine customers are vital because they shop by habit.
We’ve sold out of marie claire as have many other newsagents and there is no spare stock to be found. While it’s a good problem it have it’s proving to be frustrating to regular customers who have not purchased their copy yet. We’re using it as an opportunity to remind them of our magazine putaway service.
I love this disco robot product for the fun it brings to the shop floor and for the easy sales it’s generating. I also love the appeal to a younger shopper and those who buy for younger shoppers.
Robotic products are huge in the US. In fact toy retailers there say the robot category will be the break-out this Christmas across several age groups. We are yet to see the US robot range hit Australia.
Playing a video of the robot in action is proving to be key in driving sales.
Here’s a photo sent to my by a newsagent this morning after they have removed the subscription ads from the front page of the Herald Sun newspapers they were delivered for sale in-store today. Fair enough I say. While I understand why newspaper publishers want to promote newspaper home deliveries, let them do it inside the newspaper and not with an ad stuck over the day’s front page news.
Here is another newsagency performance assessment I have undertaken. This business is interesting in that they have taken some excellent steps that are paying off and now they want to achieve more. Here is what I have written to them after looking at their data:
In reviewing the performance of the business I’ve looked at your sales and basket data for May through July this year compared to the same period a year ago. While I understand the business is quite seasonal, I am comparing like for like.
Some comments I make may come across as rude. That’s not my intention. The facts as I see them are the facts. This is where data is vital in guiding business planning and decisions. I see too many newsagencies being run on gut feel and emotion and not enough running based on data.
- Overall traffic. Down 3%. While this is within trend for newsagencies, you need to be considering what you can do to drive new traffic. This could include promotion outside the business, window displays, community engagement or a host of other ideas. The question you have to ask is: what am I doing to attract more shoppers to my business? I appreciate this is challenging in a small town but take your time and think about what you could do to atract people from, say, 20km away. Don’t restrict your view of your business to only those nearby.
- Cards. No change in sales. While this is okay in that sales have not dropped, they have not grown either. 23% of your cards are in unknown category. This needs to be fixed. Call the help desk and your card co to sort out why electronic invoice data is not being allocated. That said, there is some interesting data: 5.88% of card sales are sympathy! Cards overall account for 10% of your sales. It’s vital this is lifted to between 15% and 20%. This can be achieved with a card re-plan, marketing, a change in shopper engagement and maybe a rewards program for card shoppers. With your annual card sales at around $60,000 I suspect you could negotiate a more valuable card supplier relationship.
- Gifts. This is a terrific success story you’ve built. Sales of $5,235 – up 24% year on year. The only problem is that you are not categorising your gifts so it is hard to see what is selling and what is not selling. Your ration of gift sales to cards is well above average – this is good news.
- Magazines. Your magazine sales are strong. I notice that Home & Lifestyle has 10.73% of your sales. This is above average. If you’re looking for new gift lines consider items in these types of magazines as your customers are in that space. Also you have strong craft magazine sales – 9.79% of total magazine sales. This is another example of guidance for gift expansion. Your magazine data indicates around two thirds of your shoppers are women or they are at least shopping for women. Magazines account for 39.02% of your sales. This is too high. The business needs balancing to higher margin lines.
- Stationery. Sales are down 2% which is not bad compared to others. I’d love to be able to provide more insights but your data does not allow this. You have to sort out unknown category by arriving stock electronically and allocating this to categories within stationery. Otherwise you don’t know what you are selling for sure.
Given your location, in a country town with a population of 800, I can imagine that you see your opportunities for growth as being limited. maybe in the immediate area they are. I think it’s important to not be bound by borders as you see them. I also think its important you run your business as if your toughest competitor is right next door. Aim to be the best retailer in town.
Here are my thoughts on how I might approach your situation and desire for growth. Some are easy to implement immediate options while others involve research and planning. Some are mutually exclusive. Consider the list a list of options for your consideration:
- Decide who you are. What do you stand for, what is your unique selling proposition? Decide to be the best gift shop in the area, not just the town by the area. Plus the best card shop. Make it so people happily drive half an hour to get to your shop. Yes, this takes investment. Take your time. Develop a plan and make small steps toward this.
- Use your windows. From Google Street View I can see you’re in a good situation with excellent windows facing the street. Use the windows to make bold statements. One window could feature traditional newsagency lines and the other window could feature gifts. Retreat from tradition with magazine posters in front and give your windows over to bold create statements about your offer and about community connection. Develop a marketing plan. For example: in one window promote craft titles and maybe a local craft club and in the other window Spring Gifts (if you’re doing the display now).
- Entrance. from the front door through entice me into the business. Do this with fresh product placement from inside the door to the key destinations in your shop. Always look at your shop from the perspective of your shoppers. Break with tradition and break their expectations of what you sell.
- Look around you. Look at other shops in town that you can compete with. This is retail today, especially for a newsagency. there is nothing you sell that others cannot sell. So, look at nearby gift shops if there are any. They are your competitors. Take them on if you are game. But not directly – be smart. Look at gift suppliers who can help you expand to attract people currently shopping with these other gift shops. This is a long-term strategy. take your time.
- Services. Are there more services you could provide. For example, is there a good coffee shop nearby? If not, is this an opportunity?
- Tourists. Given the influx of tourism you experience consider what you can do to connect with them. For example, in your data I can’t see much in the way of sales of plush. If your tourists have kids or are likely to buy for kids then a plush presence in store during the tourist season could work well. Your location means you could possible achieve an above average margin too.
- Connect locally. In you don’t already: have a local events notice board in-store; promote a local community group; publish your own monthly newsletter; advertise on local radio as it should be pretty cheap.
These are just some thoughts. The real goal of the list is to get you thinking. I’d be happy to discuss these options with you – 0418 321 338.
I spent my teen years in a country town with a population of 2,500 and worked in the local newsagents after school for a couple of years. While that was decades ago, I do have a reference point for country towns.
I am grateful to the newsagents who share their data for comment. I don’t publish all reports here, not even a fraction. Those I do publish I hope speak to others who may be in a similar situation.
Here’s an announcement from NANA published yesterday in relation to Hubbed:
NANA suggests delay in signing
Hubbed contracts/agreements for nowThe Newsagents Association of NSW & ACT (NANA) has received legal advice expressing concerns about the Hubbed contracts/agreements that NANA has received.
As NANA is legally not able to instruct NANA Members what to do, NANA is suggesting to NANA Members that they delay signing Hubbed’s contracts/agreements until Hubbed has made appropriate amendments.
Some of the key concerns that NANA has learned are:
their requirement to use insurer(s) approved by Hubbed for public and product liability insurance for Hubbed’s equipment at the Newsagent’s premises;
their exclusivity clause; and
their rental and service agreement that is independent of Hubbed.
Naturally, NANA urges NANA Members to use their own commercial judgement when considering Hubbed’s Connect Premium or Connect Lite.From the outset, NANA remains very supportive of Hubbed’s offerings as it can significantly propel Newsagents into the lucrative parcel shipments business, bill payments, gift cards, and many other current and future products and service offerings.
Notwithstanding, NANA is firstly committed to ensuring that NANA Members’ business/commercial interests are protected. NANA will continue to update NANA Members of its progress with Hubbed in the coming days and weeks.
For any further information, NANA Members are welcome to contact the NANA office on (02) 9744 0400 or by e-mail at nana@nana.com.au.
Regulars here would know these topics are among the questions I raised here.
As part of our rolling magazine relay approach the team at one of my newsagencies moved several magazine categories earlier this week including craft titles so they are next to weeklies – to where AWW and our English magazines used to be located.
Craft titles have been doing well for us and it was felt that this change could boost sales further. I’m all for change, especially with magazine layout. There is no golden rule for placement other than to tune layout so that category adjacencies are appropriate to your shoppers.
As with any change we’ll watch sales and adjust as necessary.
For more information on doing a magazine relay see: How to do a magazine relay in your newsagency.
It would not be difficult for Tatts to promote retailers when it runs these ads on digital units in shopping centres. I appreciate this advertising is all about brand awareness and retailers promote in-store with the same collateral. What I’d like to see on these digital ads is a call to action like buy your ticket a your local Tatts retailer.
Sales of the latest issue of marie claire are strong thanks to the SK-II gift with purchase. We’ve been promoting this at the entrance to our magazine department as well as the usual location for the title. Thanks to sales we will retreat to the usual location for the title today. we have also been promoting this issue through Facebook.
If someone claiming to be from Western Union calls you and says they need access to your computer to do a software update it’s most likely a hoax. Get their name and number and say you’ll call them back. It’s likely they will hang up at this point. Do not give them access to your computer. Do not go to any website they suggest. several newsagents have received such a call today.
If your newsagency is oversupplied with non-circulation stock it’s your fault. You set the rules by which your supplier trades with you and if you don’t you should.
I was in a newsagency yesterday that is over-stocked in a stationery category. In addition to full shelves, they have more stock in the storeroom. Several suppliers supply this business with reps doing the orders – clearly not based on sales.
The newsagent blames the reps.
I blame the newsagent.
It’s your money being spent, put in place controls that set how supplier representatives spend it.
Too often I find ever-stocked newsagencies where the owner or staff blame the suppliers. Only rarely would I agree the supplier is responsible. You need to put the needs of your business ahead of friendships. Use your computer system and only order what is selling. An amazing deal for bulk quantities of an item may not be a good deal if the stock takes too long to sell.
Having too much stock to display, more than you would need for as long as it might take to get extra stock is tying up capital and straining the business. I am surprised some newsagents don’t get this.
Use your supplier as the warehouse and not your back room.
Very frustrating.
More and more people I know who get photos printed are using online services rather than in-store kiosk printing. Talking with a work colleague recently he said that doing it online was more convenient than going to a retail shop. You upload your photos, they’re printed and posted to you.
A search on Google shows plenty of businesses promoting photo printing services at highly competitive prices. It’s not an easy space for a start-up given the intense competition from so many national retailers already.
Photo printing works for national retailers because they can use the customer database for marketing other items. Newsagents are less likely to do this.
While I can see photo printing working for some newsagents, I’d expect this to be the minority given the floorspace and other costs and given that major players are already well-established in this space.
This promotion of calendars at the counter has been driving sales for us. It’s not right behind the counter but off to one side, a dead side what rarely works for us. But this calendar promotion is working. We know based on customers noticing, asking for their team and purchasing. This is the second location promoting the AFL calendars in-store.
An email today from the ANF to members was solely about Hubbed, the agency business in which the ANF has a 5% share. The email underscores a conflict for the ANF as the national association representing newsagents. The email, essentially a promotional letter from Hubbed, indicates that Hubbed is relying on ANF staff:
We are taking on additional staff as we speak and also leaning heavily on our friends at the ANF to provide support in the roll out process so that we can effectively manage document receipt, installation, training and marketing.
There are other suppliers who provide the ANF with real dollars funding for conferences and award sponsorships who could want to lean on the ANF for staff support. Why is the ANF providing this to Hubbed and is such a tight relationship healthy for newsagent members and the channel more widely?
Just by asking these questions some will say, as they have done recently, that I am talking Hubbed down. I am not. rather I am seeking transparency for newsagents.
The ANF love affair with Hubbed must be challenged since the ANF is not doing this on behalf of members. While there have been some answers to some of the questions I have raised, I am yet to see any evidence of reasonable due diligence on the Hubbed business model for newsagents.
As I have noted previously, I’d like to see a public debate to test the business model and the newsagent contractual arrangements at the core of the model. If Hubbed is as good as the ANF Hubbed partnership says it is then it would emerge from the debate in a stronger position.
As for the rest of the email – which was thin on specific detail, I am surprised they are rolling out Hubbed given the challenges some tell me of getting a consistent contract.
I logged on to Facebook last night and saw this photo and story from one of my newsagencies about the customer who won a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 in our Hallmark Cards Father’s Day in-store promotion.
I love this Facebook post for a few reasons: the post itself is conversational, encouraging and gently promoting the business and the value of shopping with us, the prize helps drive excellent sales and promote the business and the photo is a happy reminder of what shopping with us can be like.
What I like the most is the initiative of Jayden to do all of this without being asked.
Growing traffic and sales in a newsagency business is a function of many small steps. In-store promotions, prizes and social media stories about these are just some of the small steps. These and similar activities help us and those in the businesses with us enjoy our businesses more.
I have decided to return the Bauer supplied magazine display stand to Bauer, replacing it with a stand on which I can display what I want.
While I like the format of the Bauer stand, its construction and the ease with which we can move it around the newsagency, that it must only display Bauer stock is too restrictive for today’s newsagency.
I want fixtures that allow me to make decisions that suit my whole business and not just a single supplier.
In terms of magazines I want to promote my magazine range rather than titles from one publisher.
By returning the Bauer stand I am reclaiming the floor-space used for the stand for my business. Sometimes you’ll see Bauer titles in the stand and other times not. More often you will see titles from a selection of publishers. This is as it should be in every newsagency.
We should promote the overall magazine range more than single titles as it’s our range that is our point of difference when it comes to magazines. Sure there is value in promoting certain issues of magazines – but not to the detriment of other magazines we sell.
This is why I am returning the Bauer stand. I want more control over the floor-space I pay for.
We’re using products from three different suppliers to support this aisle-end display promoting official AFL products. It’s faces into the front of the store and capping our magazine department.
I love that the in-store team has grouped items from multiple suppliers to tell a story. I also love that they have done this in a small footprint. Indeed, this display would work in newsagencies of all sizes.
I’ve noticed AFL product displays in several supermarkets over the last week so I’m comfortable we’re in this space at this time of the year too.
The lowest margin items on the display are the calendars from Network and we only have these out of necessity. Thankfully we’re achieving a fairer margin with our cards from Hallmark and the plush items.
I’ve seen a mixed result for the launch of Taste magazine this week. Two newsagencies twenty minutes apart with similar traffic but different demos – one (with older shoppers) sold out in two days and the other sold 1 copy.
We’ve been promoting taste with placement in food, with newspapers and with weeklies (see phone from one of my stores). We’ll continue this support for all week and then pull back to two locations. I suspect it’s a title, like Feast, that will sell through the on-sale.
Other newsagents I have spoken with say they’ve seen good interest in the first two days. The key is getting the title in front of shoppers – hence the importance of newspaper and weekly magazine placement.
The software change to produce the new style barcode on Tatts tickets that newsagents can scan with their newsagency software has commenced roll out. We’re aware from VIC and QLD. Newsagents can only scan the barcode if their newsagency software has been updated to do this.
We have been selling several specific plush lines at one of my newsagencies for just a few months. We priced the plush here differently to my other stores because of the store location, 10% lower. As we have seen sales grow now to close to $3,000 a month we felt it was worth pricing the product where it sells elsewhere.
The most popular branded range was increased from $8.95 to $9.95 – without any impact on sales. We’re thrilled since plush shoppers can become habit based shoppers. With rent increasing 5% year on year and labour increasing around the same, we need more traffic, shoppers buying more and GP to increase. This is why we look at what we sell items for – not to gouge but to achieve a price that works for us and the customer.
Every customer buying these items is offered an opportunity of cash off their next purchase with out discount vouchers program.
My experience is that we get more value by charging what I’d call full price and then offering a discount for a deeper basket than simply selling products at a lower price. Customer feedback is that the discount is seen as more of a reward.
Pacific Magazines has invested considerably in creating the Nexus marketing platform for newsagents. Using the website we can sent emails and txt messages to customers we have data for.
I have seen several situations recently where newsagents sold out of items solely as a result of a Nexus email promotion. In a couple of minutes they created and sent an email advertising products not associated with Pacific Magazines.
That Pacific lets (encourages) newsagents use Nexus to promote anything in a bonus.
I like Nexus because it’s a free and proven way for us to bring customers back sooner. That can be money in the bank.
Click on the image to see a sample of the email I sent out for one of my stores last week.