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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Advice on Linked in for newsagents

A couple of newsagents have asked me this morning about Linked in, a social and networking service for business people. I have been a member for years.  150 people are members worldwide. It’s  terrific way to connect with people you know as well as people who know people you know. Through it you can broaden your network of contacts.

You can see my Linked in profile here as an example.  There is a group, Aussie Newsagents, just started where people can talk among themselves about newsagent issues. Membership to that group is moderated.

Don’t accept people as connections unless you want to be connected to them and are prepared for them and their friends to see what you’re up to.

Some people use Linked in to connect numbers. They chase volume. I prefer quality, to connect with people I have a real connection with.  So, be careful of connection requests – accept those you genuinely want for networking reasons.

There are plenty of newsagents, newsagent suppliers and people related in other ways with newsagents on Linked in.

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Newsagency management

Hurting our own XchangeIT data

We have a policy in my newsagencies that we will not sell out of a title while it is hot – within reason. We chase extra stock from magazine distributors for as long as we think we can sell the stock.

A good example is the AWW Queen’s Diamond Jubilee one-shot.

Having sold out of our second order for this title and being told there is none left we have purchased stock from a supermarket. We have done this to avoid having to send shoppers elsewhere when our sales are at their peak. To us, the decision was easy. We refuse to show that as a magazine specialist we can’t supply.

The down side is that our actions damage the XchangeIT sales data. This should not be the case. the XchangeIT standard ought to allow show showing that we sourced product elsewhere. We have done nothing wrong other than protecting our business interests when a supplier could not help us.

I am sure we are not alone in doing this.

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magazines

Understanding the challenges for newspaper publishers and print

Gigaom has published an excellent article which explains the challenges US newspaper publishers face when considering moving from a print model to digital. The chart that explains media’s addiction to print contains two charts explaining the challenge. The main chart shows the time consumers spent with various mediums and the ad spend in those mediums. There is a massive gap with print – showing the medium punching above its weight and therefore demonstrating value to publishers.

The most optimistic view of the gap between time spent and advertising dollars devoted to print is to see it as an indication that print is orders of magnitude more effective for advertisers than virtually any other medium — otherwise why would ad agencies and brands spend so much money there?

It’s a good article offering an explanation which publishers would consider in the print vs. digital consideration.

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Media disruption

Promoting Who magazine at the counter

We are promoting the latest issue of Who with this terrific behind the counter display facing shoppers as we serve them. I love the choices made in creating the display, the symmetry and embracing the cover of Who up as the hero.

We ordered extra stock so that we could make the most of the opportunity. We’re all set.

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magazines

Blog posts results in a change to Coach magazine display

The manager of the newsagency where the display was from which I blogged about here a couple of days ago was not happy with the display and replaced it with this one.

I love this new display much more. It’s visually more powerful. It makes the product the hero.  I think it’s certain to drive more sales as a result.

I didn’t ask for the new display to be done. It was done as a result of what I posted here.

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magazines

Eddie McGuire disrespects newsagents

On Triple M Footy on Saturday night (May 26) Eddie McGuire disrespected newsagents when talking about an industry event saying:

it used to be good until they let Newsagents and other clowns attend

Newsagents are clowns Eddie? Nice.

Contact with Triple M Footy and Triple M Breakfast via Twitter achieved nothing. It seems Eddie McGuire is happy to lob grenades but not be accountable for their impact.

It was Eddie McGuire’s personal pitch in mid 2011 which resulted in newsagency marketing group newsXpress committing to a national TV campaign with the Nine Network for more than 4,000 TV ads. I am a Director of newsXpress.  ACP Magazine is owned by Nine Entertainment. Newsagents are important to ACP. Maguire is a major star in the Nine stable. That he has ignorantly disrespected newsagents, even if it was meant as a joke as I expect the excuse will be, ought to interest the folks at Nine.

Eddie Maguire joins Bill Shorten, Jeff Kennett and Wendy Harmer in making ignorant and offensive comments against newsagents. While these people are entitled to their view, they ought to be prepared to debate them. As it stands today, they prefer to pontificate and run.

I accept that people will make jokes about newsagents and other retail channels and professions. What I will not accept is ignorant jokes and commentary and the refusal to engage in debate about what has been said.

Newsagents deserve better.

We are good people. We are faithful servants of our suppliers.  We serve our community with pleasure.

UPDATE: (Jun. 1) I have changed the spelling of Eddie’s surname to the right spelling. I appreciate the confidential correspondent who let me know of the mistake.

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Newsagency challenges

Nice Time magazine cover shot

I like the cover on the latest Time magazine. It’s good to see a different image of the queen against which to compare all the other cover shots out at the moment. We have taken the opportunity to to place Time next to other titles promoting the Queen’s jubilee. While we have copies in the usual location, I suspect it’s this off-location placement which will work best for this issue.

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magazines

Coach magazine achieves 80% sell-through

We are promoting the latest issue of Coach magazine in two locations – with this aisle-end display in our men’s magazine area as well as in the usual location for the title with training and men’s health titles.

Our sell-through for Coach is 80% and above. We’re very happy with that.  It’s our tactical work which tends to deliver the best result for the title. Work like ensuring placement showing the full cover, giving the title a run with newspapers, making sure it is always next to the top selling men’s health and fitness titles.

Coach is usually sold with another title. It’s a valuable addition to the basket.

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magazines

Leveraging publisher promotion to drive magazine sales

Pacific Magazines is running a strong campaign from today to promote Who and the exclusive Jessica Simpson baby photos.  We are making the most of the opportunity with ideal placement with the weeklies as well as placement at the counter as the feature title. We chose the counter as it gets more traffic than newspapers in our store.

We got a heads up about the special issue and ordered more stock so we can reach our full potential with this.

Pacific are getting behind this issue with a bunch of activity including a text message campaign promoting newsagents.

It is good when we get a heads up about promotional activity driving sales to our stores – it means proactive newsagents can respond.

 

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magazines

Beware of Ukash scam call

There is another scam being attempted against newsagents around the Ukash product. I have heard from several newsagents over the last two days about this. The caller says they represent ePay and they want the newsagents to do some things for them relating to Ukash.  ePay is not requiring such calls to be made.  This is a scam. read more here on other Ukash related scams which have affected newsagents.

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Ethics

Sands and Hallmark benefit from newsagent software innovation

Techonlogy is helping newsagents and greeting card companies to save time, achieve more accurate supply and drive card sales.

For years now newsagents have been able to send sales data through their newsagency software to greeting card company John Sands through XchangeIT. This data provides John Sands with timely accurate sales data by store, helping them to more effectively and accurately manage product supply.

John Sands Newsagents with newsagency software with this facility benefit from a more efficient supply chain.

Hallmark newsagents using the Tower software since last year have had access to the Greeting Card Performance Report providing newsagents with more timely data than the Hallmark account managers themselves have. A feature of this reporting is the MAT or Moving Annual Total metric. This is used in several suppliers and big businesses – we have found it tremendously useful in tracing year on year to date business performance.

Retailers using the new reporting are loving the immediate and easy access to category level sales reporting.  For example, being able to report on Father’s Day sales the day after the big day is terrific.  Being able to break down overall Father’s Day card sales into categories within the season is even more valuable.  that retailers can do this faster than any card company is where our software really shines.

These are just two innovations helping newsagents to achieve more from their greeting card department.

Gone are the days of being passive about greeting cards, letting the card suppliers manage orders, put stock out and run the department for us.

Newsagents who genuinely control their greeting card department are more likely to see sales growth in my experience. This is what we must do, manage the department … for growth.

Here are steps I suggest newsagents take to achieve more from their greeting card departments:

  1. Put new greeting card stock out yourselves. Stop relying on card company merchandisers to do this. This process sees you checking orders to ensure you received what you should have received. It educates your team about the cards you sell.
  2. Scan all returns before giving them to your card supplier.
  3. Assess card performance by category – make sure you have the right stock weight for the popular categories.
  4. Step back and look at your card department – is it accessible, can shoppers see the range, is there anything in the way.
  5. Train your staff to help shoppers without intruding. Sometimes, a little help can get people purchasing more cards.
  6. Promote cards outside the card department. This is rarely done but should be tried.
  7. If you’re a Sands customer, make sure you are sending your sales data back.
  8. If you’re a Hallmark customer, make sure you use the card performance report when meeting with your account manager.
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Greeting Cards

Promoting New Idea Masterclass magazine

Check out the sales counter-based display by the team at my Watergardens store promoting New Idea Masterclass.  I love how they have created a display which owns the counter for the title.

The display is eye-catching and shopper-engaging … essential if we are to get shoppers to add the title to their basket at the counter.

Note the two points at the router from which the title can be purchased – this is key to any product display as it takes it from being a billboard to a call to action.

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magazines

Lack of marketing spend to support The Australian Women’s Weekly

We received two posters with which to promote the latest issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly which went on sale yesterday.  Seriously. The top selling magazine in Australia and we get two posters. This is not good enough ACP. The best time for promoting this magazine is the first week of the on-sale. From then on it is down hill, rapidly – check your decay data.

This has been the trend with AWW recently, minimal collateral the week of release. I can’t work out why. The first week is when they should have every retailer pushing the new issue hard.

If this issue is like others, the major collateral pack will come next week. That is too late for me to generate sufficient a return to justify premium space unless there is some very special offer of gift like the DVD on the last issue.

I know we could create a better display by creating our own collateral – and we will – I wanted to show what a display looks like with the material provided by the publisher. Weak.  It would not generate the sales they say they want.

Nuts.

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magazines

Promoting Take 5 and the free makeup

We are promoting the latest issue of Take 5 to make the most of the blusher & bronzer duo. We have it in a couple of places to chase down impulse purchases. While we are committed to promotion, we are frustrated with the handling of the big issue of the day – see next post.

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magazines

Using the basket building stand to attract shoppers

We have been using the ACP basket building stand at the front of the newsagency to promote a selection of titles appealing to women.

We change what’s in the stand every week to keep it fresh and to combat store-blindness by regulars.

The reason I am putting this photo up today is to remind newsagents to use the start only for ACP titles. They paid for these stands on the basis that newsagents only put ACP titles in them. I know you may want to promote the whole category and just one publisher, ACP took a different approach by providing the stand.

We develop balance in range offer by putting another stand next to the ACP stand regularly – often promoting Pacific Magazines titles.

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magazines

MPA Magazine Management Report the best for magazines

Around nine years ago some newsagency software companies and Magazine Publishers Australia got together to create an industry standard report so that newsagents, publishers and distributors could rely on a common representation of sale, return and other data when discussing magazines.

The MPA Magazine Management Report is the benchmark magazine performance report as it allows selection of reporting periods by date range, period plus MAT – Moving Annual Total.  It reports on magazine performance at the category, segment and stock item level. The report is navigated by newsagents clicking on the data to drill down to a deeper level. This is where it is quite smart.

Click on the image to see the detail on one page of the MPA Magazine management Report from one of my newsagencies.

The detail is impressive if I do say so myself.

With magazine publishers and software companies involved in the design of the report, it should be available in all newsagency software systems. If you’re not sure, ask your software provider. I know it’s in my Tower software under sales reports.

I love this report as it helps me when planning a relay, allocating space, making tactical decision to chase sales and generally assessing the performance of magazines from the top down.

I have also used the report when working with distributors as well as with individual publishers.

The data in the MPA Magazine Management Report is more comprehensive and up to date than what any distributor or publisher has for your business as it reflects all magazine titles.  This is vital in planning around the magazine department.

Newsagents wanting help on accessing this report should call their software supplier. I know from my Tower experience that the report is easy to produce. The benefits for the business can be far-reaching.

If your newsagency software does not have this report I’d ask why since it was established as an industry standard years ago.

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magazine distribution

Using AFL Beanie Kids to feature AFL game winners

We have a bit of fun featuring AFL winners each week in our AFL Beanie Kids display. We target one winning team a week.

While it’s a bit of fun for us, it actually helps drive sales as fans of the team may want to spend some money supporting or identifying with their team following the win.

Sometimes it’s the small steps like this which can help grab that extra sale.

The AFL beanie Kids range has been a massive hit for us. Just fantastic … driving traffic and impulse purchases.

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Newsagency opportunities

Australian iPad – feature magazine

We are promoting the latest issue of Australian iPad magazine as the feature magazine on the free-standing stand in our men’s magazine area.

The free iPad cover gift and this prime placement should help drive sales.

We’ll run the magazine here for a week and then place it at the counter. Last time we had the magazine with a free iPad cover we sold twice the quantity of our initial allocation.

Newsagents should check to see if they early returned this title the day it came out. Sometimes a free gift with a magazine can really lift sales. You need to look at an issue before you early return it and not just rely on sales history.

Publishers spend money on gifts for a reason.

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magazines

Promoting the Olympic guide

We are promoting the Ultimate 2012 Olympic Guide mag book with this placement at the sales counter. We figured that it is a title people will purchase but not necessarily go looking for – hence the high traffic impulse purchase placement.  While placement with sports titles makes sense, I think there are many who don’t shop the sports section who would purchase the title.

If we don’t get movement from the counter, placement with newspapers will be the next stop.

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magazines

Canadian newspaper publisher to quit print editions

Further to my post Monday about a publisher in Now Orleans dropping four days of print editions come news from Canada that publisher Postmedia is to cut several Sunday papers.

This is a simple issue for publishers – once paid circulation falls below the level necessary to deliver a profit from all revenues (sales and advertising) less all costs (journalism, production and distribution, they are likely to close.

Smart publishers are leading this outcome by working to migrate print customers to online and mobile platforms.

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Media disruption

What to check before you sign that contract

The phone call I received from a newsagent yesterday was all too familiar. They wanted to get out of a contract they had signed a year back and wanted to know if I had any ideas. The five-year agreement was not working for them. They say they were losing money as a result. The problem is that the contract lists few obligations of the supplier, thereby providing little in the way of an out.

Before you sign a contract for any product or service, check…

  1. That all supplier promises and obligations are documented to your complete satisfaction. I have seen contracts which document the newsagent’s obligations without covering the supplier’s obligations.
  2. That the agreement permits you to leave for valid reasons and without undue penalty. I have see a contract which does not provide fair reasons for leaving.
  3. That you can get out with reasonable notice.
  4. That there is a reasonable mediation process for dispute resolution.
  5. That you are not contractually responsible for their legal fees should you decide to take action against them.
  6. That you are in control of your business at all times. I have seen contracts where a supplier can act for you without you necessarily knowing they are doing this.
  7. That you are not blocked from accessing your business data. I have seen a situation where a newsagent has been denied access to business data because they refused to pay what they were told was an optional software support fee.
  8. That you are not precluded from switching to a competitor immediately on get out. I have seen contracts where you are blocked from switching to a competitor for a year after the end of the contract.
  9. That any claims made in the sales process against competitors are documented and signed by the supplier representative. If someone bagging a competitor refuses to do this you have every right to not believe them.

Check every contract carefully. Take your time. Get legal advice.

It’s easier to get out of a marriage than some of the contracts I have seen newsagents sign.

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Newsagency challenges

Art supply sales strong

I am seeing wild growth in sales of art supplies in some newsagencies. From the every day for school projects to supplies for local painters, art sales are up on several newsagencies for which I have been fortunate to see data. These are all businesses with a permanent art department which is well managed.

If you have the room and don’t have a permanent art department right now, it could be a good move.  I know of newsagents who have customers travelling 50km because of their range and prices. Becoming a destination is mission-critical for newsagents.

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art supplies

Promoting That’s Life and puzzle book

We placed the slim holder for the That’s Life Puzzler On The Go with the That’s Life magazine. I like the pocket Pacific Magazines provided for this as it makes it easier to co-locate the small format title with the main magazine itself. we will be careful to ensure that it does not harm sales of That’s Life.

While we have stock of That’s Life Puzzler On The Go with our crossword and puzzle titles, it is more likely to sell to a That’s Life reader – hence the value of easily placing the title in this location.

We will keep the cardboard pocket in this location as long as it holds up. It’s well made so I’d expect at least three months of life from it.  We take care of all of these display units but do discard them once the do not meet our standards.

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magazines

Promoting Queen’s Diamond Jubilee souvenir

We are promoting The Australian Women’s Weekly Queen’s Diamond Jubilee souvenir edition at the main counter with this display as well as with tactical placement in the usual location for AWW.

This is a title to be promoted heavily to make the most of the short to medium term opportunity for newsagents. Other magazine retailers will only act in an average way … newsagents have an opportunity to promote creatively and tactically  and drive excellent sales for our channel as a result.

The product itself feels wonderful, quite luxurious. It’s is targeted well at the ideal shopper.

Interest for this title will peak over the next week to ten days with all the celebrations going on. It’s hard to say what will happen from then.  This is why we are using prime space to promote the title.

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magazines

Promoting New Idea Masterclass

We are pleased to see another New Idea Masterclass title out and are promoting this latest issue with an aisle end display facing all shoppers as they enter our women’s magazines aisle.

We also have New Idea Masterclass in a full cover display with our food titles.  We plan weekend promotion with newspapers as well – impulse business.

It’s clever timing bringing out a title called Masterclass during the winning of MasterChef.

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magazines
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